Dr. Diego Lopez

Assistant Professor

Dr. Diego Lopez joined Kansas State University’s Department of Grain and Food Science in August 2025 as an assistant professor specializing in feed technologies and quality. His research examines how feed processing and technology implementation affect the nutritional value of complete feeds and individual feed ingredients. Additional areas of interest include feed ingredient evaluation, the use of animal models to assess digestibility coefficients in monogastric species, and protein quality in human food.

Dr. Lopez earned his doctorate in grain science from Kansas State University, where he developed the swine digestibility program and conducted research on the effects of feed processing and technologies on energy and nutrient digestibility. He also holds a master’s degree in monogastric nutrition from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in animal science from the National University of Colombia.

Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, Lopez lived there until moving to the United States to pursue graduate studies. He now resides in Manhattan, Kansas, with his wife, Dr. Katelyn Gaffield, a faculty member in K-State’s Department of Animal Sciences and Industry. His research has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of Animal Science, Animal Feed Science and Technology, Animal Bioscience, and Translational Animal Science.