Mengxuan Lai joined the NRI in August 2025 as a doctoral student in Nutrition. He completed his undergraduate study at China Agricultural University and earned his Master of Science in Food Science from Cornell University. After graduation, Mengxuan contributed his skills to functional foods and nutritional research as a R&D engineer for five years, which inspired him to go back to school to further his education in nutrition. At the NRI, Mengxuan works closely with Dr. Blake Rushing, focusing on metabolomics.