Xin Yang

Xin Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Grain Science and Food Science at Kansas State University. His research lies at the intersection of food science, biomaterials, nutrient delivery, precision nutrition, and AI-enabled food innovation. He focuses on developing next-generation functional foods, smart delivery systems, and grain-based health technologies to address major challenges in nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and sustainable food systems.

Dr. Yang’s work integrates food chemistry, natural products, nanotechnology, biomaterials, and data-driven discovery. A central theme of his research is to transform conventional food ingredients, especially grains and agricultural side streams, into high-value functional materials and health-promoting products. His current research directions include nutritional metal-organic frameworks for micronutrient fortification, grain bioactives for gut-metabolic health, AI-guided discovery of food-derived functional compounds, microfluidic and smart packaging technologies, and robotics-assisted food manufacturing.

Before joining Kansas State University, Dr. Yang conducted postdoctoral research at MIT in the Langer Lab and Jaklenec Group, where he worked on edible biomaterials and advanced nutrient delivery systems. He previously received his Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the National University of Singapore, where his research focused on natural product chemistry, bioactive compounds, and food-derived health-promoting molecules.

Dr. Yang has published extensively in food science, chemistry, biomaterials, and bioengineering journals, including Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Green Chemistry, Food Chemistry, and Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. His long-term vision is to build a “Food as Medicine” research platform that connects grain science, precision nutrition, smart manufacturing, and translational health technologies.