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Hazel Avalos majored in Computer Science. Hazel spent Spring 2022 on a special project as part of the data team in the PKT lab and will graduated in May 2022.
Julie Barber was Dr. Borum’s Administrative Assistant. She managed the calendar, ran the website, and worked with the students.
Stuart Case majored in Nutritional Sciences and Microbiology & cell science. The purpose of his project was to improve efficacy and long term use of Precision Ketogenic Therapy by discovering how it modulates metabolism and physiology. Stuart was on our clinical team in 2020.
Svea Chang graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences from Cornell University in December 2020. She was in the lab throughout 2021 helping Dr. Borum with courses, conducting research on ketogenic therapy, coordinating patient care, and designing graphics for our website and patient materials.
Mitch Faloona is a Biology major. He is a ketobuddy, the Leader of the Foodomics Team and help with Dr. Borum’s course “Foodomics-What is in the Food We Eat and Use to Treat Patients?”.His project focused on the clinical use of the Foodomics database, organization and assignment of nutrient runs, and implementation of fatty acid and amino acid profiles. Mitch worked in the lab 2021-2022.
Javier Moreno Flores is majoring in Biochemistry. The purpose of his project is to further develop the biostatistical and data management procedures for patient care and for research in the Precision Ketogenic Therapy program. Javier worked with the lab starting in 2020 until Summer 2021.
Isabelle Gain is a Health Education & Behavior major who worked with the Borum lab from January 2020 to April 2021. While at the lab, Isabelle developed a lacto-ovo vegetarian precision ketogenic therapy (LOVPKT) cookbook, while also working on the Foodomics Database, recipe making, and telehealth visits. In Spring 2021 Isabelle was as a student assistant with the 2021 CURE course ALS4932 “CURE: PKT Through the Life Cycle”.
Kelsi Garcia received a BS in Dietetics from James Madison University in August 2020. She is pursuing a M.S./D.I. in Human Nutrition and Food Science, and worked with the Borum Lab on systematic review of ketogenic diets and neurological diseases in children until 2022.
Adrienne Gefre majors in physics. Adrienne will worked as part of the systematic review team and as a keto buddy she was in the lab 2021-2022.
Megan Gordon was in the lab in 2023 as one of the Health Education and Behavior interns.
Riley Guerin was an intern with the lab in Spring 2021 before graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Health Education. During her time at the lab, Riley’s research focused on writing and revising standard operating procedures, visiting with patients, and helping with recipes and diet prescriptions.
Kylie Grant worked in the lab from Summer 2020 to Summer 2021. Her primary focus was on the Foodomics database, performed audits to ensure the accuracy of items entered.
Seth Hendricks was with the lab in the Spring of 2021. He organized patient files and entered data into the patient database.
Kaley Hildebrand was a fourth year entomology major who joined our lab in August 2022. She had been involved in research projects since she was a sophomore, and joined the lab to combine her love of problem-solving and desire to serve patients. Her main goal was to help update the PKT Foodomics Database so patients can use the database ingredients in recipes. Upon graduating in spring 2023, she will attend medical school and use her lab experience to continue researching topics in neurology.
Alexandra Kalo is a Nutritional Sciences major. She was on the clinical team from 2021 to 2022. During her time at the lab, Alexandra ll lead the Foodomics group, audited recipes, and worked as a KetoBuddy with our patients.
Taylor Lam was an intern with the lab in Spring 2021 before graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Health Education. Taylor’s work included developing Standard Operating Procedures, attending telehealth appointments with patients, and making diet prescriptions.
Anna Le is a Computer Science major with a minor in Mass Communications. She provided coordination between the data team and the clinical team. She worked in the Borum Lab from 2021 to 2022.
Sarah Lozon served as a Research Laboratory Assistant in 2021 while completing a Nutritional Sciences degree. The majority of her time in the lab was spent working on patient recipes, auditing final recipes to be sent to families, and inputting food products into the PKT database.
Tyler Mueller majored in Computer Science & Engineering . He was with our team throughout 2021 and worked on the foodomics intake calculator.
Saahi Nagulapalli worked in the PKT lab from August 2020 to May 2021. During her time at the lab, she worked on the Foodomics database and refining meal rations for patients. She will graduate in May 2023 with a degree in Nutritional Sciences.
Ha Nguyen is a Dietetics major. She interacted and made recipes for her KetoBuddies, went on food runs, and discussed data visualization projects. Ha believed the experience and knowledge she gains while working in Dr. Borum’s lab will carve a path for her to become pediatric nutrition professional. Ha worked in the lab from 2021 – to 2022.
Octavio Ochoa was with the lab team in 2020 and Summer of 2021. He serves as a data consultant for the lab. His work focused on data science application, creating a database for the lab’s clinical data, and designing the user interface for the lab’s web app and data entry functions. Octavio graduated with a Computer Science degree in August 2021.
Derek Padilla worked with the lab from 2020 until Spring of 2021 graduating with a B.S. in Computer Science. He is a consultant for the lab. Derek’s work focused on developing a software for managing the lab’s clinical data, as well as creating a ResVault platform and a database.
Nirali is a second year Dietetics major. Nirali’s work consists of attending patient visits, making recipes, nutrient runs, and caring for patients. She worked in the lab Summer 2022.
Heinrich Perez majored in Computer Science. He spent Spring 2022 on his special project with the data team in the PKT lab and graduated in May 2022.
Luna Perricone is a Nutritional Sciences and Psychology major. She worked on the clinical team from 2021-2022.
Presley Pettit is majoring in Dietetics and her project’s purpose was to systematically review the literature concerning changes in the gut microbiome associated with nutritional ketosis and the possible role these microbes play in the mechanism of Precision Ketogenic Therapy. Presley worked in our lab 2020-2021.
Santiago Quintero majored in Computer Science. He spent Spring 2022 on the DietRx Project and graduated in May 2022.
Poliana Santana majors in Computer Science. Poli spent Spring 2022 on her special project with the PKT lab and will graduate in May 2022.
Jhada Sims is an Applied Physiology and Kinesiology major on the pre-med track. She worked on the clinical team from Fall 2021 to Summer 2022. She worked as a Keto Buddy, making and modifying the recipes specialized for each of her patients.
Ciera Smith is a Health Education and Behavior graduate who worked with the Borum lab in summer 2021. Her work focused on website design, digital communications, and organizational support.
Lyndsay Stueve was a Summer Intern and a Health Performance Major. She worked on materials to be added to the website to help families and health care professionals learn more about Precision Ketogenic Therapy (PKT). She worked in the lab Summer 2022.
Laura Suarez Morales was a Nutritional Sciences Major. She was researching food’s nutrient composition to refresh and improve the PKT Foodomics Database, which was incorporated into the PKT recipes. Her goal in the lab was to help finalize the PKT Cookbook, so patients have a wide variety of recipes available on the PKT website. She hopes to take her experience in the lab and follow the clinical dietician path to educate the public about using food as medicine.
Jasmine Velez was a Nutritional Sciences major on the pre-med track. During her time on the clinical team from 2021 through Spring of 2022, she was a Keto Buddy for patients as well as audited and developed recipes.
Renata Volonterio was a biotechnology major as she pursued a double major in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience. She was co-leader of the Diet Rx and Recipes Team, which focused on recipe-making for the PKT program, as well as a KetoBuddy for her patients. Renata was with the team from 2021-2024.
Ben Weiss was with the Borum lab from August 2020 to May 2021 before graduating with a computer science degree. His time in the lab focused on the PKT research database and developing a PKT app.
Maggie Wolf is a third year health science major, who is in the pre-med track. She was on the clinical team in 2021 and focused on being a Ketobuddy to patients, helped with recipe development, and further the development of our Foodomics database.
Amy Xia is a Biology major and on the clinical data team, The purpose of her project was to examine the mechanisms of growth and its implications with patients on Precision Ketogenic Therapy. Amy was with the team from 2020 to 2022.
I had the opportunity to work with a supportive team and a diverse population of patients. I did not know anything about PKT before this experience and have learned so much about the type of work that goes into formulating a specific therapy plan for each patient. Observing the way diet, medications, nutritional supplements, and overall response levels of patients in this lab has been really incredible because of how it can positively impact their quality of life.
The majority of my time in the lab was spent working on patient recipes, auditing final recipes to be sent out to families, and inputting food products into the PKT database. My goal was to make unique and creative meals for patients that would be palatable without it seeming like it was a strict diet. I would also ensure that common food items used by families would be accounted for in the recipes to not completely change their grocery list. Seeing patient progress and hearing positive feedback on recipes was a huge motivator.”
—Sarah Lozon, lab team, 2020
Dr. Borum gives students the amazing opportunity of being involved in the care of patients, while also helping conduct work in the research lab. I was able to truly help others by working on the precision ketogenic therapy (PKT) with other lab members; it is a group effort. The lab members work with one another to help patients and improve the productivity and efficiency of the lab.
I, specifically, worked in the lab with updating and adding to the nutritional database, researching ketoacidosis and how it influences this therapy, and creating recipes for PKT patients. I also was able to join patient calls with Dr. Borum to document their progress, their experience, and their requests for recipes. I learned how important it is as a provider to listen to the patient and how important it is to communicate with others when providing requests for the patients. By weekly lab meetings, lab members, Dr. Borum, and I were able to hear the progress and stay updated on the work in the lab. We also conducted weekly coffee chats to keep connected during the pandemic and talk about our interests for any topics we found fitting. This created an extremely positive and supportive community with the lab members and Dr. Borum. I am very thankful for this experience and the valuable lessons I have learned, which I will take with me as I continue on with my pre-health career.“
— Shelby Myers, Research Assistant, 2020
