Students | GGNB

Naomi Becks

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Francene Steinberg - Research Interests: Assessment of systematic health properties of pecan nut consumption by evaluating the effects on gut microbiome, intestinal permeability, vascular and metabolic function, inflammation and cognitive performance.

Amara Benn

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Carolyn Slupsky - Research Interests: Utilizing multi omics to determine mechanisms through which dietary fiber and bioactives interact with the host and microbiome to promote health.

Sarah Blecksmith

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Danielle Lemay - Research Interests: Microbial fermentation of fiber and the effect on host health.

Madelyn Bradley

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Christine Stewart - Research Interests:

Dawson Budke

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Brian Bennett - Research Interests: Nutrigenomics, gut microbiome, and precision nutrition. Employing a systems genetics/multi-omics integrative approach to assess chronic metabolic disease development.

Alana Chaney

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Lauren Au - Research Interests: How prenatal nutrition, breastfeeding practices, and early childhood feeding behaviors impact long-term health and development. The overall goal of my research is to create evidence-based strategies and targeted interventions that promote health equity and improve nutrition for mothers and children in diverse communities.

Hussain Chharawalla

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Lauren Au & Mary Kable - Research Interests: Intersection of diet quality, food insecurity, and cardiometabolic health in pregnancy. I am particularly interested in how lifestyle factors and participation in nutrition assistance programs like WIC influence risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and inflammation.

Christabel Domfe

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Lauren Au - Research Interests: Use of novel technology for dietary assessment and addressing food insecurity among low-income populations.

Rosa Fragello

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Gerardo Mackenzie - Research Interests: Curcumin and ascorbic acids effect on cancer cells.

Abigail Galyon

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Carolyn Slupsky - Research Interests: The relationship between maternal metabolism and endocrine function during pregnancy and lactation. I am working to understand how metabolic and/or endocrine dysfunction during this critical period influences breastfeeding outcomes.

Andrea Gil

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Jennifer Falbe - Research Interests: Reducing disparities in cardiometabolic diseases in underserved communities, particularly through the development of interventions and policies that increase health awareness and nutrition literacy.

Genesis Guerra Gaitan

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Roberta Holt - Research Interests: Focuses on bioactive compounds in foods and their impact on cardiometabolic health. I am particularly interested in how these compounds influence metabolic biomarkers, modulate the absorption of essential minerals such as zinc, and affect gut microbiota metabolism

Emmanuel Antwi Gyimah

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Reina Engle-Stone - Research Interests:

Sasha Holland

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Mary Kable - Research Interests: Fiber affects on the gut microbiome, specifically in plant-based diets.

Mengjiang Huang

GGNB Student

Major Professor: John Newman - Research Interests: Precision nutrition and nutrimetabolomics. Working on mass spectrometry-based lipidomics and small-molecule quantitative analytical chemistry for dietary biomarker discovery.

Yanshan Jin

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Angela Zivkovic - Research Interests: nutrigenomics and precision nutrition, integrating multi-omics data to explore gene-diet interactions, particularly in the context of inflammation and aging-related health issues. Using bioinformatics and systems biology approaches, I aim to develop personalized nutrition strategies for disease prevention and health optimization.

Akiko Kajiura

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Carolyn Slupsky - Research Interests: Studying the combined effects of breastfeeding and diet on metabolism and gut health during early childhood. Identifying dietary biomarkers to understand their influence on growth and development.

Katherine Kwon

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Elizabeth Prado - Research Interests: Maternal and child health in low-income populations; early nutrition and cognitive development; global nutrition program development and evaluation.

Grace LeBleu

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Fawaz Haj - Research Interests: The effects of protein tyrosine phosphatase activity and inhibition on the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy.

Abigail Lutz

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Francene Steinberg - Research Interests: understanding the mechanisms between food components and cardiovascular disease prevention.

Jazmin Machuca

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Gerardo Mackenzie & Patricia Oteiza - Research Interests: Effects of dietary fat quantity and composition on the intestinal barrier in the context of pancreatic cancer development and progression.

Alissa MacLoon

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Patricia Oteiza & Marie Heffern - Research Interests:

Kari Melander

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Brian Bennett -Research Interests: Utilization of multi-omics analyses and mouse models to explore how diet, the microbiome, and genetic background contribute to metabolic syndrome and other health phenotypes.

Imani Muhammad

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Patricia Oteiza - Research Interests: how compounds found in purple and blue fruits and vegetables influence inflammation and an emerging biomarker of cognition in both mice and humans.

Shya Navazesh

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Peng Ji - Research Interests: The role of iron supplementation on the gut microbiome during early development.

Davrina Rianda

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Christine Stewart - Research Interests: Early life nutrition on child brain development; gut-brain axis; growth trajectory modeling.

Javier Sandoval

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Debbie Fetter - Research Interests: Identifying barriers to behavior change related to healthy eating and physical activity. I aim to understand the psychological, social, and environmental factors that influence these behaviors and explore how certain interventions can help overcome these barriers.

Emily Sklar

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Debbie Fetter - Research Interests: Food insecurity in college student populations and how the long-term effects of nutrition deficits correlate to human health and chronic diseases.

Betty Sun

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Angela Zivkovic - Research Interests: The effects of diets and exercise on lipid structures and functions, and aiming to find personalized approaches for optimizing health through tailored dietary and exercise interventions.

Duncan Sylvestre

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Ameer Taha - Research Interests: Evaluating the effects of dairy components on recall and cognition.

Melissa Teuber

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Debbie Fetter - Research Interests: Nutritional psychology; food insecurity and the development and evaluation of effective nutritional messaging strategies in the college student population.

Ste Traxler

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Mary Kable - Research Interests: The impact of dietary carbohydrates- specifically honey- on human small intestine microbial communities and foodborne pathogen resistance.

Shannon Trinh

Major Professor: Francene Steinberg - Research Interests: Investigating the mechanisms by which dietary nutrients and bioactive compounds influence physiological responses and clinical outcomes

Yirui Tang Villanueva

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Danielle Lemay - Research Interests: Bioinformatics in nutrition, human gut microbiome community in relation with dietary intake and dietary and physical status.

Yige Wang

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Guodong Zhang - Research Interests: My research focuses on the effects and mechanisms of bioactive lipids, as well as food and environmental contaminants, on gut microbiota and gut health.

Hareem Zahid

GGNB Student

Major Professor: Roberta Holt - Research Interests: Understanding the impact of dietary components and whole foods on cardiovascular outcomes and physiology. Specific interest in zinc absorption and phytic acid.