Student Spotlight: Lukas Shan to Present at 2026 American Society for Nutrition Conference

Get to know Sargent student Lukas Shan.

Lukas Shan (SAR/CAS ’27) reflects on his research and public service, and looks forward to representing Sargent College with his work in nutrition. He will be presenting at the 2026 American Society for Nutrition conference this July, and was selected to compete in two different categories: the “Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science Poster Competition” and the “Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Award Competition.”

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Lukas Shan, and I’m currently in the final year of my five year dual degree program at Sargent college and the College of Arts and Sciences studying nutrition, biology, psychology. I’ve been pretty involved in the Nutrition program since I transferred here my sophomore year, with two semesters of UROP research, clubs, and public service leadership.

What can you tell us about your conference talk?

The paper is titled “Dietary Fiber and Cardiometabolic and Gut-Related Outcomes in Children: A Systematic Review and Metanalysis.” The research aims to investigate the effects of various isolated fiber types on health outcomes such as cholesterol, blood sugar, and different gut health metrics. The study is also trying to fill the gap that exists in fiber research for children, which there isn’t much of currently. So ultimately, I hope that this research will help guide health and clinical recommendations later down the line.

My research was selected to compete in the categories of “Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science Poster Competition” and “Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Award Competition.”

How else have you been involved in the Nutrition program here at Sargent?

After transferring to BU for the nutrition program, during my first semester I started working in Dr. Nicola McKeown’s Diet Quality & Healthy Aging Lab. With that experience, I spent two UROP semesters doing research on dietary fiber screening technology that the lab is building, which we eventually want to develop into a mobile app.

As for extracurriculars, I’m currently the president of BU’s Nutrition and Dietetics Club, a community where I’ve developed my academic interests alongside like-minded students. I’ve also been serving as one of the program managers of BU’s Student Food Rescue, which is a community service program housed within the Student Leadership & Impact Center (SLIC) that connects students.

Lukas will be presenting at the 2026 American Society for Nutrition Conference alongside graduate student researcher Emma Frank. 

Story by Jieun Paik