Advance the characterization of foods we eat at a deep molecular level
Discover causal relationships between food and health using this molecular-level knowledge and artificial intelligence
Develop solutions for the precision design of culturally desired foods that maximize human nutrition
Enable new technologies, food products, and companies bringing healthy, sustainable solutions to market
In partnership with King’s Hawaiian, we are building a research program driven by curiosity to explore new food innovation opportunities through the integration of multi-omics tools combined with recent advances in AI to rapidly optimize enzymatic properties for even the most challenging products.
As the North American Center of Excellence for the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI), we are building on our research on protein digestibility to understand the impacts of agricultural practices on protein-based food compositions, and develop a framework to rationally design and optimize new protein-based food products that promote both human and planetary health.
The future of human and planetary health requires a transformation of the current global food systems to create sustainable, equitable, and resilient food systems to deliver healthy and culturally accepted diets. Diet-related diseases, from undernutrition to obesity, are affecting the world population at increasingly alarming rates. Common agricultural practices compromise the environment and natural resources that support food quality, security, and nutrition.
To create equitable food options that support human and environmental health, next-generation production, processing, and distribution methods will be needed to optimize the molecular compositions of staple foods to deliver the health benefits we need. Unfortunately, connecting comprehensive molecular compositions of our foods to human and planetary health outcomes has remained an elusive challenge.
In this project, we propose to build upon the developed groundbreaking PTFI-enabled multi-omics platforms (including proteomics, glycomics, and metabolomics) to expand the characterization of protein-rich foods produced using either conventional or regenerative agricultural practices and to determine the impact of these practices in food quality and composition. Likewise, clinical dietary interventions will be performed to link sustainability and human health. Complimentary machine learning techniques for single-protein level bioavailability and the creation of versatile life-cycle assessment tools will be used to obtain molecular insights into each person’s unique biochemistry and quantitatively balance with sustainability metrics from rigorous life-cycle analyses. Data from these evaluations will hone our predictive model for nutrient bioavailability in protein products based on their unique protein molecular composition. This refined model will help identify combinations of protein products that are predicted to maximize both the essential amino acid bioavailability and overall sustainability, thus contributing to our continuous improvement and innovation in creating the most nutritious, delicious, and sustainable protein meals on the planet, allowing chefs and companies to make informed decisions on human and planetary health impacts of the protein-based products produced.
In partnership with Dairy Management Inc (DMI) and Artificial Intelligence Institute for Next Generation Food Systems AIFS, we have developed an integrated multidisciplinary research program to elucidate milk and dairy products’ molecular composition at unprecedented levels, advancing our understanding of dairy products and how they can best enhance human health.
Bringing together faculties and world-class experts in multi-omics technologies/platforms across UC Davis campus (including genomics, glycomic, lipidomics, metabolomics, peptidomics, proteomics, etc.), we created a unique opportunity to build the largest milk database containing the first thorough/ systematic analysis of molecules in milk from samples collected across the nation. This new database, containing over 400,000 data entry points, will be connected to each molecule’s nutritional and health benefits using research-derived data and machine-learning data collected from research publications.
Additionally, cutting-edge in vitro research is being conducted to discover and map potential new bioactive molecules in milk that can impact brain health (i.e., neural plasticity and neuroinflammation).
This program aims to provide researchers, farmers, industrial users, and consumers the ability to better understand milk and the health effects of its molecules, ultimately advancing research and enabling the development of dairy products that enhance nutrient application in human health.
We have been designated as the Periodic Table for Food Initiative (PTFI) Center of Excellence for the United States. This project is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and managed by the American Heart Association. Protein is one of the most important nutrients on the planet. We need to better understand what protein is and how it impacts health.
The 20th century saw a revolution in human health and longevity built upon a molecular understanding of the essential food micronutrients (i.e., vitamins). Our vision of the future relationship between food and health is knowledge-based, proactive, and personal. To achieve this vision in a way that provides growers, processors, consumers, and healthcare professionals with sufficient data to ensure reliable outcomes from their food production and consumption choices requires a deep understanding of food macronutrients at the molecular level and interventional clinical studies to demonstrate a causal relationship between the molecules we eat and their impact on health. To this day, a complete molecular characterization of all food macronutrients (i.e., proteins, fibers, fats, and sugars) has yet to be conducted on even a small number of common foods.
In this project, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, we will bring together our multidisciplinary team of world-class researchers to work on food analytics, health, and computational methods for creating and integrating heterogeneous data across quantitative molecular measurements of food composition, personal health, and culturally relevant food preferences to enable personalized decision-making around dietary selection and informed food choices based on individual health objectives. Our analytical team will spearhead the development and standardization of cutting-edge foodomics platforms, including proteomics and glycomics, for qualitatively and quantitatively mapping the molecular composition of popular protein-rich foods. We will also conduct targeted pilot interventional dietary clinical studies linking human responses to the consumption of these foods in a manner that provides insights and creates actionable evidence of structure-activity and mechanism-based causal relationships between food and health.
Ultimately, this research will lay the foundational knowledge that will enable consumers and doctors to precisely navigate their food choices to match desired cultural preferences and health outcomes and allow producers to respond to such consumer preferences with appropriate food production practices.
Continued reports of foodborne illness worldwide, coupled with the escalation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, underscore the urgent need for innovative interventions to maintain food safety standards. The use of bacteriophage-derived antimicrobial protein has emerged as a promising strategy to combat high-risk pathogens at various stages of the food supply chain, but the costs associated with current production methods have hindered widespread adoption. To address this challenge, Professor McDonald, along a team of UC Davis researchers, investigated the economics and scalability of a plant-based platform to produce endolysin, a protein recognized for its antimicrobial properties. Results from their techno-economic evaluation of plant-based endolysin production indicate a competitive pricing structure compared to traditional food safety treatments, paving the way for more efficient approaches to foodborne disease control and food waste reduction.
The International Center for Food Ontology Operability Data and Semantics (IC-FOODS) is a non-profit organization based in Davis, California, dedicated to reshaping the world’s food systems by democratizing access to knowledge and expertise across the entire food landscape. Through its partnership with IIFH, IC-FOODS fosters collaboration among leading academic, industry, and non-profit experts in semantic web technology, AI/ML, ontology, and mathematical modeling, as well as environmental, agricultural, food processing, and health domain specialists. As a hub for research networks, conferences and consortia, IC-FOODS aims to catalyze innovation and develop solutions that address the complex challenges facing our global food ecosystem.
In collaboration with Mars Incorporated we developed a cost-effective process harnessing precise fermentation for high-yield and high-purity allulose production. This new approach enabling efficient isolation of the end-product, represents a significant breakthrough over existing methods currently relying on expensive separation techniques. With patent applications filed and discussions underway to scale up production, this discovery marks a turning point for the widespread adoption of allulose as a healthier and more affordable sugar alternative.
Blue is notoriously scarce in the natural food palette. Although it can be found in tiny fractions in red cabbage, finding a process to scale up its production and provide a natural alternative to the widely used synthetic food coloring has been a major challenge for the food industry. In a quest for healthier food products, a team of researchers led by Dr. Siegel at IIFH, UC Davis in collaboration with scientists at the Mars Advanced Research Institute and Mars Wrigley Science and Technology, cracked the case. From a screen of millions of candidates, they found and redesigned an enzyme capable of efficiently converting the other cabbage’s natural pigments into a vibrant cyan blue dye that can now be extracted in large quantities. Having the right kind of blue is also important when it is mixed with other natural dyes to create more vivid colors. With broad commercial applications in the food, pharmaceutical, apparel and cosmetics industries, this technological breakthrough led to the creation of peakB, a UC Davis-based startup founded by Dr. Pamela Denish and Pr. Justin Siegel that is revolutionizing the natural color market.
Fibers, derived from plant foods, offer numerous health benefits, including promoting heart health, regulating blood sugar levels, managing weight, and supporting a healthy gut microbiome. However, many people fail to consume an adequate amount of fiber in their diets, and processed foods often replace natural fibers with unhealthy sugars. With One.bio, a startup enabled by IIFH, experts in food science, organic chemistry, and microbiology at UC Davis, addresses this issue by utilizing innovative biotechnology to reintroduce active fibers into our diets. This collaborative effort led to the creation of Glycopedia, a comprehensive and proprietary catalog containing nearly 3000 plant carbohydrates with previously uncharacterized structures and functionalities. Leveraging this database, wholefibersTM can now be seamlessly integrated into various food products, offering consumers a convenient way to enhance their health while enjoying their favorite foods.
With the launch of Digestiva, a pioneering biotech startup catalyzed by IIFH, we are revolutionizing the way we digest and benefit from our food. Leveraging computational modeling and AI technology to engineer specialized enzymes, we can now transform even the most challenging proteins to digest into superfoods with unprecedented ease. By precisely targeting and breaking down proteins, these proprietary enzymes enhance the digestibility of food to unlock its full nutritional potential. This groundbreaking innovation, backed by co-founders Justin Siegel and Wilson Mak and supported by TMG and Astanor, is reimagining the future of personalized nutrition and global health. Beyond its wide range of applications in the mitigation of inflammatory diseases, metabolic and cognitive health, this technology offers the potential to address the nutritional challenges of undernourished communities by improving the digestibility of suboptimal protein sources.
Given the growing global demand for protein and the environmental concerns associated with traditional meat production, fungi-derived protein represents a promising solution. However, a comprehensive analysis to assess the economic feasibility of mycoprotein production, taking into account factors such as production costs, resource utilization, scalability, and market competitiveness is required. With preliminary indications that mycoprotein can be cost-competitive with beef on a price per protein basis, this analysis will help identify critical processing inputs and potential market opportunities. This project is expected to inform decision-making, investment planning, and facilitate the development of strategies to promote the adoption of mycoprotein as a sustainable protein source.
Lab-grown meat, derived from animal cells, is often perceived as a more environmentally sustainable option than beef due to its anticipated lower requirements of land, water, and greenhouse gasses compared to cattle farming. However, comprehensive studies validating these predictions remain limited. In collaboration with researchers at UC Davis conducting lifecycle assessments (LCAs) to evaluate the environmental impacts of animal cell-based meat, this project aims to identify areas for improvement of current technologies and guide the development of lab-grown meat production towards sustainability.
Results of a collaborative study conducted by researchers at UC Davis and Mars, Inc. indicate that flavanols may contribute to the repair and maintenance of blood vessel walls, potentially improving blood flow and reducing the risk of conditions like coronary artery disease. The findings indicate that including cocoa and other flavanol-rich foods in the diet could result in significant benefits for cardiovascular health. With the identification of novel biomarkers for precise determination of flavanol intake this project will facilitate further research into the long-term effects of flavanols and advance the development of preventative and therapeutic strategies for managing cardiovascular health.
The Foldit Aflatoxin Challenge harnesses the power of citizen science and gamification to improve food safety. By engaging players in protein design through the Foldit platform, the challenge seeks innovative solutions to neutralize aflatoxin contamination in food crops. This uncommon collaboration including Thermo Fisher Scientific, the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), the University of California, Davis, the University of Washington, Northeastern University and Mars, Inc, not only addresses a critical issue in global food security but also raises awareness and fosters education about aflatoxins and their risks to human health.
As part of UC Davis involvement in the 100K genome project we are engaged in a consortium led by Mars Inc. and IBM Genomics to conduct metagenomic study categorizing food microbiomes and understand the factors influencing their activity in a typical factory environment. This initiative aims to establish a foundational understanding of the microbiomes associated with safe ingredients towards the development of an early detection system for compromised food safety. With an initial focus on select raw material and factory environment this approach will extend throughout the entire food supply chain and include applications for farmers and food producers.
In a collaborative effort led by researchers at UC Davis specializing in foodomic including Barile and Lebrilla labs, we are isolating and characterizing bioactive compounds from various food materials and previously overlooked ingredients typically deemed as food waste. This project aims to establish safety and elucidate the health benefits associated with isolated oligosaccharides through in vitro and in vivo studies so they can be adapted into novel functional foods. Ultimately by repurposing underutilized resources, the project aims to add value to food waste streams while facilitating the development of innovative functional foods that not only contribute to human health but also promote sustainability in the food industry.
Enzymes are remarkable tools for breaking down complex molecules like proteins into simpler forms that our bodies can absorb and assimilate more efficiently. Through a deep exploration of protease activity across different food types, this project enables the development of enzymatic treatments tailored to specific dietary needs. This foundational work has paved the way for the creation of Digestiva, an innovative startup founded by Justin Siegel, dedicated to promoting better health outcomes through the enhancement of protein nutritional value across the food system.
Fermentation control is critical in cocoa processing as it greatly influences the flavor and quality of cocoa-based end products. The creation of the Cocoa Metabolomic Atlas, which will characterize the metabolites present in cocoa beans at different stages of fermentation and drying, will help to determine the impact of various factors such as fermentation duration, temperature and microbial activity on the chemical composition of cocoa. In addition to enabling the optimization of processing techniques to achieve desired flavor profiles and ensure product consistency, this is expected to accelerate the identification of bioactive compounds with beneficial health properties.
Shota Atsumi is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Davis. He received his Ph.D. from Kyoto University in 2002, where he worked with Dr. Tan Inoue. He was a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. John W. Little at the University of Arizona and with Dr. James C. Liao at the University of California, Los Angeles. His current research focuses on the use of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches to engineer microorganisms to convert CO2 to valuable chemicals.
Dr. Keith Baar is a Professor in the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology at the UC Davis School of Medicine. Baar remains at the cutting edge of discoveries in molecular determinants of musculoskeletal development and the role of exercise in improving health and performance. Baar’s work in musculoskeletal function, exercise, nutrition, and aging has direct clinical applications and his highly collaborative approach has compounded impact and enabled cross-disciplinary discoveries to develop resistance exercise, nutritional, and novel small molecule interventions that prevent muscle wasting from cachexia and sarcopenia and improve muscle function and quality of life.
Dr. Daniela Barile is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis. Her research is centered on the chemical and biological properties of milk, with a focus on small molecules, to generate novel ingredients that can modulate the gut microbiome. The Barile Lab has established a high-throughput platform based on mass spectrometry for rapid-throughput analysis of microbiome-modulating compounds such as glycoproteins, glycans, and glycolipids as well as antimicrobial peptides. Her approach of sequential molecular deconstruction of human donor milk and dairy streams has generated valuable bioinformatic libraries of source materials and fundamental information on the underlying biological and processing conditions that give rise to their formation, preservation, and interaction with the gut microbiome. Dr. Barile has expanded her analytical work through a series of collaborative studies in animal models and in vitro, documenting selective stimulation of protective gut bacteria and investigating the interaction with pathogenic species.
Charlotte Biltekoff, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of American Studies and Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on the cultural politics of dietary health and the values and beliefs that shape American eating habits.
Biltekoff is the author of Eating Right in America: The Cultural Politics of Food and Health, a book that rethinks what dietary advice is and does, while challenging the conversation about food and heath. She contributes to discussions about the meaning of food, health, and American culture as an author, educator, consultant, and public figure.
Dr. Chiu received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, M.A., with double majors in Biology and Music. After college, she proceeded to pursue graduate studies under the guidance of Dr. Gloria Coruzzi, Carroll & Milton Petrie Professor and Chair of Biology at New York University. She received a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the Department of Biology at NYU. The overall goal of her thesis research was to understand the function of glutamate receptor genes (GLR) in plants by using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism. Even though she enjoyed her career in plant research as a graduate student, she realized that her real passion is to study how genes and proteins regulate and control animal behavior. Of particular interest is the field of circadian biology. Circadian rhythms are endogenously driven, and exist in life forms ranging from bacteria to mammals. It drives daily oscillations of physiological states and activities including sleep and feeding, and allows organisms to perform necessary tasks at biologically advantageous times of day. To study the inner workings of circadian rhythms, she joined the lab of Dr. Isaac Edery at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers University, NJ, as a postdoctoral fellow to study how posttranslational mechanisms of clock proteins regulate circadian rhythms. Dr. Chiu is now continuing to investigate the regulation of animal circadian rhythms in her own lab at UC Davis by using a combination of molecular genetics, biochemical, and proteomic approaches.
Dr. Cullor is the Associate Dean and Director of the Veterinary Medicine Teaching & Research Center at UC Davis. His research focuses on immunology, infectious disease, biotechnology and food safety. His work in dairy herd infectious disease prevention has generated significant progress in fighting bovine mastitis and understanding the pathophysiology and immunology of veterinary diseases to promote public health. He has additionally worked with the Dairy Food Safety Laboratory and the California Dairy Industry as a diagnostic and education outreach resource.
Prof. Oliver Fiehn has been a pioneering figure in metabolomics, contributing to the field with over 220 publications since 1998. Initially, he worked as a group leader at the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology in Germany. Since 2004, he has been a professor at the UC Davis Genome Center, managing both his research lab and a satellite core service lab in metabolomics. Since 2012, he has served as the Director of the NIH West Coast Metabolomics Center, leading a team of 35 with 16 mass spectrometers and coordinating with three satellite labs for integrated genomics and metabolomics research. His work focuses on understanding metabolism across human, animal, plant, and microbial systems, emphasizing the standardization of metabolomic reports and the development of databases like the MassBank of North America. Fiehn’s lab also innovates in analytical chemistry to enhance metabolomic analysis. His contributions have earned him prestigious awards, including the 2014 Molecular & Cellular Proteomics Lecture Award and the Metabolomics Society Lifetime Achievement Award. Fiehn has also played a significant role in the Metabolomics Society, frequently serving on the Board of Directors and organizing major conferences and workshops.
Dr. Bruce German is the Director of the Foods for Health Institute and Distinguished Professor and Chemist Emeritus in Food Science and Technology at UC Davis. His research interests include the role of milk components in food and health, the structure and function of dietary lipids, and the application of metabolic assessment to personalizing diet and health. The goal of his research is to build the knowledge necessary to improve human health through precise measurements of health and compositionally defined selection of foods. Milk is the only bio-material that has evolved under evolutionary selection to the purpose of nourishing growing mammals. Survival of both mother and offspring exerted a strong selective pressure on the biochemical evolution of lactation as a bioguided process that is both sustainable to the mother and nourishing for the infant. This evolutionary logic is the basis of the research program to discover physical, biochemical, functional and nutritional properties of milk components and to apply these properties as knowledge to improve the outcomes for mothers, babies and eventually foods for all. Together with faculty colleagues Bruce has co-founded Infinant Health, One.Bio, Digestiva Inc, and Matrubials Inc.
Dr. Gravelle’s research focuses on characterizing the relationship between structural properties and functionality in foods using a materials science approach. To this end, his research activities focus on establishing a more fundamental understanding of how the composition and molecular architecture of multi-component foods impacts their mechanical and sensory response. Particular emphasis is given to characterizing fat-filled food gels, with a target of developing rational design principals that can be used to effectively implement new and emerging ingredients (such as plant-derived proteins).
A second focus of Dr. Gravelle’s research program is the development and characterization of structured oil systems, commonly referred to as “oleogels”. This technology shows promise for mimicking the desirable functional and sensory attributes of traditional fats, while providing an opportunity to optimize the nutritional profile and reduce environmental impact. Further applications include the delivery and controlled release of bioactive compounds.
Dr. Gravelle is also currently the Editor in Chief for the Food Science subject area of the methodology-focused, interdisciplinary journal MethodsX.
Dr. Henrick received her Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology/Chemistry from the Missouri State University, USA. Subsequently, she worked with a team of scientists that optimized and took to market the world’s fastest HIV diagnostic point of care assay. She later completed her PhD in Medical Sciences from McMaster University where her specific training and research involved the investigation of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), as well as characterization of unique forms of soluble TLR2, which led to a new understanding of the role of PRRs in mother-to-child HIV transmission via breast milk. Dr. Henrick investigates the way in which the immune system recognizes pathogens leading to inflammatory responses that have a negative impact on health, and also has a special interest companion diagnostics. She has successfully worked in academic and industry settings, both domestically and internationally. In her current role as Associate Director of Scientific Programs for the Foods For Health Institute at UC Davis, Dr. Henrick facilitates the translation of novel scientific findings to positively impact people’s lives.
Nancy L. Keim, PhD, RD, is a Research Chemist at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center. Dr. Keim received her PhD in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1980. She joined the USDA-ARS-Western Human Nutrition Research Center as a Research Chemist in 1985 and has served as a Research Leader and a Lead Scientist. At the University of California-Davis, Dr. Keim is an Adjunct Professor in the Nutrition Department, a member of the Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology, and serves as a member of the Institutional Review Board for Social and Behavioral Studies. She is an active member of the American Dietetic Association and has served on an expert panel to evaluate the use of indirect calorimetry in clinical practice. She is also a member of the American Society for Nutrition, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the Obesity Society. Her research interests revolve around understanding the relationships between the foods we eat, metabolic health, and body weight. Current areas of investigation include evaluating the benefits of consuming important foods such as whole grains or dairy products on energy expenditure, substrate oxidation, satiety and chronic disease risk factors; determining optimal sources and amounts of different types of dietary carbohydrates that contribute to satiety, healthy eating behaviors, and reduce risk of chronic disease; and evaluating benefits of an active lifestyle in terms of preventing obesity and related chronic diseases.
With a doctorate in Food Science and Technology from UC Davis, Matthew Lange is well versed in food, biological, and health sciences, and has spent the better part of his career developing cutting edge information, and education technologies for the food/beverage, health, and agricultural sectors. As CEO and Chief Science Officer of the International Center for Food Ontology Operability Data and Semantics (IC-FOODS), Dr. Lange leads global efforts to build the semantic and AI cyberinfrastructure for the emerging Internet of Food (IoF). The IoF is an enterprise, industrial, and government-scale ag⇔food⇔diet⇔health knowledge infrastructure based on semantic web standards that holds promise to fundamentally alter the way we produce, process, deliver and consume food: giving rise to ecosystems of next-generation knowledge tools that lower technical innovation barriers for creation of novel, traceable, ecologically-friendly foods, products, medicines, and lifestyle regimens: precisely personalized for health and delight–yet aggregatable for population and market analyses, and improvement of living conditions. Before leading IC-FOODS, Dr. Lange taught Food Product Innovation and Development, a capstone class for Food Science seniors at UC Davis, as well as graduate-level database engineering classes at the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Dr. Carlito B. Lebrilla is a Distinguished Professor at UC Davis in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine in the School of Medicine. His research is in Analytical Chemistry focused on mass spectrometry with applications to clinical glycomics and biofunctional food. He has co-founded several start-ups in the areas of bioactive foods and disease biomarkers. He has been awarded the Field and Franklin Medal for outstanding contributions to mass spectrometry, MCP Lectureship in Glycobiology, UCD Outstanding Researcher Award and UCD Innovator Award. He is also co-editor of Mass Spectrometry Reviews and has been on the editorial board of Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, Glycobiology, Mass Spectrometry Reviews, Journal of American Society for Mass Spectrometry, European Mass Spectrometry, and International Journal of Mass Spectrometry.
Dr. Danielle G. Lemay is a Research Scientist at the USDA ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California. She is also an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Nutrition at UC Davis, and the Nutrition Cluster Lead at the USDA/NSF AI Institute for Next-Generation Food Systems (AIFS). Her lab uses bioinformatics to study how dietary components, especially fermentable carbohydrates, affect the gut microbiome and host response. Her lab also applies omics technologies and machine learning/AI to understand the effects of diet on human health.
Maria Marco is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis, USA. Prof. Marco received her BS degree in microbiology from The Pennsylvania State University and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. She then worked as a postdoc and subsequently as a scientist at NIZO food research, The Netherlands where she also led a project supported by the TI Food & Nutrition. Prof. Marco initiated her laboratory at UC Davis in 2008. Her research focuses on lactic acid bacteria in food systems and the mammalian digestive tract. The broad objective of her work is to identify the attributes of microbes that can be used to guide improvements in food production to benefit human and animal health. Prof. Marco has led numerous projects investigating probiotic lactobacilli, emphasizing the impact of diet and delivery matrix on probiotic function. This research includes inquiry on how health can be improved by using dietary polysaccharides to modulate the structure and function of the gut microbiome. Her lab also has extensive expertise on the microbial diversity in fermented foods with specific attention to the bacterial species that have the capacity to prevent the growth and survival of foodborne pathogens and spoilage microbes. This research has received over 20 million dollars in research support from federal, state, foundational, and international agencies. Prof. Marco has mentored over 100 students, postdocs, and visiting scientists in her lab. She has over 110 publications in refereed journals and numerous patents. She received an American Society for Microbiology Distinguished Lecturer award and serves on numerous advisory and editorial boards.
Dr. Milenkovic’s research aims to demonstrate impact of nutrients on development and prevention of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and to identify molecular and cellular mechanisms of actions underlying observed effects using multi-genomic and bioinformatic approaches. In the last 10 years his research has been particularly focused on protective effects of bioactive plant compounds, mainly polyphenols. His projects uses translational research approach involving in-vitro studies, animal models and clinical trials. He uses multi-omics and systems biology to integrate results from genomics studies, including modifications in expression of gene (protein coding and non-coding like microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, short non-coding RNAs), protein, epigenetics as well as in-silico docking studies to evaluate interaction between polyphenol metabolites and cell signalling proteins.
Dr. David Mills is a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Food Science & Technology and Viticulture & Enology at UC Davis. Dr. Mills studies the molecular biology and ecology of bacteria that play an active role in gut health or fermented foods. In addition, Dr. Mills helped create the UC Davis “Milk Group” which has worked to investigate and translate the beneficial aspects of human milk. Dr. Mills has previously served as a Distinguished Lecturer for the American Society for Microbiology and currently serves on the editorial board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology. In 2012 he was named the Peter J. Shields Chair in Dairy Food Science and in 2015 he was elected a Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology. Dr. Mills’s research has helped launch several startup companies.
Dr. David E. Olson studied chemistry and neuroscience at Stanford University and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. His academic lab at the University of California, Davis discovered that psychedelics from multiple chemical classes promote structural and functional neuroplasticity in the cortex. They coined the term “psychoplastogen” to describe small molecules that produce rapid and long-lasting psychedelic- and ketamine-like effects on neuronal structure after a single dose, and they invented the first non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens capable of producing sustained therapeutic effects in preclinical models after a single dose. Professor Olson’s expertise spans central nervous system medicinal chemistry, molecular/cellular neurobiology, and behavioral neuropharmacology. He is an associate editor at ACS Chemical Neuroscience and has received numerous awards including the Jordi Folch-Pi Award from the American Society for Neurochemistry, the Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award, the Life Young Investigator Award, and the Sacramento Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, among many others. He is the founding director of the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics and is a co-founder and the Chief Innovation Officer of Delix Therapeutics.
Dan is a cooperative extension specialist working on forage and bioenergy crops. He is leading trials on hemp to determine the optimal agronomic practices for hemp seed production and cropping across California.
Dr. Lauren Shimek is an experienced innovation leader who uses human-centered design, cross-disciplinary collaboration and technical expertise to create strategic, breakthrough food and beverage products and to drive innovation culture within organizations. With over 12 years of food innovation experience, she helps companies unlock their creative confidence and create new products that tap into people’s unmet needs and desires while being grounded in manufacturability.
Lauren Shimek is the Founder and CEO of Food.Tech.Design. While at IDEO, Lauren co-led the Food Studio and developed product and packaging innovation platforms for Fortune 500 companies as well as emerging start-ups. She pioneered the discipline of food product design at IDEO. At General Mills, Lauren created breakthrough technologies and products in bakeries and foodservice, baking and meals categories. Lauren holds a Ph.D. degree in Food Science and a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis. She is on the Board of Directors of the Institute of Food Technologists and a mentor at Indie Bio, a startup accelerator which focuses on entrepreneurs building technologies in or around the field of Biotech. She has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of California, Davis, and currently teaches Design Thinking for Food, a multi-disciplinary graduate course.
Dr. Justin Siegel is an Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (School of Medicine), Chemistry (College of Letters and Science), and Genome Center at UC Davis. He has extensive experience running large-scale research and training programs within an academic-industry environment. As Faculty Director of IIFH, he is focused on making it so that the foods we love are healthy for both people and planet. Through these efforts Siegel has co-founded >10 companies and organizations, many of which have gone on to form thriving global initiatives or notable commercial success.
Dr. Carolyn Slupsky holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Nutrition and Food Science & Technology at the UC Davis. Her research is focused on the nexus between food, the gut microbiome, and health, with a focus on understanding how diet and the environment impact the relationship between the gut microbiome and host metabolism. She is particularly interested in how food/nutrition and environmental exposures impact the microbiome to shape prenatal and postnatal infant and child development. Dr. Slupsky was named a UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow in 2015 and was named the Kinsella Endowed Chair in Food, Nutrition, and Health from 2016 – 2022.
Dr. Edward “Ned” Spang is an Associate Professor of Food Science & Technology and the Director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at UC Davis. The vision of a sustainable food system where everyone has access to sufficient, nutritious food without placing undue burden on the environment guides his efforts as an educator, researcher, and community member. For more than 15 years, Dr. Spang has pursued research to understand and improve linked food, energy, and water resource systems. The majority of his current work focuses on food loss and waste across the entire food supply chain and advancing the circular economy of food. He also serves on the Board of the Yolo Food Bank.
Dr. Ilias Tagkopoulos is a Professor of Computer Science and the Genome Center at UC Davis. He leads the Integrative Biology and Predictive Analytics laboratory that focuses on genome-scale predictive models and experimental systems/synthetic microbiology. He is the Director of the USDA-NIFA/NSF AI Institute of Next-Generation Food Systems (AIFS), a $20M, 50+ faculty collaboration between UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UIUC, Cornell, ANR, and USDA, with a mission to build the AI tools for a more resilient, efficient, and equitable food system. He has been a scientific corporate advisor, and founder of six companies, three of which relate to AI in Life Sciences. His work addresses challenges in heterogeneous data integration, multi-scale omics modeling, deep learning and AI, optimal experimental design and discovery, and decision making under uncertainty, with applications in clinical, industrial, and nutrition data.
Dr. Ameer Taha is an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis. He specializes in food chemistry and biochemistry. Dr. Taha studies the mechanisms of oxidized fatty acid formation in food, and investigates their role on brain neurophysiology and function. He uses lipidomic approaches to probe and quantify oxidized fatty acid products formed under various food processing conditions, and investigate their absorption kinetics and impact on brain neurophysiology using electrophysiology and molecular assays. Understanding the mechanisms of oxidized lipid formation and their impact on brain function will aide in devising methods to minimize their formation during food processing and in establishing dietary safety limits.
Dean Unnava’s research focuses on issues related to brand loyalty, consumer response to advertising and sales promotions and consumer memory. His work has appeared in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Letters, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of International Consumer Marketing and Advances in Consumer Research. He is on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Consumer Psychology.
Unnava’s teaching experience includes courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including marketing management and strategy, marketing research, consumer behavior, promotional strategy, human memory processes and international marketing. He was named Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher by the student chapter of American Marketing Association seven times, won the Westerbeck Undergraduate teaching award twice, and was awarded the Bostic-Georges service award in 2014.
Unnava joined the Graduate School of Management in June 2016 following 32 years at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, where he earned his Ph.D. and served as the W. Arthur Cullman professor of marketing. At the Fisher College of Business, Unnava also served as the associate dean of undergraduate programs, associate dean of executive education, and director of doctoral programs in business.
Unnava is also one of the founders of Angi (formerly Angie’s List). He is currently on the board of directors of PRIDE Industries and serves on the board of the Bay Area Council.
Unnava earned his Ph.D. in business administration from The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, his Post Graduate Diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and his B.Tech. in electronics engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University.
Dr. Selina Wang is an Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension at the Department of Food Science and Technology. She led the UC Olive Center’s chemistry study on the quality and purity of supermarket olive oil from 2009 to 2011 which received worldwide attention and helped establish the new olive oil standards for the State of California in 2014. In 2020, her research group published the first extensive study of commercial avocado oil quality and purity. Her current mission-oriented research focuses are food quality and purity; fruit and vegetable processing; and food sustainability.
