Laboratory Personnel

Dr. Yu Wang | Associate Professor

Dr. Yu Wang got her Ph.D. at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and had her postdoc. training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology focusing on "Omics" techniques for early diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Wang received the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship to work at the Technical University of Munich focusing on taste modulation. Before joining the University of Florida, Dr. Wang was a Flavor Chemistry Manager at Mars Chocolate Inc, working in global R&D directing flavor applications, developing novel flavor profiles and providing technical guidance, etc. She is a huge fan of the X-files and loves kayaking.

Research Topics

Now she focuses more on how to apply machine learning on flavor research and plant metabolomics.

Jinpyo An | Postdoctoral Associate

I am a postdoctoral associate. My interest lies in chemical profiling of natural products and compound isolation. I received my doctorate degree from the Seoul National University, Department of pharmacy.

Research Topics:

• Discovering taste modulator in food using sensory guided column chromatography techniques.
• Identifying biomarker and biomarker patterns using metabolomics techniques to monitor plant disease and fruit quality.

Xuebo Song | Postdoctoral Associate

I am Xuebo Song from China. I received my PhD degree in Food Science and Engineering from the South China University of Technology. Currently, my projects focus on widely target analysis of volatile and non-volatile compounds in strawberries.

Hana Lee | Postdoctoral Associate

I am a postdoctoral researcher from South Korea. I graduated from the Food Science and Biotechnology Department of Chungbuk National University, South Korea. My research focused on the effect of natural compounds or agricultural commodities on the prevention or treatment of metabolic diseases such as obesity, inflammation, and type 2 diabetes via modulation of microRNAs. Currently, I am in charge of a project to find substances that inhibit TMAO production that affects metabolic diseases.

Research Topics

TMAO project and Cell culture room management

Kuikui Chen | Postdoctoral Associate

I come from Guangxi, China. I received my Ph.D. degree in Analysis of Chinese Materia Medica from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. I joined Dr. Yu Wang's Lab and have been working as a postdoctoral researcher since August 2023. Currently, my projects mainly focus on explaining changes in different physiological states of citrus by targeted, non-targeted metabolomics and multi-omics.

Research Topics

• Effects of different photosynthetic efficiency on citrus physiology
• Citrus evolution

Ling Liu | Lab Assistant

I like gardening, fishing, playing badminton, and traveling around the world.

Xin Liu | Chemist III

I am from China, and my major is natural product chemistry. I joined in Dr. Wang's lab in 2020. I am interested in discovering potential flavor compounds from fruits, herbs and other agricultural commodities

Research Topics

• Targeted and untargeted metabolomics on orange juices from different rootstocks
• Potential flavor compounds from herbs
• Isolation and bioactivity evaluation of Polymethoxyflavones from citrus peel
• Multi-omics analysis reveals biosynthesis of key flavor compounds in Mango

Awards, Scholarships, and Fellowships

• Outstanding reviewer for RSC Advances (2021)

Xixuan (Zoey) Tang | Ph.D. Candidate

Zoey started her journey at UF since 2013 as an undergraduate exchange student from Huazhong Agricultural University in China. After graduation with a bachelor’s degree in food science and Engineering, she continued to study at UF for her master’s degree, and then worked as Teaching Specialist in the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition for another two years. Zoey is passionate about flavor modulation and joins our lab in 2018 as a PhD student. Her research and projects include taste modulation, plant metabolomics, sensory analysis of citrus product, and machine learning study.

Zoey loves animal and has two cats for now. She likes dancing, painting, and playing violin in leisure time. She enjoys traveling and e-sports too.   

Research Topics

Taste modulation; Machine learning; Sensory evaluation (citrus); Metabolomics study. 

Awards, Scholarships, or Fellowships

Florida Section IFT Innovation Award, issued by IFT-FL, March 2019

National Association of Flavor and Food – Ingredient Systems (NAFFS) scholarship, issued by NAFFS, October 2020

Olson Scholarship, issued by FSHN, April 2022

Robert Madden | Ph.D. Candidate

As an undergraduate, I was performing vaccine research on dengue and yellow fever. It was not until my master’s degree that I became interested in food science and the chemistry of the produce we consume. Seeing how aroma and flavor compounds interact with each other really piqued my interest. My hope is to combine machine learning and chemistry to help the ongoing fight against citrus greening disease and its impacts on juice flavor.

Research Topics

• Using machine learning and hyperspectral imaging to evaluate mango sensory and chemical qualities.
• Use machine learning to predict aroma interactions to help improve overall flavor.

Awards, Scholarships, and Fellowships

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Dean’s Award (2020)

Fun Facts

I can make minute rice in 59 seconds

Miguel Vasconez | Ph.D. Student

My name is Miguel Vasconez, I am from Ecuador, and I am a first-year Ph.D. student in Food Science. I will be working over at Lake Alfred starting in summer of 2022 on my research on flavor chemistry. I have a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, and an M.Sc. in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  I have worked in the Food Industry for over 13 years in different roles related to Food Product Development and Manufacturing. I have a wife and two kids, I enjoy music and sports, traveling to new places, and spending time with my family.

Awards, Scholarships, and Fellowships

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Dean’s Award (2021)

Dongjoo Kim | Ph.D. Student

I received B.S degrees in Chemistry and Food & Nutrition from Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, and M.S degree in Food Science from the University of Florida. My master's work focused on the chemical compounds (aroma and taste compounds) changes and the sensory aspects, and the correlation between sensory data and chemical composition of a kombucha product using 'LB8-9' Sugar Belle®, a mandarin hybrid, which is known to be the most Huanglongbing-tolerant cultivar among commercially available varieties. After my master’s work, I started to broaden my research scope to machine learning. Machine learning techniques can be applied to predicting the specific characteristics of foods and food products, which could not be done by conventional methods due to the complexity of the food environment and the size of the data from analytical instruments such as High-resolution UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS.

Research Topics

• Untargeted analysis of different kombucha and their bioactivity
• Chemical analysis using GC-MS/O and LC-MS/MS for aroma and taste compounds in kombucha using an HLB-tolerant mandarin hybrid, 'LB8-9’ Sugar Belle®
• Discovery and isolation of potential flavor compounds from herbs
• Implementing machine learning techniques to analyze and understand larger datasets

Awards, Scholarships, and Fellowships

• The William F. Jaggard Memorial Scholarship, The Society of Flavor Chemists (2023)
• The Ron H Schmidt Memorial Graduate Scholarship, The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Florida (2023)
• The Graduate School Grinter Fellowship, University of Florida (2022)
• Dean’s Match Scholarship, University of Florida (2022)
• NAFFS 2021 Scholarship, National Association of Flavors and Food-Ingredient Systems (2021)
• Travel Grant, The 134th Annual Meeting of the Florida State Horticultural Society (2021)
• The William & Agnes Brown Scholarship, 2020-2021 Food Science and Human Nutrition Graduate Awards, University of Florida. (2021)