Current Project Leaders
Jung Yul Lim, PhD
Professor
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Project: "Adipocyte mechanotransduction and insulin signaling"
More information about Jung Yul Lim
Fabiana Silva, PhD
Assistant Professor
College of Public Health
Department of Health Promotion
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Project: “Cultural adaptation and feasibility testing of a technology-based pediatric weigh management intervention for rural Latino communities”
Sunil Sukumaran, PhD
Assistant Professor
Nutrition and Health Sciences
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Project: “Biased sweet taste signaling pathways in mice and humans”
More information about Sunil Sukumaran
Ivan J. Vechetti Jr., PhD
Assistant Professor
Nutrition and Health Sciences
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Project: “The role of muscle-derived extracellular vesicles in adipocyte metabolism”
More information about Ivan Vechetti
Qiuming Yao, PhD
Assistant Professor
Computer Science and Engineering
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Project: “Multi-modal omics in resolving gut microbiota and host interactions for diet induced obesity”
More information about Qiuming Yao
Current Pilot Projects
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Punita Dhawan Biochemistry and Molecular Biology University of Nebraska Medical Center |
“Role of MASTL in Pancreatic Steatosis and associated diseases” |
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Rebecca Oberley-Deegan Biochemistry and Molecular Biology University of Nebraska Medical Center |
“Understanding the mechanism of obesity-induced radiation damage” (P01/Multiple PI pilot grant) |
Current Seed Projects
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Micah Schott Biochemistry and Molecular Biology University of Nebraska Medical Center |
“Microautophagy of Lipid Droplets by Endosomal Trafficking Mechanisms” |
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Sasitharan Balasubramaniam School of Computing |
“Digital simulations and wet lab experimental platform for bacterial EV intercellular communications” |
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Tomasz Bednarski Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
“The impact of obesity on satellite cells action in the skeletal muscle” |
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Jaekwon Lee Biochemistry University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
“Protection against hepatic lipid toxicity by copper homeostasis” |
Current Revision Grant
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Xinghui Sun Department of Biochemistry University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
“Novel roles of Matrin-3 in hepatic steatosis and acute phase response" |
Former Project Leaders
Cohort 1 - August 2014 - May 2017 | Project leader | Project title |
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Justin Mott Biochemistry & Molecular Biology University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha More information about Justin Mott |
“Palmitoleate Protects against Cholangiocyte Lipoapoptosis” |
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Qiaozhu Su now Queen’s Univ. Belfast More information about Qiaozhu Su |
“Redox signaling, endoplasmic reticulum stress, high-fat diet, and metabolic syndrome” |
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Juan Cui Computer Science & Engineering University of Nebraska-Lincoln More information about Juan Cui |
“Bioinformatics-guided Discovery of Dietary MicroRNA Signals in Obesity” |
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Amanda Ramer-Tait Food Science & Technology University of Nebraska-Lincoln More information about Amanda Ramer-Tait |
“Gut microbe signaling, epigenetics, and inflammatory processes” |
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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” |
Cohort 2 - June 2017 - May 2020 | ||
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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” |
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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” |
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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” |
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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” |
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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” |
Former Pilot Project recipients:
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 (Food Science, UNL) 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:
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 F. 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 R. 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 – Dr. Saraswathi Viswanathan (UNMC) “The role of TP-R on obesity-linked metabolic disorders” 2020