Principal Investigator

Bradley (Brad) Bolling, PhD
Position title: Associate Professor, Department of Food Science; Sustainability Faculty Fellow
Brad is an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science. He pursued a career in Food Science after taking an analytical chemistry course which sparked his interest in the field, and was given the opportunity to work as an undergraduate researcher in microbiology and later, chemistry and health. He earned BS and PhD degrees in Food Science at UW-Madison focusing on the cancer-preventing components of beans, before training at the Jean Meyer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. At Tufts, he continued to pursue his interest in polyphenol chemistry, metabolism, nutrition, and health. After beginning his faculty career at the University of Connecticut, he returned to UW-Madison in 2014 to lead a program in food and health research. His team is focused on improving the impact of food on human and environmental health, while increasing the sustainability and equity of the food system. Brad has broad interests in food, including nuts, fruits, vegetables, spices, fermented dairy products, and waste materials from food production. More recently, he is interested in developing underutilized foods in Wisconsin, such as aronia berry and hazelnut that can improve biodiversity and the ecological landscapes. He has contributed to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, including Advanced Food Biochemistry, The Chocolate Experience, Principles of Food Preservation, and Food Bioactives.
Outside of the office, you can find Brad spending time with family and friends, biking, hiking, birdwatching, gardening, cross-country skiing, cooking, playing ultimate frisbee, disc golfing or trying to teach his dog Ranger new tricks. He enjoys traveling and is enthusiastic about learning about new cultures and foods. He has been dethroned as the pickleball champion of the lab and is currently searching for a sport that he can claim he is the best at.
Staff

Andrea Noll, MS, MPH
Credentials: Researcher I
Andrea has been on a long and winding journey to her current position. She joined as a member of the Bolling Lab team in the summer of 2020, shortly after graduating with a Master of Science degree in Bacteriology from the UW. Andrea arrived with years of research experience in several disciplines, including Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology. During these experiences, she focused on projects that promoted human health in various ways. Therefore, Andrea initially joined the team as a bench scientist to conduct multiple projects investigating the connection between food compounds and health.
While working in the lab, passionate about sustainability efforts, she led the lab toward achieving a Green Lab Certification. Simultaneously, Andrea also worked on and completed a Master of Public Health degree in the Social and Behavioral Sciences concentration through the UF. These values and experiences prompted Andrea’s role to evolve in the lab as she shifted toward community-engaged research.
Bridging the gap between bench research and the social sciences, Andrea specializes in sustainable health equity initiatives. With a One Health perspective, she is dedicated to addressing food and nutrition insecurity and advancing equity in communities, especially among populations historically underrepresented in research.
Andrea values a work-life balance and enjoys spending time with family and friends. With an adventurous spirit, she stays active, loves to travel and experience other cultures, and is an outdoor enthusiast. You may even spot her climbing up a rock face if you look carefully.
Postdoctoral Fellows

Peyton Higgins, PhD
Peyton received a B.A. in Chemistry from Smith College and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from UW – Madison. Peyton’s doctoral research in Prof. Andrew Buller’s lab was in the field of protein engineering for biocatalysis; in other words, they studied how to get enzymes to catalyze the synthesis of new and biologically interesting chemicals. Partway through graduate school, Peyton discovered an interest in sustainable agriculture research and was surprised to learn that protein engineering and plant breeding have a few things in common! They spent a semester as a visiting researcher studying hazelnuts as part of the Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative (UMHDI).
Peyton returned to the world of hazelnuts Fall 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher whose work is co-advised by Brad Bolling and Julie Dawson. They are using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and various lab techniques to profile the nutrient composition of hazelnut kernels from UMHDI breeding populations, with the goal of assisting selection for high quality hazelnut kernels.
Outside of work, Peyton enjoys spending time with their wife and dogs, rock climbing, playing hockey, and practicing a variety of fiber arts (knitting, crochet, and spinning, so far…). Looking ahead, Peyton is especially interested in the process of translating academic research into real-world action and aspires to use their scientific background to promote the development of sustainable and equitable food systems.
Graduate Students

Aom Jantip, MS
Credentials: PhD student
Aom received her BS degree in Food Science with a minor in nutritional sciences from Pennsylvania State University in the Spring of 2022. She completed an undergraduate honors thesis investigating in vitro bioavailability of dietary flavonoids in oral cancer cells. Her research experience led to her interest in nutraceutical and functional foods to prevent chronic diseases (especially cancer). Therefore, she joined the Bolling research group as an MS student in the Fall of 2022 to study peanut polyphenols. Currently, she is working on a pilot study of the anti-cancer effects of phytochemicals from peanuts on leukemia cell lines. In her free time, Aom enjoys running, working out, and listening to music.

Tomomi Komatsu
Credentials: PhD student
Tomomi received a B.S. in Nursing from Hokkaido University, Japan, and worked as a registered nurse in the orthopedics and spinal surgery unit as well as home care. She joined the Bolling research lab in the Fall of 2019 as a volunteer where she created 3D surgical heart models using food gels and assisted with the yogurt study as a phlebotomist. She joined the lab as an MS student in the Summar of 2023 to study cranberry phytochemicals. She is interested in how different cranberry cultivars differ in phytochemicals and their effects on bioavailability and health.
In her free time, she enjoys cooking, fermentation, and working out.

Kailey Komnick, MS
Credentials: PhD student
Kailey received a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has received an M.S. in Chemistry from UW Madison, and she is currently working towards a PhD in Chemistry. Her research journey began in a neuropharmacology lab where she studied the difference in methamphetamine withdrawal between adolescent and adult rats. She then transitioned into a medicinal chemistry lab, where she derivatized a gram-positive antibiotic in attempts to improve its resistance profile. Kailey’s work at UW Madison began with studying DNA-scaffolded catalysis, until she transitioned into the Bolling lab in 2024. She is currently studying the effects of roasting on coffee composition. Broadly, Kailey is very interested in the intersection of chemistry with biology, food science, and everyday life.
Outside of the lab, Kailey enjoys spending time with her friends and family, baking, and crafting. She’s almost always listening to an audiobook or a podcast, and she loves to explore new places and learn new skills.

Addison Konlan
Credentials: PhD Student
Addison earned his BSc in Food Science and Technology from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. His passion for nutrition, public health, and sustainable food systems has shaped his academic and professional career.
Before joining UW-Madison, Addison worked as a research assistant at KNUST, where he collaborated on projects with the Ghana Health Service and the World Food Programme. His work focused on maternal and child nutrition, food security, and micronutrient malnutrition. In addition to his research contributions, he served as a mentor to several undergraduate students and conducted studies on food systems and nutritional epidemiology.
Now pursuing his PhD at UW-Madison in the Bolling Lab, Addison focuses on sustainable food systems, climate change, and public health nutrition. His research aims to explore the bioactive compounds in Indigenous fruits and vegetables, assessing their potential health benefits and implications for food policy. He is particularly interested in using advanced analytical techniques like HPLC and LC-MS/MS to quantify polyphenols and other bioactives, with the broader goal of promoting resilient food systems that support both human and planetary health.
Beyond research, Addison is committed to science communication and policy advocacy, striving to bridge the gap between nutrition research and community impact. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, a sport that fuels his teamwork and strategic thinking skills.

Klay Liu, MS
Credentials: PhD student
Klay received his BS degrees in Food Science and in Forensic Chemistry from University of California, Davis, and his MS degree in Food Science from The Ohio State University before he joined the Bolling lab in January 2022. His previous research mentors include Profs. Selina Wang, Gary Smith and Bruce German at UC Davis, Prof. Michael Gore at Cornell University, and Prof. Devin Peterson at Ohio State. Klay is interested in understanding the chemical, functional and nutritional properties of food components, and enhancing the ability of foods to deliver improved health outcomes. Currently, Klay is studying the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of cranberry and aronia berry polyphenols. In between experiments, he loves to walk over to the Dairy Cattle Center to pet cows.
In his free time, Klay enjoys cooking, home bartending, playing board games, attending live concerts and comedy shows, and staying active. He dreams of having a LEGO room, a snooker room, and a kitchen shelf big enough for his ever-growing coffee mug collection. Also, those who are close to Klay know that his fandom for Ohio State football fuels his hatred for all things Michigan.

Kevin Shih, MPH, RDN
Credentials: PhD student
Kevin earned his BS in Human Nutrition from Chung Shan Medical University in Taiwan and an MPH in Public Health Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He is a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) in both Taiwan and the US.
After graduating from UNC, Kevin worked as a research technician at the National Institute of Mental Health Psychoactive Drug Screening Program under the supervision of Dr. Bryan Roth and Dr. Xi-Ping Huang. His expertise lies in high-throughput drug screening binding and functional methods, and skills in molecular biology and animal studies. The intersection of nutritional sciences and pharmacology inspired him to become a dietitian-scientist, leading him to pursue a PhD in Nutrition and Metabolism at UW-Madison. He joined the Bolling Lab at the end of 2023. He is interested in discovering food bioactives and gaining a deeper understanding of their potential therapeutical or nutraceutical impacts on humans at multiple levels. Kevin is also keen on exploring the signaling pathways and metabolism of food bioactives.
Outside of the lab, Kevin collaborates with fellow RDNs to disseminate evidence-based nutritional sciences to the public via Instagram (Nutriverse.TWUS). In his leisure time, he enjoys playing with his cat, Mia, engaging in badminton and swimming, and watching movies.

Celebrating Spring 2024 UF-UW graduates with Badgers participating in the Gator chomp!

2022 Halloween Party - Year 1 Best Group Costume Winners (Winter Olympic Team)!

2022 Christmas Gift Exchange

2022 Fruit and Vegetable picking at local gardens

Gathering for our 2023 My Green Lab Certification

2023 Halloween Party - Year 2 Best Costume Winners (Tennis Team)!

Picnic Point campfire dinner on a windy day

2024 Halloween Party - Year 1 Funniest Costume Winners (The "Bowling" Lab)!
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Honorary Lab Members
Eliot
Hometown: Stoughton, WI
Favorite Things: being a couch potato, listening to your conversations, pretending she’s a person
Gizmo
Hometown: Deerfield/Madison, WI
Nicknames: Giz, Gizzy, Googly bear, Colonel Sanders, tail light, Mr. Kitty, etc..
Favorite things: chasing bugs, watching birds, and snuggling with his favorite human (AKA Andrea)
Maddy
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Favorite Pastime: Steal LEGO pieces to play like soccer balls
Mia
Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Favorite things: her humans, birds, her tail, sits on Kevin’s face
Fun fact: she purrs all day
Phoebe
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Most scared of: Wildling
Quincy
Hometown: Stoughton, WI
Favorite Things: playing fetch, being outside, belly rubs
Ranger
Hometown: Madison, WI
Favorite Foods: Blueberry, cranberry, aronia berry, apple, carrot
Wildling
Hometown: Ithaca, NY
Favorite TV Show: Tom and Jerry