Dr. Reddivari joined the Purdue Food Science faculty in 2018. Her research focuses on plant food bioactive components and gut bacterial metabolism in health and low-grade inflammation-driven chronic diseases. The goal is to develop food-based strategies to counter diseases such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and colon cancer. Dr. Reddivari’s lab is specifically interested in understanding sources of variation in the content and composition of anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds in plant foods; how plant bioactive compounds influence the composition of gut microbiota; how gut bacteria influence the bioavailability and bioactivity of bioactives; and how bioactives and their gut bacterial metabolites suppress colonic inflammation, maintain gut barrier integrity and alter the inflammatory potential of gut microbiota. 

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Sarah Martin is a Laboratory Specialist in the Reddivari Lab, where she supports research investigating the role of bioactive compounds in digestive system disorders. She earned her M.S. in Food Science from Purdue University in 2025. During her master's research, Sarah investigated strategies to enhance anthocyanin stability through interactions with dietary fibers. She now contributes to research aimed at understanding how bioactive compounds influence digestive health and support the prevention and management of gastrointestinal disorders.

Carmel Even is a Registered Dietitian and a PhD student in the joint Bar-Ilan University–Tel-Hai University program. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Nutritional Sciences from Tel-Hai University. She conducts her PhD research in the Nutrition & Human Health Lab at the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute, where Dr. Faiga Magzal serves as Principal Investigator and Prof. Snait Tamir is Head of the Laboratory. Her research focuses on understanding how functional dietary compounds modulate the gut microbiota and microbial metabolism using in vitro fermentation models. Her current PhD research investigates the effects of prebiotics and phenolic compounds using in vitro fecal fermentation models inoculated with samples from children with autism. In addition to her doctoral research, she collaborates on projects investigating other functional dietary compounds and their effects on the gut microbiota across different populations and health contexts.