CURRENT LAB MEMBERS
Angela M. Zivkovic, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition
Office: 3245 Meyer Hall
Lab: 3402 Meyer hall, (530) 752-3973
amzivkovic@ucdavis.edu
linkedin.com/in/angelamzivkovicDr. Zivkovic’s research focuses on precision nutrition approaches to prevent disease, optimize health, and extend healthspan. Her group is particularly interested in dietary interventions, foods, and dietary components that reduce inflammation, beneficially alter the gut microbiome, and improve the functional capacity of HDL particles. The current focus is on the prevention of neurodegenerative disease, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Zivkovic is currently working on 3 NIH-funded projects. She is principal investigator of a multi-disciplinary R01 grant from the National Institutes of Aging studying the relationships between glycosylation and Alzheimer’s disease, principal investigator of the UC Davis sub award in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University on the NIH Common Fund Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium, and principal investigator of a technology development grant funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to develop advanced technology to isolate and characterize HDL and other nanoparticles. Dr. Zivkovic also runs a precision nutrition consultation practice and is scientific advisor at Realm Foods.
Angela Zivkovic
Joanne Agus
Graduate Student
Lab: 3402 Meyer hall, (530) 752-3973
jkagus@ucdavis.eduJoanne is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology. She is an expert in lipoprotein isolation and characterization using HPLC size exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled with multiple inline light scattering detectors including dynamic light scattering (DLS), multi-angle light scattering (MALS), and refractive index (RI). Joanne is currently working on 2 NIH-funded projects to develop and optimize methods for isolating and characterizing HDL particles, as well as studying the effects of prolonged fasting on the structure, composition and function of HDL.
Jack Zheng
Graduate StudentLab: 3402 Meyer hall, (530) 752-3973
jaczheng@ucdavis.eduJack’s research interest primarily focuses on how chronic disease conditions affect the structure and function of HDL. Many chronic diseases alter the body’s homeostasis in various ways, including leakage of intracellular enzymes from cell death, increased acidity and oxidative stress in regions of inflammation, and systemic increase of blood glucose and other reactive metabolites. These conditions could affect the structural and functional properties of circulating HDL particles, hampering their ability to perform a suited of beneficial and protective functions. Jack uses electron microscopy to characterize the structure of HDL particles and other nanoparticles, including extracellular vesicles. His current focus is on characterizing the structural and functional changes to HDL particles in response to pathological chemical changes observed in a wide variety of disease states, including low pH, high glucose, oxidation, proteases, and glycosidases.
Cynthia Tang
Graduate Student
xctang@ucdavis.eduCynthia is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology focusing on advanced computational approaches to analyze a variety of large data sets. She is particularly interested in the intersection between glycosylation and lipid metabolism pathways in the brain and how they are affected in Alzheimer’s disease. Using a variety of approaches to analyze and integrate multiple data types including RNAseq, metabolomic, lipidomic, and glycoproteomic data, she is uncovering new mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and how nutritional factors may influence these processes.
Brian Hong

Postdoctoral Scholar

Lab: 3402 Meyer hall, (530) 752-3973
bvhong@ucdavis.edu

Brian came to UC Davis as a transfer student in 2013, where he earned both his B.S. in Nutrition Science and M.S. in Forensic Science. Brian loves the Davis community, especially since we are central to many exciting places, such as Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, and the Bay Area. Brian enjoys exploring new foods and craft beers, playing the piano, and working out at the ARC in his free time. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Zivkovic lab, where his research focuses primarily on analyzing a wide variety of data using advanced computational approaches to integrate large -omic data sets. He is also continuing to develop and optimize functional assays for HDL in order to improve our understanding of how different nutritional factors affect HDL function. Ultimately, Brian’s career goal is to bridge the computational and experimental aspects of research within the biotech industry.
Eduardo Romo
Graduate Student
ezromo@ucdavis.edu
Susan Lei

Graduate Student

sllei@ucdavis.edu

Betty Sun
Graduate Student
qbsun@ucdavis.edu
Yanshan Jin

Graduate Student

ysjin@ucdavis.edu

LAB ALUMNI

Elizabeth Beals, resident at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, New York, NY

Trevor Zhu, Postdoctoral Scholar, Boutros Lab, Cancer Data Center, UCLA Johnsson Comprehensive Cancer Center

Christopher Rhodes, CEO, Mimio Health

Jea Woo Kang, Postdoctoral Scholar, Bendlin Laboratory, UW Madison

Oscar Muñoz, Scientist, Retrovirox, Inc., San Diego, CA