saroja@unc.edu
704-250-5009
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Saroja Voruganti, PhD
Director of Clinical Research Core, Professor of Nutrition
Dr. Saroja Voruganti, Professor of Nutrition, is working on building a nationally and internationally recognized research program in nutritional genomics at UNC. A unique field, nutritional genomics seeks to identify genetic susceptibility to diseases, effect of genetic variation on nutrient metabolism and the effect of nutrients on gene expression. She has extensively investigated the interplay between nutritional and genetic factors influencing disease risk in ethnically diverse populations, especially minority populations such as Mexican American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Parsi Zoroastrian and Hispanic children populations. Her research is focused on uncovering new connections between genetics, nutrition, and epidemiology that can lead to more accurate determination disease risk and new treatment options for metabolic diseases. The key areas of her research program include:
- Gene-nutrient interactions affecting purine metabolism and related neurodegenerative diseases
- Genetic and environmental factors affecting complex diseases such as obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes in ethnically diverse populations
Female Scientists Breaking Barriers at the Nutrition Research Institute
by Grace Gable Research Technician Sergey Krupenko Laboratory UNC Nutrition Research Institute Ada Lovelace, founder of scientific computing and the first computer programmer, approached science in...
Saroja Voruganti, PhD, Promoted to Associate Professor of Nutrition
October 22, 2019 – Saroja Voruganti, PhD, was recently promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) Director Steven Zeisel, MD, PhD, announced the promotion with great pleasure, acknowledging the significance of this accomplishment and the impact of Dr. Voruganti’s research: “Dr Voruganti is a leading scientist in the area of how our genes affect our nutritional needs, and her promotion by the university recognizes these important contributions.”
Recap: 2019 Nutrigenetics, Nutrigenomics and Precision Nutrition Short Course
Participants from around the world attended the NRI’s fourth consecutive Nutrigenetics, Nutrigenomics, and Precision Nutrition Short Course from June 3 – 6 in Kannapolis on the North Carolina...
NRI seeks volunteers to help make research discoveries
June 3, 2019 -The UNC Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) in Kannapolis, North Carolina is looking for volunteers to help move science forward. The NRI’s mission is to advance the field of precision nutrition by investigating how genetics, gut microbiota, and environment affect an individual’s requirements for and responses to nutrients. To that end, several NRI principal investigators are currently recruiting participants for their clinical studies.