Professional Reseacher
University of California, USDA
Dr. Hampel is a Food Chemist at the Institute for Global Nutrition, Department of Nutrition at the University of California, Davis, located at the USDA/ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center. Her research integrates food chemistry, molecular biology, and nutrition, with a focus on method development and studies of natural compounds with potential health benefits. Her nutrition research centers on analytical methods and targeted metabolomics in human milk and blood samples to better understand micronutrient deficiencies, maternal-child nutrition, and the relationships within the mother-milk-infant triad, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Her extensive background in analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology provides a wide range of analytical and bioanalytical tools for developing, evaluating, optimizing, and validating methodological techniques. She leads the MILQ Lab at UC Davis (milqlab.ucdavis.edu), advancing research on human milk composition and maternal-infant nutrition.