Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Extension
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1571
Healthy Heart Beats
January-March 2009
Vol 31, Issue 1
Spotlight
Jairam Vanamala, Ph.D.
Jairam Vanamala, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University. His Bioactive Compounds for Health Laboratory is actively engaged in identifying markers in colon and prostate cancer cells and tissue in obese and non-obese conditions that could be used to identify men and women at high risk for colon cancer or that could be used for evidence-based chemoprevention strategies. As a plant-based diet is protective against a variety of cancers, his laboratory is exploring the anti-cancer properties of bioactive compounds found in fruits, vegetables, grains and herbs. Currently, his research team is working to determine whether bioactive carotenoids and/or anthocyanins from colored potatoes exhibit anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. He is also investigating whether these potatoes exhibit different properties when processed in various forms (raw vs. baking, chipping, and French frying), and alter the gut-microbiota and energy-balance in a live pig model. He serves as the principal investigator for this study, which is part of a multi-institutional USDA NRI Integrated project. Dr. Vanamala says, "The long-term goal of my research is to optimize the health profiles of food products and provide modern evidence for ancient wisdom on diet and disease."
He received the Distinguished Early Career Contributions Award for excellence in Functional Food Research from the 2008 5th International Functional Food Conference in Baton Rouge. He also received the 2008 Outstanding Young Scientist Award from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India, for his contributions in bringing experts together from economics, horticulture, animal science, food science, nutrition and medicine to work on complex problems in the area of functional foods, probiotics and chronic disease prevention. In addition to directing the Bioactive Compounds for Health Laboratory, he also serves on the Sub-Committee for Professional Nutrition Education for the American Society for Nutrition (ASN; 2007-2010).
Dr. Vanamala is from India and worked at the National University of Malaysia (1998-2000) before moving to Texas A&M University (TAMU), College Station, Texas, to pursue his doctoral studies on colon cancer prevention. He completed his Ph.D. in 2004 and pursued a Post-doctoral Fellowship (2004-2006) at the Department of Nutrition and Food Science on a NASA funded grant with an aim to develop dietary ingredients that protect future astronauts going to Mars against cosmic radiation induced colon cancer. Before moving to Colorado State University in August 2008, he worked at the Obesity Research Institute (2006-2008) at TAMU on obesity-promoted colon cancer prevention. He and his wife, Lavanya, and daughter, Anjali, live in Fort Collins. They are expecting another baby in June 2009 and together they enjoy spending time with their friends and cooking authentic and traditional Indian and American cuisine (Turkey for Thanksgiving).
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