Dr. Ondulla Tyvette Toomer graduated from NC State University with a Ph.D. in nutrition and a minor in biotechnology in 2005. In 2005, Dr. Toomer began a postdoctoral fellowship in the Mucosal Immunology & Pediatric Gastroenterology lab at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, studying the immunological health benefits of probiotics in neonatal development using a murine model. Dr. Toomer completed a second postdoctoral training program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Beltsville, MD, with a research emphasis on differential gene expression in the reproductive tissues of turkey hens. Currently, Dr. Toomer works with the USDA-ARS as a research chemist in the Food Science & Market Quality & Handling Research Unit in Raleigh, NC. Dr. Toomer's current research focuses on investigating the utilization of peanuts and peanut by-products as a value-added feed ingredient within animal food production and identifying the functional food/feed attributes of peanuts and peanut by-products. Moreover, Dr. Toomer serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences and the Prestage Department of Poultry Science at NC State University, Raleigh, NC.