Jairam Vanamala

Biography

Jairam Vanamala, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Director of The Food for Gut Health Laboratory in the Department of Food Science at Penn State, in University Park, PA. He is also on the faculty of Center for Molecular Immunology and Infectious Diseases and The Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute. Dr. Vanamala is an expert food processing effects on anti-inflammatory/anti-cancer properties of foods. As a recognized leader in the field of functional foods, he received several research projects funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study the health benefits of whole foods, particularly after processing. He has also authored numerous peer-reviewed articles on the topics of phytonutrient extraction, analysis and chemoprevention/protection.

Research Interest

Dr. Vanamala received his doctorate from Texas A&M University and completed his post-doctorate fellowship in cancer prevention/nutritional biochemistry at the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI; NASA), Texas A&M. 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.”