Steve Lindemann is the microbiome wrangler and genome guru of the lab. His overarching goals aim to determine how diet influences the gut microbiome and overall host health. He aims to identify whether host health can be treated with dietary solutions. Specifically, molecular ecology techniques, dietary fiber structure determination, and bioinformatic analyses are used to understand the composition and stability of the gut microbiome with various dietary influences.

Mariana Guzmán is a visiting scholar in the Diet-Microbiome Interactions Lab and originally joined the team in Spring 2023 through the Undergraduate Research Experience Purdue – Colombia Program (UREP-C). She earned her BS in Agroindustrial Production Engineering and Bioproduction Engineering from La Sabana University, Colombia. She is currently assisting with modeling fructooligosaccharide degradation by microbial communities. She aspires to pursue a master’s degree to delve into the gut microbiome and its connection to nutrition, aiming to enhance her understanding in this field. In her free time, Mariana loves to cook, read and spend time outdoors.

Yuxin Wang is a current lead scientist and lab manager of the Lindemann lab. She obtained her Ph.D. degree from the Institutes for Nutritional Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, focusing on the role and mechanisms of protein post-translational modification in the canonical NF-κB signaling pathway. She did her post-doc training at UMASS-Amherst and UC-DAVIS. She focused on the effect and mechanisms of the eicosanoid signaling pathway and the metabolites in colon permeability, and colon diseases. She worked as an Assistant Project Scientist for 1 year and 4 months. There she worked on establishing the cellular system to determine the mechanism of PROTAC small-molecule degraders. Currently, Yuxin plans to set up the in vitro cellular system to determine the effect and mechanisms of microbiome metabolites and pathogens that affect the colon monolayer and the immune system.

Sajal completed his bachelor’s degree in food technology from Central Campus of Technology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal and his Masters in Biological Sciences: Food Science Specialization from South Dakota State University. His undergraduate thesis was focused on designing and construction of a pilot scale plant prototype to produce water-based edible wood smoke flavors free of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). His master’s program research was focused on understanding the polysaccharide chemistry (predominantly cellulose) and utilize the underutilized agricultural biomass to prepare environment friendly, strong, UV blocking, antioxidant and biodegradable ligno-cellulosic films to be potentially used for food packaging applications.

His research is currently focused on understanding the effects of sorghum arabinoxylans and cyanobacterial exopolysaccharides on the cooperative and competitive behavior of gut microbial community. One of his future plans is to pursue research on understanding how microbial ecology can be manipulated through diet to minimize the effects of environmental toxins in food.

Miguel A. Alvarez Gonzales is a graduate student in the Lindemann lab, joining the team in 2020.  Prior to starting his PhD, Miguel obtained his BS degree in Food Science and Technology from Zamorano University, Honduras, trained for a year in molecular biology techniques and bioinformatics, and completed his MSc in Food Science with an emphasis on carbohydrate chemistry.  Now, in the Lindemann lab, he uses the structure and function of carbohydrates, fecal fermentations, and bioinformatics to characterize wheat bran interactions with the gut microbiome.

Marcelo Guerrero is a graduate student in the Diet-Microbiome Interactions lab. His primary focus is on comprehending and applying classical genetic techniques to unravel unknown biological mechanisms. Within the Lindemann Lab, his goals revolve around gaining insights into the genetic mechanisms that govern the degradation of dietary fibers by various gut bacteria. Previously, he contributed to research involving the determination of the composition of distinct food matrices at Zamorano University. Furthermore, Marcelo has experience in conducting quantitative analyses for metabolite determination in fermentation protocols at Purdue University.

Anurag is a PhD student in the lab. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in microbiology from the University of Pune, India. For his PhD, he is studying different traits (genomics and proteomics) of gut microbiota that enable the microorganisms to metabolize complex carbohydrates which are part of the diet and the effect that carbohydrate structure has on this outcome. He is interested in understanding the chronological action of enzymes and genes working towards hydrolyzing complex carbohydrates. Anurag loves spending time outdoors and pursuing his hobby of wildlife photography.

Adam Quinn joined the lab in 2020 after receiving his BS and MS in Food Science from Brigham Young University. He is currently working to understand the impacts of different wheat varieties on gut microbiomes and the role of phages in sourdough microbiomes. His love for food, agriculture, and health stems from being raised on a wheat farm in Montana and starting a whole grain snack company. He also has a passion for teaching and spends some of his time mentoring in an undergraduate research course at Purdue.

Rajsri obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Food Science from Michigan State University. Her undergraduate research was focused on characterizing the allergens in ancient (genotype DD) wheat (specifically, Aegilops tauschii) and durum (genotype AABB) wheat using SDS-PAGE and Western Blotting. She also worked with mouse models on food allergy and immunology-focused research to understand how gluten allergy develops in transdermally sensitized BALB/c mice.

In the Lindemann lab, she is currently investigating how arabinoxylans originating from commercially-available cereal grains influence anaerobic fermentation by intestinal bacteria, and the role played by modern cereal grain consumption habits in modulating human gut microbiota composition. She eventually hopes to use her graduate training to explore the human gut microbiome’s relationship with a variety of factors, ex. dietary habits, gender, etc.

In addition to her research, Rajsri also pursues her artistic and literary interests in painting, sketching and reading.

Kierra Brock is an undergraduate student studying microbiology and psychology, and she plans to go to medical school after completing her undergraduate degree. She currently works as a lab research assistant and helps with various projects regarding gut microbiome interactions.

Carina is a junior majoring in Neurobiology & Physiology and Philosophy. She is currently helping with various projects. After graduation, she plans to apply to medical school.

Youssef is a junior majoring in Biomedical Health Science with a concentration in Pre-Medicine.  He is currently helping other researchers in the lab with various projects. After graduating, he plans to go to medical school and would like to obtain an MD-PhD.  Youssef is a certified personal trainer who enjoys playing soccer and traveling.

Maddie is an undergraduate research assistant in the Lindemann lab.