Name: Jaume Amengual, PhD. Assistant Professor of Personalized Nutrition (2018 – present). Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) (US).
Previous academic positions:
Ph.D. in Nutrition and Metabolism (2005-2009). University of the Balearic Islands (Spain). Postdoctoral training (2009-2013) at Case Western Reserve University (US) in Pharmacology and New York University (NYU) (2013-2015) in Cardiology. Research Assistant Professor (2016-2017) at NYU.
Research interests: My laboratory is interested in the role of carotenoids in lipid metabolism and inflammation. We utilize preclinical models to determine the role of carotenoids in cardiovascular disease and obesity. My lab has received funding from the American Heart Association and the NIH.
Past and current leadership roles: I have been a member of the International Carotenoid Society (ICS) since I was a Ph.D. student, participating in several carotenoid and retinoid meetings organized by the ICS, FASEB, and Gordon Research Conferences. I was the chair of the Gordon Research Seminars in 2013 at Ventura Beach, where I established friendships with other early-career scientists from all over the world. That experience made me appreciate the diverse group of young talents devoted to carotenoid research. Next, I became a council member of the NYU Postdoctoral Council (2013-2017), where I organized social events and scientific meetings to create a positive environment for young trainees. I also became a member of iMentor NYC (2013-2017), a non-profit organization that pairs college-educated mentors with first-generation students from low-income communities.
Currently, I am a “young” Assistant Professor at the UIUC, where I am fortunate to lead a lab of approximately eight young talented students and postdocs. I enjoy teaching Nutritional Physiology, which led to my inclusion into the list of teachers at UIUC ranked as excellent by their students (four times). I am also a council member of the Early Career Committee at the American Heart Association, where I liaison to their Diversity Committee. This role allows me to interact with trainees from different backgrounds, helping them achieve their professional goals. I am currently the chair of an US Department of Agriculture project composed of 30 labs across the US, which focus on phytonutrient bioavailability. Lastly, I am a member of the European Network Eurocaroten since 2018.
I have several ideas and goals for the future of the ICS; these are some of them!
1. Obtain funding to create more travel awards for trainees. Funding for science is never easy to obtain, but it is crucial for all of us to do what we love! In my opinion, one of the best part of being a scientist is to participate in meetings such as those organized by the ICS. Sadly, the cost of these meetings might limit the chances of students participating. Suppose I get elected to the ICS council. In that case, I will make my number one priority to obtaining more funding to increase the participation of students in our meetings.
2. To establish an ICS mentoring system for early-career scientists. As you might have grasped the past leadership roles outlined above, I am very passionate about mentoring. Some academic institutions offer external mentoring committees to guide early-career scientists. This committee would meet on a regular basis with the trainee to provide career advice to those who decide to pursue this opportunity.
3. To facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and promote communication between members. The diverse expertise of ICS members is a strength. It is time for us to take advantage of it! I would like to facilitate the interaction of our members by organizing recurrent online meetings and workshops. Some examples: (1) Short presentations covering technical expertise. (2) “Grad students only” meetings to practice poster and oral presentations before the ICS. (3) Networking/social meetings to catch up with old friends. We would start this initiative by launching a polling system to ask for topics of interest.4. To create a grant/fellowship portal to inform the ICS members about funding opportunities. This portal would contain many funding opportunities, ranging from big project applications to predoctoral/short stay fellowships tailored to ICS researchers. We would create a network of successful applicants willing to share their experiences with prospective applicants.