Lab Members

Jiayue (Jenny) Guo

Graduate Research Assistant (PhD)
Jenny is a PhD student majoring in Human Nutrition. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Technology at United International School in China in June of 2018. Her research interest is the structure and functional properties of carbohydrates. She enjoys traveling, painting, and watching movies in her spare time.

Graduate Research Assistant Yanqi is a graduate student in the College of Human Environmental Sciences pursuing a master’s degree in health studies. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Missouri in May of 2017. She is from China. She likes cooking, travelling, and spending time with her cat.

Yanqi Zhang

Graduate Research Assistant (PhD)
Yanqi is a PhD student (Main advisor Dr. Libo Tan) majoring in Human Nutrition. She earned her master’s degree in Health Studies from UA in 2019, and her bachelor’s degree in Nutrition at the University of Missouri in May of 2017. She is from China. She likes cooking, travelling, and spending time with her cat.

Jingyi Zhou

Graduate Research Assistant (PhD)
Jingyi is a PhD student majoring in Human Nutrition. She earned her bachelor’s (May of 2017) and master’s degree (May of 2019) in Food Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She likes travelling, photographing, and calligraphy.

Emily Ager

Undergraduate Research Assistant
Emily is a junior at the University of Alabama from San Diego, California. She is majoring in Food & Nutrition. After completing her undergraduate degree, she hopes to attend graduate school to gain a masters/PhD. In her free time, she loves to hang out with friends, travel, and try new things.

Nikki Angel

Undergraduate Research Assistant
Nikki is majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Biology. After completing her undergraduate work here at UA, she plans to attend graduate school and earn a masters in biomedical engineering.

Alegna Trejo Contreras

Undergraduate Research Assistant
Alegna is a senior from Alabama majoring in Management with a concentration in Healthcare Analytics with a minor in Biology. During her free time she likes to work out, cook, and volunteer at a local high school tutoring ESL students. After completing her undergraduate studies she hopes to attend medical school.

Lilla Gladden

Undergraduate Research Assistant
Lilla is a junior from Charlotte, North Carolina. She is a member of the Randall Research Scholars Program and is majoring in Mechanical Engineering with minors in German and Mathematics. In her free time, she enjoys baking and cooking. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans on going to graduate school for Biomedical Engineering.

Aly Gutierrez

Undergraduate Research Assistant
Aly is a senior from Charlotte, North Carolina majoring in Microbiology with minors in Chemistry and Food & Nutrition. Her hobbies include poetry, photography, and traveling. After finishing undergraduate studies, Aly hopes to attend medical school.

Nancy Haydel

Undergraduate Research Assistant
Nancy Haydel is from Houma, Louisiana pursuing a degree in Biology with a minor in Food and Nutrition. Her hobbies include being outside, cooking, and listening to music. After graduating, Nancy hopes to attend Medical School.

Joshua Kelly

Undergraduate Research Assistant
Joshua Kelley is a sophomore majoring in Microbiology on a pre-med track. He is a member of the Randall Research Scholars Program. Joshua is from Gadsden, Alabama. His hobbies include reading about Catholicism, playing and watching sports, and reading about history. After graduating, Joshua hopes to graduate from medical school and become a cardiovascular surgeon.

Mindy Martinez

Undergraduate Research Assistant
Mindy a sophomore majoring in Food & Nutrition. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to pursue a masters degree in nutrition. Following that, Mindy plans to work as a registered dietitian. Her hobbies include spending time with friends, working out, and traveling.

Lab Alumni

Jiayue Guo, PhD Student, Now Postdoctoral Scholar at University of California, Berkeley
Songnan Li, Visiting PhD Student, now Assistant Researcher (Equivalent to Assistant Professor) at Yangzhou University.
Jiannan Feng, Research assistant, Now PhD student at UGA
Nicole Angle, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Now PhD student at Duke University
Ali Gutierrez, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Now PhD-MD student at South Carolina College of Medicine
Katie Webb, Research Assistant-Master
Gabrielle Van Hoet, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Shu Hang Kwan, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Brittany Humphreys, Undergraduate Research Assistant, now graduate student at CU Boulder
Morgan Abercrombie, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Tyler Lubbat, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Steven Li, Undergraduate Research Assistant, now at Purdue