M. Yanina Pepino

Assistant Professor
Division of Nutritional Sciences
University of Illinois at urbana champaign
United States of America

Professor Nutrition
Biography

she has done her 2008-2010, NIDA T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in Nutrition/Addiction, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine St. Louis, MO, 2001-2004, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Chemical Senses, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, 2001, PhD, Chemistry Sciences, National University of Córdoba, Argentina, 1995, Licentiate in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, National University of Córdoba, Argentina.

Research Intrest

My overall research goal is to establish a program that integrates analyses of taste perception with nutrient metabolism and the impact of dietary choices on health and disease in people. Research in my laboratory focuses on the analysis of individual differences in human taste perception and preferences, with an emphasis on sensory control of food and alcohol consumption. By using a combination of psychometrically sound validated sensory assessment methods, and metabolic research methods, we are currently studying or getting ready to study:1) The effects of bariatric surgery-induced weight loss on taste perception, eating behavior, and alcohol drinking behavior, and metabolism2) The effects of noncaloric sweeteners on taste preference and glucose homeostasis3) Fat taste perception4) The effects of head and neck cancer treatment on taste perception and eating behavior

List of Publications
Pepino MY, Bradley DB, Eagon C, Sullivan S, Abumrad NA, Klein S. Changes in taste perception and eating behavior after bariatric surgery-induced weight loss in women. Obesity 2014: 22:E13-E20. PMCID:4000290.
Pepino MY, Love-Gregory L, Klein S, Abumrad NA. The fatty acid translocase gene, CD36, and lingual lipase influence oral sensitivity to fat in obese subjects. Journal of Lipid Research 2012: 53:561-566.
Pepino MY, Tiemann CD, Patterson BW, Wice BM, Klein S. Sucralose affects glycemic and hormonal responses to an oral glucose load. Diabetes Care 2013: 36:2530-2535.