Ana Nava is a Ph.D. candidate from the Food Science and Technology department at Texas A&M University. She holds a Master's degree in Biotechnology from Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. Her research topics mainly include the study of bioactive compounds in health studies. Her current research focuses on the effects of anthocyanins from dark sweet cherries on breast cancer both in vitro and in vivo.
Dr. Lauren W. W Stranahan is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and
Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, United States. She moved to
Texas in 2016 after graduating with her DVM from North Carolina State
University College of Veterinary Medicine to pursue a residency and PhD in
anatomic pathology. Following completion of these programs in 2022, she joined
the faculty at Texas A&M University. Currently, she serves as one of two
pathologists with the Dermatopathology Specialty Service and participates in
the Surgical Biopsy Service. She loves dermatopathology and was fortunate
during her residency to receive training from renowned dermatopathologists,
Drs. Joanne Mansell and Aline Rodrigues-Hoffmann. Her research focuses on
cutaneous epitheliotropic lymphoma in dogs, a malignant skin cancer that
carries a poor prognosis and for which effective therapy is currently limited.
Dr. Susanne U. Mertens-Talcott is a Professor at Texas A&M
University. She received her B.S./M.S. in Nutrition from the University of
Bonn, Germany in 1998 and her Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition from the
University of Florida in 2004. She then conducted postdoctoral research at the
University of Florida in 2006. She received the ASN Mary Swartz Rose Young
Investigator Award from the American Society for Nutrition in 2009. Dr. Susanne
Talcott’s research focuses on translational pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
of botanical compounds and their physiological metabolites related to
inflammation, cancer prevention, and intestinal health with a focus on human
clinical trials.
Dr. Giuliana D. Noratto is a Research Scientist at Texas A&M University. She earned her B.S. in Food Science from Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Lima, Peru (1988), followed by an M.S. in Food Technology–Biotechnology from the same institution (1998), and a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from Texas A&M University (2008). Her research centers on the health benefits of nutritional bioactive compounds, with a focus on their effects at two levels of gastrointestinal absorption. In the upper GI tract, she explores how these compounds can influence cellular signaling pathways to help prevent or slow cancer progression. In the lower GI tract, her work examines the impact of these compounds on fecal microbiota and their metabolites. Using both in vitro and in vivo models, she investigates the potential of plant-derived phytochemicals to support breast cancer prevention and treatment.
