Lora Iannotti and Feng Jiao have been installed as the inaugural Lauren and Lee Fixel Distinguished Professors at WashU, becoming the first faculty members to hold professorships associated with the university’s Food and Agriculture Research Mission (FARM). A ceremony took place April 15.
The professorships were created through support from the Lauren and Lee Fixel Family Foundation, whose philanthropy helped launch FARM in 2025. Housed within WashU Bursky Public Health, FARM aims to address global challenges at the intersection of agriculture, food systems and human health. The initiative brings together researchers from public health, engineering and other disciplines to develop practical, scalable solutions.
Although their work spans different fields, Iannotti and Jiao are united by a common goal: helping nourish a growing world. That challenge has become increasingly urgent as climate change, environmental degradation and rising demand place new strains on food production and distribution.
Speaking at the ceremony, Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, the Margaret C. Ryan Dean and the Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health, said the installation represented more than an academic honor.
“It marks a real investment and a new dawn at WashU for interdisciplinary partnership in science,” said Galea, who is also vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at WashU.
Iannotti, a nutrition scientist and public health researcher, serves as co-director of FARM and director of planetary health at the WashU Center for the Environment. Jiao, an internationally recognized chemical engineer, is a faculty member at WashU McKelvey Engineering, with a secondary appointment at Bursky Public Health.
“Collaboration and connection can open the door to new solutions in approaching global challenges,” Chancellor Andrew D. Martin said at the installation ceremony.
Martin added that the initiative grew from a broader conversation about how WashU could help tackle the world’s most pressing societal concerns.
“A few years ago, Lee (Fixel) asked me a question that has since shaped my thinking about what this university could become,” Martin said. “What would it take for WashU to be number one in the world at something that matters at scale? What became FARM is a direct expression of that challenge. Not a program or a center as much as it is a mission.”
New approaches to nutrition and health
Galea introduced Iannotti as both a leading nutritional scientist and a foundational figure in FARM’s development. Her leadership, he said, has helped bring food systems and nutrition to the forefront of WashU’s research agenda. “Lora has been paving the way for our School of Public Health and for FARM really for the last 17 years,” he said.
As founding director of the E3 Nutrition Lab, Iannotti studies public health nutrition solutions guided by three principles: equity, environment and evolution.
Her research spans projects in Ecuador, Haiti, Madagascar and St. Louis, where she collaborates with local partners to identify sustainable dietary approaches that improve child growth and brain development. Her work on animal-source foods and diverse diets has helped inform the global discourse on nutrition equity, climate change and biodiversity.
In her installation address, “One Percent,” Iannotti pointed to a sobering statistic from a recent international report: Just 1% of the world’s population lives within a healthy, just and sustainable food system.
Much of Iannotti’s work centers on improving nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life, a period that plays a critical role in child growth, brain development and long-term outcomes. One of her most influential studies found that providing young children in Ecuador with one egg per day significantly improved growth outcomes — research that helped shape nutrition recommendations in Ecuador and contributed to global discussions.
Iannotti serves on working groups that advise the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. She also sits on the board of Meds & Food for Kids and advises organizations focused on food security and nutrition around the world.
Innovation in agriculture
Jiao’s work approaches food-system challenges from a different direction.
A leader in electrochemical engineering and catalysis, Jiao develops technologies aimed at improving energy storage, chemical manufacturing and food production.
Introducing Jiao at the ceremony, Aaron Bobick, dean of WashU McKelvey Engineering and the James M. McKelvey Professor, highlighted both the significance and visibility of his work.
Jiao recently developed a way to convert carbon dioxide into acetate, a feedstock that could enable plants to grow without light. The work, sometimes referred to as “growing food in the dark,” attracted international attention and drew interest from leading philanthropists and investors exploring the future of food production.
His work also has attracted major support, including a nearly $5 million grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop technologies that could help address food insecurity in low- and middle-income countries by reducing reliance on arable land.
“In his short time here, he’s really emerged as a highly visible and important leader for our thought-leading research in electrochemical engineering and catalysis,” Bobick said.
Jiao leads a multidisciplinary research group advancing high-performance electrochemical systems for carbon utilization, particularly carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide electrolysis, with efficiencies that can surpass conventional fossil-based processes. His work seeks to reduce environmental impacts while improving efficiency in manufacturing and food production. He serves as deputy director of the National Science Foundation-supported CURB Engineering Research Center.
About Lauren and Lee Fixel
Lauren and Lee Fixel founded the Lauren and Lee Fixel Family Foundation in 2014 to support various educational and nonprofit initiatives.
Lee earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with concentrations in finance and accounting, from WashU Olin Business School in 2002. He serves as a board member of the Washington University Investment Management Company, a member of the Olin National Council, and a campaign cabinet member for With You: The WashU Campaign. He also served as a WashU trustee from 2015 to 2023 and received an Olin Alumni Award in 2017. Lee is the founder and managing partner of Addition, an investment firm that invests in founder-led, technology-enabled companies.
In 2017, Lee, along with his wife, Lauren, founded the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at the University of Florida Health. The clinical care and research institute focuses on advancing diagnosis and treatment for Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders.
Lauren earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida in 2007. Lauren also serves as a campaign cabinet member for the With You campaign.
Lauren and Lee reside in New York City with their two children, Livia and Logan.
