Lab Members

Brian W. Parks
Assistant Professor
PhD, Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
BS, Biology, The University of Virginia's College at Wise
brian.w.parks@wisc.edu

Brian is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He grew up in Virginia and completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. After working for a year in biotechnology industry he pursued doctoral studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He conducted his dissertation work in the laboratory of Janusz Kabarowski were he studied inflammation, atherosclerosis, and lipoprotein metabolism. He performed postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Jake Lusis at UCLA. During his postdoctoral fellowship he worked on developing a systems genetics approach in the mouse to understand how diet and genetics interact to contribute to obesity and diabetes. Outside of the lab Brian enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, and woodworking.

Zhonggang (John) Li
Postdoc Fellow
PhD, Human Genetics, University of Utah
zli769@wisc.edu

John is working as a postdoc fellow in the Parks lab. He got his Ph.D. from University of Utah in 2016. In the Parks Lab, John works in bioinformatic field. He applies computational network approach to identify a novel cholesterol regulator gene, sestrin1 (SESN1). He studies how dietary cholesterol modulates SESN1 expression and investigates the mechanism by which SESN1 maintains lipid homeostasis. John also works on the epistasis interaction detection pipeline for gene-gene interaction discovery. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and watching his favorite sport basketball.

Fernanda Leyva Jaimes
Research Specialist
Certified Veterinary Technician
fleyvajaimes@wisc.edu

Fernanda is a research specialist in the Parks Lab. She is in charge of the growing mouse colony and oversees all mouse studies and crosses. Fernanda is originally from Mexico and moved to Madison when she was in grade school. She grew up in Madison and is a Certified Veterinary Technician. When she is not busy keeping track of the mouse colony, she enjoys spending time with her family and her pet rabbit.

Samantha St. Clair
Graduate Student
BS, Nutrition Science, Indiana University Bloomington
sstclair2@wisc.edu

Sam is a graduate student in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the intersection of lipid metabolism, obesity, and type II diabetes, Sam’s research regards in vivo characterization of the gene Agpat5. Agpat5 encodes an acyltransferase, which, through a systems genetics approach, was determined to be associated with insulin sensitivity. Sam conducted her undergraduate research at Indiana University Bloomington in the lab of Dr. Jason Tennessen, where she studied the influence of lysine metabolism on adipose development. Sam holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition Science. In her spare time Sam enjoys swing dancing and photography.

James A. Votava
Graduate Student
BS, Biology, UW-Madison
jvotava@wisc.edu

James is a PhD candidate in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the lab, James is interested in the interaction between genetics and diet. He is following up on the lab’s recent work in prioritizing human GWAS data using mouse liver network data to further understand how human genetics can affect serum lipid phenotypes. He is currently focused on understanding the genetic connection between carbohydrate and cholesterol metabolism via the gene Aldoc. Outside of the lab James enjoys spending time with his dog Podrick, baking, drinking beer and enjoying the outdoors (when the temperature is over 60 degrees F).