Saroja Voruganti, PhD
- The Latino Eyelid: Anthropometric Analysis of a Spectrum of Findings.
- Genome-wide association of trajectories of systolic blood pressure change
- Comparison of 2 models for gene– environment interactions: an example of simulated gene–medication interactions on systolic blood pressure in family-based data
- Genome-wide association replicates the association of Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) polymorphisms with serum monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) levels in Hispanic children
- Significant genotype by diet (G × D) interaction effects on cardiometabolic responses to a pedigree-wide, dietary challenge in vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus)
- QTL mapping of leukocyte telomere length in American Indians: the Strong Heart Family Study
- Genome-wide association analysis confirms and extends the association of SLC2A9 with serum uric acid levels to Mexican Americans
- Successful β cells islet regeneration in streptozotocin-induced diabetic baboons using ultrasound-targeted microbubble gene therapy with cyclinD2/CDK4/GLP1
- Multiancestral analysis of inflammation-related genetic variants and C-reactive protein in the population architecture using genomics and epidemiology study
- Utility of large consanguineous family-based model for investigating the genetics of type 2 diabetes mellitus
Assistant Professor, Nutrition
Genetic and environmental influences on disease risk
Saroja Voruganti, PhD, joined the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in 2013 as assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition, UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Voruganti’s research investigates how genetic and environmental (particularly diet and nutrients) factors impact hyperuricemia, gout, kidney and cardiovascular disease, with the goal of finding new treatment options.
Dr. Voruganti earned her B.Sc. degree with honors in Foods and Nutrition at The University of Delhi, India, and a post-graduate diploma in Dietetics and Hospital Food Service. She received a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin and did post-doctoral work in Genetic Epidemiology at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
She has conducted several studies involving minority populations such as Mexican Americans, American Indians, Western Alaska Natives and Hispanic children. Her focus in all these studies is to understand genetic and environmental influences on renal-cardiovascular disease risk.
Dr. Voruganti has published or has in press more than 75 scholarly papers and has authored chapters in two books: Handbook of Anthropometry: Physical Measures of Human Form in Health and Disease and Human Variation: From the Laboratory to the Field.
Research Team
Ruixue Hou
Graduate Research Assistant, Voruganti Lab
ruixue@live.unc.edu704-250-5055
Ruixue received her M.S. in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition from Tufts University. She joined the NRI and Dr. Voruganti’s lab in September 2015 as a doctoral student in the Nutrition Department at UNC Chapel Hill.
Baba Mass
Research Technician, Voruganti Lab
bmass@live.unc.edu704-250-5055
Baba graduated from Gambia College School of Education with an AS in science and mathematics. He taught Junior Secondary School science for three years before migrating to the U.S. to pursue higher education. Baba joined the Voruganti lab as a student intern from RCCC before officially joining the team as research technician in July 2015.
Chinmayee Panda, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Voruganti Lab
chinmayee_panda@unc.edu704-250-5055
Dr. Chinmayee Panda is passionate about research that benefits human health. She earned her PhD in Plant Biology from NCSU in August 2017, with a focus in genetics and molecular biology. She joined NRI thereafter as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Voruganti Lab to investigate the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in influencing renal-cardiovascular disease risk. She is currently involved in a project that aims to characterize the nutrigenetic and nutrigenomic determinants of obesity and related comorbidities in children. She also hopes to characterize key phenotypes and environmental factors that increase susceptibility to metabolic diseases in genetically isolated population like Parsis in North America. In her spare time, she dabbles in food photography and blogging. She enjoys travelling with her husband.
Xinruo Zhang
Graduate Student, Voruganti Lab
xinruo@email.unc.edu704-250-5055
Xinruo Zhang joined the NRI in August 2015 as a graduate student in the Nutrition Department at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her B.S. Degree from the University of Maine Orono, with a concentration in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, and a minor in Molecular Biology.
