Jody Albright, a former business owner from Salisbury, is a 2011 graduate of Rowan-Cabarrus Comunity College with AS and AAS in Biotechnology degrees. He has recently joined the NRI in Dr. Bennett's lab as a laboratory technician. Jody is excited to use his recent education to develop several new protocols for the laboratory .

Jenna Baker joined the Nutrition Research Institute in June 2018. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Communication Studies. Jenna joined us from UNC Charlotte where she served as administrative staff for five years within academic departments. She is a native of Concord and currently lives in Kannapolis with her husband. In her spare time she enjoys exercising, traveling or anything outdoors.

Joshua received his B.S. in Biology in May of 2016 from High Point University in High Point, NC. His undergraduate research focused on the phylogenetic differences of parasitic wasps in the piedmont area. His previous work at the NRI consisted of assisting the research of the Ideraabdullah lab during the summer of 2015. He joined the NRI in September 2016 where he currently assists the Smith lab with their research of ethanol and the impacts it has upon fetal neurological growth and development.

Sierra Bonney worked as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Esposito’s lab at the Plants for Human Health Institute from 2016 to 2019. She received her MS in Animal Science from NCSU where her research focused on the role of plant bioactives in wound healing, inflammation, and muscle health. After graduation, she joined the NRI in December 2019 as the Clinical Research Coordinator for the Human Research Core. In her free time, she enjoys horseback riding on her family’s farm in New London, baking, and running with the NCRC running club.

Walden joined the NRI in September 2015, in the role of Technology Support Technician. He has a passion for all things technology related, and enjoys tinkering and learning about new tech. He comes to the NRI after serving T-Mobile, AT&T, and CompUSA. He is excited to bring that knowledge and passion, as well as a strong desire to help people, to the NRI. Walden is currently attending UNC-Charlotte, pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with a concentration in Software, Systems, and Networks.

Ryan Dayvault joined the NRI in May 2008, where he serves as the Assistant to the Deputy Director and Special Projects Coordinator. A native of Kannapolis and 2008 graduate of Catawba College, Ryan holds a B.A. in Political Science with an emphasis in public administration and a minor in business administration. An avid supporter of the efforts at the North Carolina Research Campus, Ryan has served in various capacities throughout the development of this project while in college and maintaining his residency in Kannapolis.

Rodney was born and raised in Kannapolis, and he and his family now live in Concord. Before retiring, Rodney worked as a corporate traffic director for a national display company, and production manager for a technology company that specialized in control panels and vision systems. In addition to helping NRI in the café, he also works as a real estate photographer. Rodney is excited to be a part of the team at the Lettuce Eat Café. His hobbies include photography, softball, basketball, and traveling. He’s a huge Tar Heel, Panthers, and Braves fan as well!

Walter Friday, a Kannapolis native, recently returned to Cabarrus County to get married. He is a 2010 graduate of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College with an AAS in Biotechnology. He is pleased to be working at the Nutrition Research Institute as a research technician. He enjoys spending time with his wife, reading, and traveling.

Doretha Grier, a native of Kannapolis, joined the Nutrition Research Institute in March 2020. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and holds a Masters in Middle Grades Science Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  Certifications include Academically Gifted Certification from the University of Chapel Hill and National Board Certification for Professional Teachers. Her work experiences include teaching science for over 20 years in Kannapolis. She is married with two grown children, two special nieces, and a nephew she considers her own. In her spare time she enjoys reading, spending time with family and traveling. She is pleased to be a part of the NRI.

Julie earned a BS in Health Science from Truman State University and a Masters in Public Health, with a concentration in Health Education and Health Behavior, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a Certified Health Education Specialist, her prior work focused on tobacco prevention and control. At the NRI, Julie works with Philip May, PhD, on dataset management, quality assurance, data analysis, and manuscript preparation on the epidemiology of FASD in the United States and South Africa.

Kaylee Helfrich joined the NRI as a doctoral student in nutrition in August 2016. She completed her BS degree in Biochemistry at Clemson University in December 2015. Her research focused on signaling mechanisms that controlled energy expenditure in plants. Kaylee works with Dr. Susan Smith to research prenatal alcohol exposure and its interaction with iron metabolism in the mother and infant.

David Horita joined the NRI in 2013 as a grant writer. He assists faculty by identifying funding opportunities and writing/editing research proposals. David developed research and writing experience in metabolism and cell signaling during his 13 years as a faculty member in Biochemistry at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He did postdoctoral work at the NCI/NIH and obtained a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin and a BA in chemistry from Carleton College.

Scott Jaworski joined the NRI in May 2008, where he serves as the Applications Analyst and IT Consultant. Scott brings years of experience in the University IT field, having worked in the IT Technical Support field both as a student and staff member at UNC Charlotte, where he graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science in 2001.

Cecilia received her PhD in molecular nutrition from Cornell University. Her dissertation project focused on the effect of maternal choline supplementation during mouse pregnancy on placental function and offspring development. While at Cornell University, Cecilia also completed the dietetic internship and is currently certified as a Registered Dietitian. Cecilia joined the NRI in the fall of 2017 to work with Dr. Smith where she will conduct studies examining how maternal nutritional status interacts with alcohol consumption to modulate placental development and offspring health. This understanding will facilitate the development of dietary interventions to improve outcomes in children who are prenatally exposed to alcohol.

Yuanyuan Li, PhD is the manager of the mass spectrometry facility in the Sumner-Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI).  Dr. Li oversaw the development of the Sumner-Lab untargeted analysis workflow for the NIEHS-funded Children’s Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR) program, and serves as the technology core leader for untargeted analysis for the North Carolina Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource Untargeted Analysis Laboratory (NC HHEAR UAL).  She has extensive experience in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and incorporates that knowledge in her research at NRI which focusses on prevention and management of metabolic syndromes, including obesity, diabetes, and their complications, through nutritional approaches and herbal remedies. Dr. Li  earned a BS in 2003 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China and a PhD in biochemistry from City University of Hong Kong in 2014.

Michael Mackin joined the Nutrition Research Institute in March 2016 as an Accounting Technician.  As a local native, Michael once worked at the Pillowtex plant, before it ceased operations, where the NRI was later built.  He enjoys spending time with his daughter, walking, and watching sports.

Susan McRitchie, MA, MS, is the lead biostatistician in the Sumner-Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI). She has over 20 years of experience using statistics and modeling approaches to associate survey data and laboratory measures from basic, clinical, and epidemiology investigations with a wide variety of health outcomes.  She served as the Program Coordinator for the NIH-Common Fund Eastern Regional Comprehensive Metabolomics Core (ERCMRC, 2012-2019), and contributed to working groups on data analysis and visualization, and promotion and outreach. She is currently the Program Coordinator for the North Carolina Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource Untargeted Analysis Laboratory (NC HHEAR UAL) that was established in August 2019.  Ms. McRitchie’s research interest lies in understanding how diet, and nutrients, can mitigate against adverse effects from exposures to drugs, medications, and environmentally relevant chemicals. Ms. McRitchie earned a MA in Mathematics from UCLA and a MS in Biostatistics from UNC Chapel Hill.

Carolyn Munson graduated in 2015 from Rowan Cabarrus Community College with an AAS in biotechnology. She is working as a research technician in the Surzenko Lab at the NRI. Much of her work is directed by Dr. Natalia Surzenko performing immunohistochemistry work.

Kendra received her undergraduate degree in Nutrition from Southern Utah University and worked as a sanitarian prior to attending UNC. She is completing the final stages of her MPH/RD program at UNC-Chapel Hill while working in Dr. Voruganti's lab at NRI. Her prior research focused on the accuracy of consumer fitness trackers and their value as an assessment tool in dietetics practice and future nutrition research.

Dr. Peter Pediaditakis joined UNC Nutrition Research Institute in 2015 as a research scientist in the N. Krupenko Lab after several years in an academic setting.  His work involves understanding how folate metabolism affects hepatocytes and how those hepatocyte effects influence the whole body. Additionally, Dr. Pediaditakis is creating specific genetic mutants in immortalized cultured hepatocytes to more clearly understand the role of the liver using metabolomics-based methods. Dr. Peter Pediaditakis received his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002. His thesis work was in the laboratory of Dr. George Michalopoulos where he explored the role of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor in liver homeostasis and regeneration. Upon completion of his doctorate, Dr. Pediaditakis joined the laboratory of Dr. John Lemasters at UNC Chapel Hill where he received an individual Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award. The focus of his post-doctoral work explored the role of protein kinases A and G in the protection of hepatocytes from mitochondrial-induced cell death. After his fellowship, Dr. Pediaditakis worked as a scientist at various institutions and private companies where he continued his work on human and mammalian hepatocyte isolation and metabolism. Dr. Pediaditakis left the laboratory for several years and taught biology, anatomy and physiology, and chemistry at both the high school and college level.

Before getting a B.S. in Biology from UNC Charlotte, Bill completed an A.A.S. in Biotechnology at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and worked with protein-polyphenol aggregates as a technician in Dr. Lila's lab at PHHI.  After graduating, their interests in the intersections of Nutritional Biology and Social Ecology have led their work/study through diverse occupations such as greenhouse management, restoration agriculture, community organizing, and worker cooperatives (currently they are involved in an exploratory group to build natural houses and pools, and do permaculture landscaping).  They are also very excited to be back in a lab environment and interested in continuing their education by entering a graduate program in the near future.

Grace (Yunzhi) joined the NRI in June 2020 as a research technician in the Sumner Lab, who are interested in metabolomics investigations in nutrition, environmental exposures, and metabolic variation. Grace received her B.S. in Human Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Master in Public Health in Biostatistics from Columbia University. She is an incoming PhD student in Nutrition in 2020.

Olivia completed her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at Penn State University, where she investigated the role of the micronutrient zinc in mammary gland development and the influence of genetic variation on lactation outcomes. Olivia joined the NRI in July 2019 to focus on nutrient-gene interactions and precision nutrition during development. As a postdoctoral research associate in Dr. Smith’s lab, she will explore epigenetic mechanisms to understand how alcohol disrupts fetal development.

Nipun Saini joined the NRI in the summer of 2017 for her second postdoctoral position and will be working with Dr. Smith on fetal alcohol syndrome. She completed her PhD. in Biochemistry from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where her dissertation was focused on the characterization of inhibitors of fatty acid transport protein-2 in cell and animal models to reduce obesity, lipotoxicity and related diseases. After earning her PhD, she moved to the North Carolina Research Campus as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at North Carolina Central University and worked on understanding the mechanism of microRNA-mediated regulation in metformin treated breast cancer cells.

Alyson received her B.S. in Biology from the College of Charleston in May of 2017.  Shortly after, she began her career as a Research Specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina.  She assisted with research focused on the effect(s) of alcohol exposure on the brain.  After moving to North Carolina, Alyson joined the NRI in February 2019 as a Research Technician and is currently assisting the Mooney Lab with their research of the effect(s) of environment and genes on brain development, with a focus on prenatal alcohol exposure.

Jon Shea joined the Nutrition Research Institute in the summer of 2017. He is a graduate of UNC Charlotte’s Bioinformatics program.  He has worked in several labs working on research in single cell sequencing studying the transcriptomic changes in yeast and c. elegans as well as plant metabolites using HPLC and mass spectrometry.

Julie joined the NRI in 2009 with Dr. Carol Cheatham’s Nutrition & Cognition Lab where she helped launch some of the first human studies completed on the NCRC.  In her time with the NRI, she has also enjoyed working with Dr. Phil May to learn more about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs). She and has worked on research studies with babies, toddlers, school age children, and adults of all ages.  Julie earned a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a Masters in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Julie’s current project is coordinating the Choline Status Study for Dr. Zeisel’s lab.

Melissa VerHague earned her PhD in molecular pathology from Wake Forest University. Her dissertation investigated the impact of apolipoprotein A-IV on triglyceride secretion and lipoprotein particle expansion associated with hepatic steatosis. A native of Buffalo, NY, she joined the NRI as a postdoctoral research associate in September of 2014. Her primary research focus is understanding the role of CD44 in atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome.