Highlighted News

07-11-2026 | Yang Lab Participates in IFT FIRST and Receives Nutrition Division Outstanding Volunteer Award

Dr. Xin Yang recently attended IFT FIRST, the annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists, where he participated in professional service, academic exchange, and networking activities across the food science community.

As Chair of the IFT Nutrition Division, Dr. Yang was pleased to connect with division members and welcome researchers, students, and industry professionals interested in nutrition and food science to become involved in the division. He looks forward to working with the division community to promote collaboration, professional development, and innovation in nutrition research.

During the conference, Dr. Yang was honored to receive the **IFT Nutrition Division Outstanding Volunteer Award**, recognizing his service and contributions to the division. Yang Lab sincerely appreciates this recognition, and Dr. Yang looks forward to continuing to support the division and contribute to its future development.

IFT FIRST also provided an excellent opportunity to reconnect with longtime colleagues, establish new professional relationships, and learn from distinguished leaders and pioneers in food science. Dr. Yang was especially grateful for the opportunity to exchange ideas with Dr. Olive Yao Li, Dr. Pingfan Rao, Dr. Juming Tang, Dr. Zhenyu Jin, and many other outstanding scholars and professionals.

In addition, Dr. Yang attended the 20th anniversary gathering of the Jiangnan University alumni community in North America, where he connected with many accomplished alumni and colleagues.

Overall, the conference was a highly rewarding experience filled with new knowledge, renewed friendships, and inspiring conversations. Yang Lab looks forward to building upon these connections and continuing to contribute to the food science and nutrition community.

06-03-2026 | Yang Lab Contributes to MIT-Featured Research on Lipid Nanoparticle Adjuvants for Polio Vaccination 

Congratulations to Behnaz Eshaghi and the entire research team on the recent MIT News feature highlighting their work on Am80-lipid nanoparticles as an enteric mucosal adjuvant for injectable polio vaccination. Yang Lab is proud to have contributed to this highly collaborative study, which explores a promising strategy to enable injectable inactivated polio vaccines to induce intestinal mucosal immunity while retaining their established safety advantages. The work brings together expertise in nanoparticle engineering, immunology, and translational vaccine development, demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing important global health challenges.

Congratulations again to Behnaz Eshaghi, Ana Jaklenec, Bob Langer, and all collaborators on this exciting achievement.

05-12-2026 | Yang Lab visited Dr. Doohong Min’s alfalfa research farm 

Yang Lab was delighted to visit Dr. Doohong Min’s alfalfa research farm on May 12 and learn more about his ongoing work on alfalfa production, quality evaluation, and agricultural innovation.

During the visit, we had the opportunity to taste alfalfa-based samples and discuss the potential of alfalfa as a sustainable and nutritious ingredient for future functional food development. The discussion highlighted exciting opportunities to connect crop science, food processing, nutrition, and human health, particularly in developing new food applications from agricultural resources.

We sincerely thank Dr. Min and his team for hosting us and for the insightful discussion. Yang Lab looks forward to exploring future collaborations on alfalfa-derived functional ingredients and health-oriented food products.

05-12-2026 | Yang Group presented at the IFT Nutrition Division Meeting

Yang Group was delighted to participate in the IFT Nutrition Division Meeting at the invitation of Dr. Hualu Zhou.

Dr. Xin Yang gave a presentation titled “Mapping the Food–Human Interactions: Next-Generation Tools for Evaluating Food, Nutrition, and Health.” The talk discussed emerging tools and platforms for better understanding how foods, nutrients, and bioactive compounds interact with human health.

The meeting provided a valuable opportunity to share our perspectives, exchange ideas with faculty and students, and discuss future directions in food, nutrition, and health research.

We sincerely thank Dr. Zhou and the IFT Nutrition Division community for the kind invitation and inspiring discussions.

05-05-2026 | Yang Group presented food fortification research at AOCS session

Yang Group was delighted to participate in the AOCS Annual Meeting and share our recent research on food fortification through an oral presentation in the Health and Nutrition Section.

The conference provided a valuable opportunity to present our work, receive insightful feedback, and learn from many outstanding colleagues working at the interface of food science, nutrition, lipids, and human health. The discussions highlighted the importance of developing effective, accessible, and health-oriented food technologies to address current and future nutrition challenges.

We were also very glad to reconnect with old friends, including Dr. Jianping Wu, Dr. Xiaohong Sun, Dr. Jinchun Rao, Dr. Haibo Huang, Dr. Leqi Cui, and Dr. Yi Zhang. In addition, we enjoyed meeting new colleagues and friends, including Dr. John Newman, Dr. Fernanda Dias, Dr. Vermont Punongba Dia, Dr. Ali Ubeyitogullari, Dr. Dachuan Zhang, and Dr. Jiaoyan Ren.

We sincerely thank the AOCS community, the Health and Nutrition Section, the organizers, session chairs, and all colleagues for the inspiring conversations. We look forward to staying connected and exploring future collaborations.

04-11-2026 | Yang Group hosted a workshop at the KAWSE GROW “Invest in the Future” session

Yang Group was delighted to partner with the KAWSE team to organize the GROW Workshop, where we led a hands-on activity titled “Build-a-MOF: Design a Tiny Nutrient Carrier.”

The workshop welcomed elementary and middle school students from the local community and introduced them to the exciting world of food science, chemistry, and materials engineering. During the activity, students built simple models of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) using craft materials and explored how porous materials can be designed to carry and protect nutrients. Through this interactive design challenge, they learned how scientists can combine ideas from different fields to develop innovative solutions that improve human health.

We are especially grateful to Dr. Guojun Wu and Dr. Han Peng for their valuable help and support in making this activity possible.

04-08-2026 | Yang Lab presented at IMSE seminar

Yang Lab was pleased to present our research at the ECE seminar this week. Invited by Prof. Suprem, the talk, Food as Medicine: Bridging Food Science, Materials, and Human Health, introduced our vision and ongoing efforts in oral delivery, nutrient stabilization, and translational food materials. Many thanks to the organizers and everyone who joined the discussion.

04-02-2026 | Our perspective on generative AI for MOF design and synthesis is now published in Matter

We are excited to share that our collaborative perspective on generative AI for MOF design and synthesis is now published in Matter [Link]. This work was led by Zhiling at WashU and brought together collaborators from Deep Principle, UCLA, MIT, Cornell, University of Toronto, University of Washington, University of North Texas, EPFL, and WashU. The perspective highlights the exciting potential of generative AI to accelerate the design and synthesis of next-generation metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). We are grateful to be part of this interdisciplinary effort at the interface of AI, chemistry, and materials science.

03-13-2026 | A new -80°C freezer has arrived at Yang Lab

Very exciting to see that our new -80°C freezer has officially arrived at Yang Lab today. This is an important step in setting up the lab and expanding our research capacity. Looking forward to all the exciting work ahead as the lab continues to take shape!

03-12-2026 | Yang Lab presented at ECE seminar

Yang Lab was pleased to present our research at the ECE seminar this week. Invited by Prof. Eric Zhu and Prof. Samee Khan, the talk, Food as Medicine: Bridging Food Science, Materials, and Human Health, introduced our vision and ongoing efforts in oral delivery, nutrient stabilization, and translational food materials. Many thanks to the organizers and everyone who joined the discussion.

03-06-2026 | Our collaborative work with Tina is now online in PNAS

Delighted to share that our collaborative work with Tina, Mechanical performance of hybrid polymer–lipid vesicles with leaflet asymmetry engineered using microfluidics, is now officially online in PNAS. This milestone also marks the first collaborative publication from Yang Lab. Many thanks to Tina for involving me in this work, and congratulations to the entire team!

01-03-2026 | A new beginning in Manhattan

Today marks my first day in Manhattan and the start of an exciting new chapter. Grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to building Yang Lab, meeting new colleagues, and starting this journey ahead.

11-04-2025 | A new patch could help to heal the heart

Very exciting to see that our collaborative work with Dr. Wang has been officially online. The research was recently featured on the MIT News. Congratulations and thank you, Dr. Wang for taking the lead of this amazing work!

8-13-2025 | MOFs for Coffee Published in Matter

Our team at MIT is pioneering the use of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to fortify coffee with essential nutrients such as iron and iodine. The research was recently featured on the MIT News homepage, and has been highlighted by C&EN, Nutrition Insight, Bioengineer, PhysOrg, Scienmag, newfoodmagazine, foodingredientfirst, Knowridge.

And also in Chinese social media, X-mol, Chem+, ScienceAI, MIT technology review, 微博, 今日头条, 搜狐, 知乎, 网易, 企鹅号, 麻省理工技术评论.