Graduate Research
Explore the research of our graduate students through the NC State Libraries Repository of Theses and Dissertations (links below). With students from 4 departments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, there is quite a diversity of research generated at the Plants for Human Health Institute. Find information about our current graduate students in the People Directory.
Abby Bennett, MS, 2024
PHHI Advisor: Mary Ann Lila; Discipline: Nutrition
Thesis: Deconstructing Polyphenols: Utilizing Exogenous Fermentation Techniques to Generate Phenolic Acid Metabolites from Wild Blueberry
Yang Bian, MS, 2012
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Allan Brown; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Thesis: Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Cultivated Blueberries (Vaccinium section Cyanococcus spp.)
Christine Bradish Cash, MS, 2011; PhD, 2016
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Thesis: Measured Variation in Flavonoid Composition of North Carolina Red Raspberry through Targeted Metabolite Profiling
Dissertation: Studies of Linkage Mapping, Trait Heritability, and Pedigrees for Breeding Improvement of Southeastern Black and Red Raspberry
Haley Burtch, MS, 2020
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Mario Ferruzzi; Discipline: Food Science
Thesis: Adaptation of an Existing In Vitro Digestion Model for High Throughput Phenolic Bioaccessibility Phenotyping within Cultivated (Highbush) Blueberry Varieties
Weston Bussler, PhD, 2017
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Slavko Komarnytsky; Discipline: Nutrition
Dissertation: Uncovering Novel Loci in Crop Genomes to Maximize their Health Benefits
Samantha Case, PhD, 2019
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Sirius Li; Discipline: Plant Biology
Dissertation: Genetic Association Mapping of Agronomic, Fruit Quality, and Metabolic Traits in Blueberry and Broccoli
Yu Chun Chiu, MS, 2015
PHHI Advisors: Dr. Allan Brown, Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Thesis: QTL Mapping of Flavonoid and Phenolic Acid Variation in Broccoli
Monique Carvalho Templeton, PhD, 2022
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Colin Kay; Discipline: Nutrition
Dissertation: Evaluating Plant-derived (Poly)phenol Bioavailability via Broad-Spectrum Metabolomics using Highbush Blueberries as a Model Fruit
Courtney DeKalb, MS, 2017
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Thesis: Value-Added Opportunities for North Carolina Growers and Processors: Tomato and Watermelon
Diane Ducharme, PhD, 2019
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Dissertation: Incidence and Persistence of Salmonella and Escherichia coli in Environmental Samples from North Carolina Tomato Production Systems
Diego Garcia, MS, 2024
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Marvin Moncada; Discipline: Food Science
Thesis: Optimizing Production Parameters to Obtain a Novel Spray Dried Ingredient with Enzymatically Hydrolyzed Rice Flour using Response Surface Methodology
Jordan Hartman, MS, 2017
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Thesis: Investigating Citrulline in Cucurbits: A Survey of Cucurbitaceae and Heritability Estimations in Watermelon
Micaela Hayes, PhD, 2021
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Mario Ferruzzi; Discipline: Food Science
Dissertation: Influence of Spinach Genotype and Processing Method on Chlorophyll and Carotenoid Bioaccessibility in the Upper and Lower Gastrointestinal Tract
Brianna Haynes, MS, 2024
PHHI Adviser: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Characterization of Fruit Composition of North Carolina Strawberry Germplasm
Yu-Hung Hung, PhD, 2018
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Tzung-Fu Hsieh; Discipline: Plant Biology
Dissertation: Conserved Domains Required for DEMETER 5-Methylcytosine DNA Glycosylase/lyase Function in planta
Kimberly Palatini Jackson, PhD, 2017
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Slavko Komarnytsky; Discipline: Nutrition
Dissertation: Anti-Diabetic Effects of Bitter Botanicals
Raymond Jacobs, PhD, 2015
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Jeremy Pattison; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Dissertation: Inheritance of Rate-Limiting Foliar Resistance to Anthracnose Crown Rot and Fruit Rot in Cultivated Strawberry
Chen Jiang, PhD, 2016
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Dissertation: Postharvest Quality of Lettuce, Muskmelon, and Tomato after Application of Essential Oils as Innovative Disinfectants
Josh Kellogg, PhD, 2014
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Mary Ann Lila; Discipline: Food Science
Dissertation: Multifaceted Bioactivity of Alaskan Marine Algae Against Metabolic Syndrome Targets
Moo Jung Kim, PhD, 2014
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Dissertation: Organically Grown Blackberries: Storage Life, Phenolic Composition, and Anti-inflammatory Activity
Mengya Li, MHS, 2018
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Ying-Chen Lin, MS, 2015
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Allan Brown; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Thesis: Improved and Novel Resources for Blueberry Mapping and Genomics
Su Liu, MS, 2020
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Massimo Iorizzo, Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Thesis: Improved Hybrid de novo Genome Assembly, Resistance Gene Prediction and Annotation of Carrot (Daucus carota)
Bryan Munoz, PhD, 2021
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Massimo Iorizzo; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Dissertation: Characterization of Edible Banana Germplasm for Nutritional Improvement and Resistance to Black Sigatoka Disease
Zulfiqar Mohamedshah, MS, 2021
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Mario Ferruzzi
Thesis: Comparative Assessment of Phenolic Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability from 100% Juice and Whole Fruit – A Preclinical Approach
John Overall, MS, 2021
Thesis: Anthocyanin Structural Diversity and Gut Microbiota Interactions Contribute to Divergent Metabolic Health Outcomes after Berry Nutritional Interventions in Diet-Induced Obesity
Erika Pambianchi, PhD, 2021
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Giuseppe Valacchi; Discipline: Animal Science and Poultry Science
Dissertation: Topical Intervention to Prevent Pollution Induced Extrinsic Aging and Aberrant OxInflammatory Responses in Orthodox and Innovative Skin Models
Chinmayee Panda, PhD, 2017
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Sirius Li; Discipline: Plant Biology
Dissertation: Isolation and Characterization of a Suppressor of an Arabidopsis Lignin-deficient Dwarf Mutant
Nathalie Plundrich, PhD, 2017
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Mary Ann Lila; Discipline: Food Science
Dissertation: Protein-Polyphenol Complexation to Reduce Food Protein Allergenicity
Kathryn Racine, PhD, 2022
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Andrew Neilson; Discipline: Food Science
Dissertation: Protective Effects of Cocoa Flavanols Against Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes are Influenced by Biological Sex and Host Gut Microbiome Composition
Jade Schlamb, MS, 2024
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Marvin Moncada; Discipline: Food Science
Thesis: A Novel Spray Dried Hydrolyzed Insect Protein: Optimization of Enzymatic Hydrolysis Parameters and Techno-functional Characterization
Margaret Schneider, PhD, 2016
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Mary Ann Lila; Discipline: Food Science
Dissertation: Formation of Whey Protein-Polyphenol Aggregates and Incorporation into Various Food Structures
Sierra Smirnov, MS, 2019
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Debora Esposito; Discipline: Animal Science
Thesis: Regenerative Medicine: Effects of Plant Bioactives on Muscle Protection and Wound Healing
Scott Smith, PhD, 2017
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Tzung Fu Hsieh; Discipline: Plant Biology
Dissertation: Consensus Mapping and Association Mapping in Hexaploid Oat
Marlee Trandel, PhD, 2020
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Dissertation: Cell Wall Polysaccharides in Grafted and Non-grafted ‘Liberty’ Watermelon with Hollow Heart
Angela Vong, MS, 2022
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Slavko Komarnytsky; Discipline: Food Science
Thesis: Small Phenolic Acids in Rum Fermentation Products
Charles Wagner, PhD, 2020
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Slavko Komarnytsky; Discipline: Plant Biology
Dissertation: Evidence Based Validation of Botanical Interventions from Scotland and Medieval Wales
Kathleen Walter, PhD, 2019
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Debora Esposito; Discipline: Animal Science
Dissertation: Enhancement of Porcine Alveolar Macrophage Response to Respiratory Pathogens by Dietary Supplementation of Long-chain PUFA
Xueying Xie, MS, 2019
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Slavko Komarnytsky; Discipline: Food Science
Thesis: Oat Avenanthramides Contribute to Attenuation of Intestinal Glucose Absorption
Victoria Yell, PhD, 2024
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Sirius Li; Discipline:
Dissertation: The Contribution of Epigenetic and Transcriptional Regulators in Lignin-Modification-Induced Dwarfism
Ashley Yow, PhD, 2022
PHHI Advisors: Dr. Massimo Iorizzo, Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie; Discipline: Horticultural Science
Dissertation: Developing a Genomic Framework for Studying Agronomic and Nutritional Traits in Pineapple
Kelsey Zielinski, MFS, 2019
PHHI Advisor: Dr. Mary Ann Lila; Discipline: Food Science