Former Projects

Former Research Project Leaders (RPL)

 Cohort 3 - June 2020 - May 2023Project title
Ivan J. Vechetti Jr.
Ivan J. Vechetti Jr.
Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
More information about Ivan Vechetti
“The role of muscle-derived extracellular vesicles in adipocyte metabolism”
Qiuming Yao
Qiuming Yao
Computer Science and Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
More information about Qiuming Yao
“Multi-modal omics in resolving gut microbiota and host interactions for diet induced obesity”
Jung Yul Lim
Jung Yul Lim
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
More information about Jung Yul Lim
"Adipocyte mechanotransduction and insulin signaling"
Fabiana Silva (Brito)
Fabiana Silva (Brito)
Department of Health Promotion
University of Nebraska Medical Center
“Cultural adaptation and feasibility testing of a technology-based pediatric weigh management intervention for rural Latino communities” 
Sunil Sukumaran
Sunil Sukumaran
Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
More information about Sunil Sukumaran
“Biased sweet taste signaling pathways in mice and humans”
 
Cohort 2 - June 2017 - May 2020
Project title
Evi Farazi
Evi Farazi
College of Public Health
University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha
More information about Evi Farazi
“Identification of metabolic biomarkers and signaling changes associated with obesity related hepatocellular carcinoma”
Sathish Natarajan
Sathish Natarajan
Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
More information about Sathish Natarajan
“Palmitoleate protects against 3-hydroxy fatty acid-induced lipotoxicity to placenta and maternal liver during acute fatty liver of pregnancy”
Xinghui Sun
Xinghui Sun
Department of Biochemistry
University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
More information about Xinghui Sun
“Endothelial long non-coding RNA Meg3, adipose tissue dysfunction, and obesity”
Dustin Yates
Dustin Yates
Department of Animal Science
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
More information about Dustin Yates
“Impact of maternal oxygen supplementation on adaptive metabolic dysfunction in IUGR fetuses”
	Jiujiu Yu
Jiujiu Yu
Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
More information about Jiujiu Yu
“Effects of grapefruit extracellular vesicle-like nanoparticles on NLRP3 inflammasome activation”
 Cohort 1 - August 2014 - May 2017Project title
Justin Mott
Justin Mott
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology 
University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha
More information about Justin Mott
“Palmitoleate Protects against Cholangiocyte Lipoapoptosis”
Qiaozhu Su
Qiaozhu Su 
now Queen’s Univ. Belfast 
More information about Qiaozhu Su
“Redox signaling, endoplasmic reticulum stress, high-fat diet, and metabolic syndrome”
Juan Cui
Juan Cui
Computer Science & Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
More information about Juan Cui
“Bioinformatics-guided Discovery of Dietary MicroRNA Signals in Obesity”
Amanda Ramer-Tait
Amanda Ramer-Tait
Food Science & Technology
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
More information about Amanda Ramer-Tait
“Gut microbe signaling, epigenetics, and inflammatory processes”
Soonkyu Chung
Soonkyu Chung
now at School of Public Health & Health Sciences
University of Massachusetts Amherst
More information about Soonkyu Chung
“Regulation of White Adipocyte Browning by Dietary Fatty Acids”

 

Former Pilot Project Leaders (PPL)

Paras Kumar Mishra (UNMC): “Gut dysbiosis in diabetic cardiomyopathy” 2021
Rebekah Gundry (UNMC): “Glycan signatures as mechanistic markers of beta cell injury in diabetes” 2020-2021
Rohita Sinha (UNL, Food Science): “Computational method to select bioactive dietary-peptides inhibiting microbial pathways associated with obesity,” 2017-2019
Kaustav Majumder (UNL,  Food Science)  2018-2019
Audrey Atkin (UNL, Biological Sciences) “Molecular characterization of human miRISC complexes following treatment with cow milk exosome” 2016-2018
Srivatsan Kidambi (UNL, Chem. Eng.)  2016-2017
Jiri Adamec (UNL, Biochemistry) 2015-2016
Samodha Fernando (UNL, Animal Science) 2015-2016

Former Seed Project recipients:

Micah Schott (UNMC): “Microautophagy of Lipid Droplets by Endosomal Trafficking Mechanisms” 2022/2023
Sasitharan Balasubramaniam (UNL): “Digital simulations and wet lab experimental platform for bacterial EV intercellular communications” 2022/2023
Tomasz Bednarski (UNL): “The impact of obesity on satellite cells action in the skeletal muscle” 2022/2023
Jaekwon Lee (UNL): “Protection against hepatic lipid toxicity by copper homeostasis” 2022/2023
Amy Desaulniers (UNL): “Impacts of dietary milk exosome consumption on the testicular transcriptome” 2022
John S. Davis (UNMC): “Identification of metabolic pathways in ovarian steroidogenic tissues” 2021
Donald Becker (IANR/ARD): "Impact of obesity on proline energy metabolism in the mitochondrion” 2021
Ed Harris (IANR): “Contribution of copper in non-alcohol steatohepatitis” 2021
Oleh Khalimonchuk (IANR): "Mechanisms of Heme Transport and Distribution in Erythropoiesis” 2021
Dipti A. Dev (UNL): "SensiTray: Improving Feasibility and Validity in Children’s Dietary Assessment” 2021
Christopher Gustafson (IANR): “Health promotion in complex food choice environments: the effect of decision prompts on attention to products, nutrient information, and choice” 2021
Jaekwon Lee (UNL): "Mitigation of obesity and Hepatic steatosis by copper limitation" 2020-2021
Jennifer Auchtung (UNL): “Determining the role of bovine milk exosomes, a class of bioactive food compounds, in modulating the gastrointestinal microbiome and functional resistance to infection with Clostridioides difficile” 2020-2021
Seung-Hyun Ro (Biochemistry, UNL)  2019
Ann Anderson Berry (UNMC)  2019
Paul Thomes (UNMC) 2017-2018
Jiujiu Yu (Dept. of Nutrition and Health Sciences, UNL) Seed grant project: “Identification of microRNA in grapefruit extracellular vesicles and its target gene that reduce NLRP3 inflammasome activation” 2016-2017
Dustin Yates (Department of Animal Science, UNL),Seed Grant: “Identification of microRNA in grapefruit extracellular vesicles and its target gene that reduce NLRP3 inflammasome activation” 2016-2017
Sathish Natarajan (Dept. of Nutrition and Health Sciences, UNL), Seed grant: “Mechanism of 3-hydroxy fatty acid-induced placental trophoblast and hepatocyte lipoapoptosis” 2016 
Tara Nordgren (UNMC): “Role of dietary microRNAs on human macrophage function” 2016-2017
Jung Yul Lim (UNL, Mechan. Eng.): “Adipokine Mechanobiology for Insulin Signaling” 2016-2017
Jiujiu Yu (UNL, NHS): “Identification of microRNA in grapefruit extracellular vesicles and its target gene that reduce NLRP3 inflammasome activation” 2017
Audrey Atkin (UNL, Biological Sciences): “Molecular characterization of human miRISC complexes following treatment with cow milk exosome miRNAs” 2015-2016
Ed Harris/Cliff Stains (Biochemistry & Chemistry, UNL) 2015-2016

Revision Grant – Xinghui Sun (UNL) “Novel roles of Matrin-3 in hepatic steatosis and acute phase response” 2023
Revision Grant – Saraswathi Viswanathan (UNMC) “The role of TP-R on obesity-linked metabolic disorders” 2020