Our Team

Principle Investigators

Dr. Yuan-Xiang Pan

Dr. Pan investigates how molecular mechanisms of epigenetic regulation control physiological functions and chronic disease processes. He identifies novel epigenomic mechanisms that will lead to individualized nutritional interventions for specific health outcomes to enhance the well-being of humans.

https://fshn.illinois.edu/directory/yxpanhttp://nutrsci.illinois.edu/directory/yxpan

Dr. Hong Chen

Dr. Chen focuses on molecular, biochemical, and nutrigenomic research that advances the knowledge of how diets affect each individual’s epigenome. Understanding nutrient regulation of genes during human development and carcinogenesis facilitates precision nutritional care for improved patient outcomes.

http://fshn.illinois.edu/directory/hongchenhttp://nutrsci.illinois.edu/directory/hongchen

Current Graduate Students

Bianca Xu

MS 2016 - 2018PhD 2020 - present

Abrory Pramana

PhD 2021 - present

Elizabeth Brandley

PhD 2022 - present

Jack Zhang

PhD 2023 - present

Hehe Zhang

MS 2023 - present

Lingfan Jiang

MS 2023 - present

Current Undergraduate Students

Maya Patel

2021 - present

Sharon Dong

2023 - present

Celine Widyantara

2023 - present

Graduate Alumni

Rita Strakovsky

(PhD RD 2006 - 2011)

Associate Professor

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan

Website

Shasha Zheng

(PhD 2007 - 2011)

Adjunct/Affiliate Faculty

University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign

Urbana, Illinois

Website

Xiyuan Zhang

(MS 2009 - 2011)

Staff Scientist

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Bethesda, Maryland

Website

Ingrid Jorud

(MS RD CPT 2009 - 2012)

Supervisor

Prebyterian Healthcare Services

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Website

Alice Yukun Zhang

(PhD 2008 - 2013)

AVP

Synchrony Financial

Greater Chicago Area, Illinois

Website

Grace Qian Li

(PhD 2009 - 2014)

Principal Nutrition Scientist

Reckitt

Evansville, Indiana

Website

Dan Zhou

(PhD 2008 - 2013)

Assistant Professor

Institutes of Biomedical Sciences Fudan University

Shanghai, China

Website

Huan Wang

(PhD 2009 - 2015)

Assistant Project Scientist

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Website

Paul Jung

(MS 2014 - 2017)

Food Safety Manager

Amazon

Omaha, Nebraska

Website

Mingzhu Cai

(MS 2016 - 2018)

Research Associate

Imperial College in London

London, UK

Website

Xinyu Tang

(MS 2016 - 2018)

PhD Candidate

University of California, Davis

Davis, California

Website

Diego Hernandez-Saavedra

(PhD 2013 - 2018)

Assistant Professor

University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

Urbana, IL

Website

Ziqiao Sun

(Non-Thesis MS 2017 - 2018)

PhD Candidate

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York

Website

Laura Yeoh

(PhD 2014- 2019)

Junior Residents

(Pediatric Medical Genetics)

Boston Children's Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts

Website

Jiaxuan Li

(MS 2019- 2021)

PhD Candidate

University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign

Urbana, Illinois

Website

Yingwei Zhao

(MS 2019- 2021)

Senior Scientist

Eli Lilly and Company

Indianapolis, Indiana

Website

Fatma Zehra Kadayifci

(PhD 2018- 2023)

Adjunct Faculty

Heartland Community College

Normal, Illinois

Website

Siyuan Liang

(MS 2021- 2023)

Research Technician - Journey

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)

Chapel Hill, NC

Website

Undergraduate Students - Alumni

Maria Jose Gonzalez Martinez (Tecnológico de Monterrey), 2023 Summer-Fall

Delores Zeng (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2022-2023

Vivian Zheng (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2022 Summer-Fall

Erick Omar García Vázquez (Tecnológico de Monterrey), 2022 Summer-Fall

Guillermo Iván Vargas García (Tecnológico de Monterrey), 2022 Summer-Fall

Rachel Yang (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2018-2021

Shannon Tang (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2021Spring-Summer

John (Chi-Hao) Lin (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2020-2021

Alexia (Shijia) Chen (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2019-2020

Susie Chen (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2019-2020

Ada Chen (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2019-2020

Leah Ziolkowski (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2019-2020

Avery Zhang (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2016-2020

Deepa Rangam Sharma (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2016-2019

Emily Tran (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2017-2018

Ethan Hecox (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2017-2018

Isabel Digan (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2017-2018

Anupriya Tripathi (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2017-2018

Aleksandra Gorski (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2017-2018

Zachary J. Goldberg (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2017-2018

Ashley Maras (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2017-2018

Alexander Wang (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2017-2018

Charlotte Nawor (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2017-2018

Aaron Hong (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2015-2016

Ellie Fishbein (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2015-2016

Paul C. Dudek (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2015-2016

Sina V. Gartner (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2015

Dylan W. Grillaert (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2015

Matthew Triplett (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2015

Megan Thompson (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2015

Jessi Smith (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2014-2015

Melissa Foster (Integrative Biology), 2014-2015

Kanika Manchanda (Food Science and Human Nutrition), 2014-2015

Sabina Obrochta (Molecular and Cellular Biology), 2013.

Summer Research Programs - Alumni

2019 - Juncen Dong - International Summer Immersion Program (ISIP) - Zhejiang University, China

2018 - Hangdi Gong - International Summer Immersion Program (ISIP) - Zhejiang University, China

2018 - Junli Shen - International Summer Immersion Program (ISIP) - Zhejiang University, China

2018 - Zhihao Zhan - International Summer Immersion Program (ISIP) - Zhejiang University, China

2018 - Justin Shao - Summer Research Opportunity Program - Phillips Exeter Academy, NH

2015 - Emily Neeson - Research Apprenticeship Program II - Chicago Agricultural High School, IL

2015 - Melissa Morose - Summer Research Opportunity Program - Queens College, NY

2014 - Qingyan Xiang - Summer Research Opportunity Program - Zhejiang University, China

2014 - Emmanuel Mitchell - Research Apprenticeship Program II - Chicago Agricultural High School, IL

2014 - Heather Anderson - Research Apprenticeship Program II - Proviso Math and Science Academy

Visiting Scholars - Alumni

2019 - Dr. Ping Mu - Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China

2018 - Cheng Zhang - Master Student - Department of Food Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

2017 - Dr. Lei Ma - Agricultural University of Hebei, China

2017 - Dr. Wen Zhao - Agricultural University of Hebei, China

2016 - Dr. Yanhui Wang - Agricultural University of Hebei, China

2015 - Dr. Shouqin Gu PhD - Agricultural University of Hebei, China

Lab mascot

Theodore

“PET ME. FEED ME."