Nicholas is a Ph.D. candidate in Nutrition for Metabolic Health, working with Dr. Meng Wang. He earned a B.S. in Food Science and Technology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. Nicholas’ research interests focus on how metabolic processes influence disease development, with a particular focus on cancer and accelerated aging. In Dr. Meng Wang’s lab, Nicholas investigates aldehydes as a metabolic source of DNA damage and examines the mechanisms underlying their toxicity.

Nicholas’s research in Dr. Meng Wang’s lab focuses on two main areas: 1. Development of ultra-sensitive mass spectrometry methods to quantify metabolic sources of DNA damage. His work involves developing novel liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods to quantify covalent modifications to DNA bases, known as DNA adducts, in order to identify metabolic sources of DNA damage. 2. Investigation of novel mechanisms of aldehyde-induced toxicity. He also explores unbiased genetic screens to uncover previously unknown pathways underlying the toxicity of aldehydes, a class of metabolic genotoxins.

2023, B.S., Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis