Previous members
Weicang Wang, PhD student (2014-19)
Weicang obtained his B.S. degree in Biotechnology (2011) from Northwest A&F University and a M.S. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2014) from East China Normal University. He was a Ph.D. student in Food Science of UMass (2014-19). His research focused on lipid signalling in colonic inflammation and colon cancer.
Current position: Postdoc fellow at Bruce Hammock’s lab at UC-Davis.
Katherine Z. Sanidad, PhD student (2014-19)
Kathy obtained her B.S. degree in Biology with a minor in Bioengineering from Stony Brook University (2013) and she was a Ph.D. student in the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) Graduate Program and Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on the effects of bioactive compounds on colon cancer, colon inflammation, and the gut microbiome.
Current position: Postdoc fellow at Melody Zeng’s lab at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Jianan Zhang, PhD student (2016-2021) and postdoctoral fellow (2021)
Jianan obtained her B.S. degree in Food Quality and Safety (2013) from Huazhong Agricultural University and a M.S. degree in Processing and Storage of Agriculture Products (2016) from China Agricultural University. She obtained her PhD of Food Science Department of UMass in 2021. Her research focused on the environmental and dietary risk factors of colonic inflammation and colon cancer.
Current position: Postdoc fellow at Matthew Redinbo's lab at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Haixia Yang, postdoctoral researcher (2016-18)
Haixia obtained her B.S. degree in Marine Biotechnology (2005) from Tianjin University of Science and Technology and her Ph.D. degree in Food science (2011) from China Agricultural University. She was a postdoctoral researcher in the Food Science Department at the UMass Amherst (2016-18). Her research focused on the effects and mechanisms of environmental chemicals, notably triclosan and triclocarban, on gut microbiota, colonic inflammation, and colon cancer.
Current position: Professor, China Agricultural University.
Elvira Sukamtoh, BS student (2014-16) and MS student (2016-18):
Elvira obtained her B.S. degree (2016) and M.S. degree (2018) in the Food Science Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research interest included the chemical stability of curcumin and its effects on lymphangiogenesis and angiogenesis using cell culture models.
Yuxin Wang, visiting scholar (2017-19)
Yuxin obtained her B.S. degree in Life Science and Technology (2010) from Northwest University and her Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2017) from Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She was a visiting scholar in the Food Science Department at UMass Amherst (2017-19). Her research focuses on the eicosanoids and oxidized lipids on gut intestinal barrier function, colonic inflammation, and colon cancer.
Current position: Postdoc fellow at Bruce Hammock’s lab at UC-Davis.
Lei Lei, visiting scholar (2019-2020)
Lei Lei obtained her B.S. degree (2009) and Ph.D. degree (2013) in Neuroscience Research Institute from Peking University. She was a visiting scholar in the Food Science Department at UMass Amherst (2019-20). Her research focuses on the biomarkers of colorectal tumorigenesis, and oxidized lipids on colonic inflammation and colon cancer.
Current position: Associate Professor at The College of Life Sciences of Northwest University, China.
Guangqiang Wang, visiting scholar (2019-20)
Guangqiang obtained his B.S. degree in Agriculture (2008) from Nanjing Agricultural University and his Ph.D. degree in Food Science (2014) from Jiangnan University. He was a visiting scholar in the Food Science Department at UMass Amherst (2019-20). His research focuses on the metabolic reactions of environmental chemical compounds in gut tissues, and determine the roles of gut microbiota involved.
Current position: Associate professor at University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
List of previous members
PhD students
Weicang Wang, PhD student (2014-19)
Katherine Z. Sanidad, PhD student (2014-19)
Jianan Zhang, PhD student (2016-2021)
MS students
Xijing Chen, MS student (2017-20)
Jingwen Lin, MS student (2018-20)
Ran Yang, MS student (2017-19)
Jingyi Zhou, MS student (2017-19)
Elvira Sukamtoh, BS/MS student (2016-18)
Zheyuan Du, MS student (2014-16)
Julia Zhu, MS student (2014-16)
Postdoctoral fellows
Haixia Yang, postdoctoral fellow (2016-18)
Jianan Zhang, postdoctoral fellow (2021)
Quancai Sun, postdoctoral fellow (2021-23)
Visiting scholars
Guangqiang Wang, visiting scholar (University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China, 2019-2020)
Yuxin Wang, visiting scholar (Northwest University, China, 2017-19)
Thejani Rupika Delgoda Clarke, visiting scholar (University of West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, 2019-20)
Minhao Xie, visiting scholar (Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, China, 2017-19)
Lei Lei, visiting scholar (Northwest University, China, 2019-20)
Maolin Tu, visiting scholar (Dalian Polytechnic University, China, 2019-21)
Visiting students
Yoshiki Nimiya, visiting graduate student (Tokyo University of Marine Science and Tech-nology, Japan, 2014-15)
Manami Ando, visiting graduate student (Tokyo University of Marine Science and Tech-nology, Japan, 2016-17)
Guanjun Nan, visiting graduate student (Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, 2017-18)
Qin Ma, visiting graduate student (South China University of Technology, China, 2017-18)
Yutong Dong, visiting graduate student (Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, China, 2019)
Undergraduate researchers
Emmet Karner
Jennifer Zheng
Ellie Florio