Plexus Worldwide Joins University of Illinois Personalized Nutrition Initiative as External Partner

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona - October 13, 2026

Plexus Worldwide has joined the External Partners Program of the Personalized Nutrition Initiative at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Scottsdale-based direct seller announced Tuesday. As part of the arrangement, Dr. Ren-Hau Lai, Plexus's vice president of product innovation and a University of Illinois graduate, has been appointed to the initiative's External Advisory Committee.

The Personalized Nutrition Initiative is a campus-wide research effort housed at the university's National Center for Supercomputing Applications. According to the company, it brings together about 75 affiliated faculty from 24 departments spanning nutrition, food science, medicine, data science and artificial intelligence, with a focus on evidence-based work in personalized nutrition. The External Partners Program connects the university's researchers with organizations from the food, agriculture, health and technology sectors.

Plexus said the partnership is meant to support research-driven advances in personalized nutrition and gut health, the category the company has built its product line around. Lai said personalized nutrition is "moving quickly from research into everyday practice" and that the program places Plexus alongside researchers and other organizations committed to scientific evidence.

Dr. Sharon Donovan, director of the Personalized Nutrition Initiative, welcomed Plexus to the program, describing it as a partner-driven setting where industry participants work on shared challenges.

Stuart MacMillan, Plexus's chief executive and growth officer, said the company aims to become "the number one gut health company in the world" by personalizing the experience for each brand ambassador and customer, and called the arrangement "a true partnership where each strengthens the other."

The announcement did not disclose financial terms, the length of the partnership, or any specific research projects or studies Plexus will fund or take part in.

Founded in 2008, Plexus Worldwide sells gut health and wellness supplements through a network of independent brand ambassadors.