Laura Kresty, Ph.D., M.S., is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Medical College (MCW) of Wisconsin Division of Hematology and Oncology, specializing in Cancer Prevention. Her laboratory is focused on evaluating preventive agents and novel strategies for targeting cancers of the esophagus and head and neck. Dr. Kresty’s ongoing research includes evaluating the cancer inhibitory potential of cranberry constituents, vitamin D and investigating energy excess as it relates to esophageal adenocarcinoma risk. Her laboratory is also collaborating on investigations focused on novel imaging technologies to detect early epithelial and sub-epithelial esophageal changes for more rapid evaluation of chemopreventive agents.

Dr. Kresty received her PhD in Public Health from The Ohio State University in 2000 with a major in Cancer Chemoprevention and Epidemiology and minor in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. She remained at The Ohio State University to complete a NCI-Sponsored Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Molecular Oncology, followed by a faculty appointment in Internal Medicine. In 2008 Dr. Kresty joined the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and Sylvester Cancer where she continued her program of research and served as Director for the Doctorate in Epidemiology Program. Dr. Kresty joined the MCW in January 2013.

Dr. Kresty serves as a peer reviewer for multiple journals in her field, has over 40 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters, and has delivered more than 35 invited talks throughout the world. She is NCI funded.

Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin

Education
2006 Ph.D. Microbiology. University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Ph.D. advisor: Dr. Caroline S. Harwood
1998 Licenciado en Bioquimica (equivalent to B.S. and M.S. in Clinical
Chemistry). Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Cordoba, Argentina.

Selected Peer-reviewed Publications (Selected from 25)
1. Seedorf H, Griffin NW, Ridaura VK, Reyes A, Cheng J, Rey FE,
, et al. Bacteria from
Diverse Habitats Colonize and Compete in the Mouse Gut. Cell. 159:253-66 (PMC in
process)
2. Ridaura VK, Faith JJ, Rey FE, Cheng J, Duncan AE, et al., 2013. Gut microbiota from twins
discordant for obesity modulate metabolism in mice. Science. 341: 1241214. (PMC
3829625)
3. Rey FE*, Gonzalez M*, Cheng J, Wu M, Gordon JI. Metabolic niche of a prominent sulfatereducing
human gut bacterium. Proc Natl Acad Sci 110: 13582-7. (PMC3746858)
4. Pluznick J, Protzko RJ, Haykanush G, Peterlin Z, Sipos A, Han J, Brunet I, Rey FE, Wang T,
Firestein S, Yanagisawa M, Gordon JI, Eichmann A, Peti-Peterdi J, Caplan MJ. 2013.
Olfactory receptor responding to gut microbiota-derived signals plays a role in renin
secretion and blood pressure regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci 110: 4410-15. (PMC3600440)
5. Yatsunenko T, Rey FE, Manary MJ, Trehan I, Dominguez-Bello MG, Contreras M, Magris M,
Hidalgo G, Baldassano RN, Anokhin AP, Heath AC, Warner B, Reeder J, Kuczynski J,
Lozupone CA, Lauber C, Clemente JC, Knights D, Knight R, Gordon JI. 2012. Human gut
microbiome differentiation viewed across cultures, ages and families. Nature 486: 222–
7.(PMC3376388)
6. Faith JJ, McNulty NP, Rey FE, Gordon JI. 2011. Predicting a human gut microbiota’s
response to diet in gnotobiotic mice. Science 333: 101-4. (PMC3303606)
7. Rey FE*, Faith JJ*, Bain J, Muehlbauer MJ, Stevens RD, Newgard CB, Gordon JI. 2010.
Dissecting the in vivo metabolic potential of two human gut acetogens. J Biol Chem 285:
22082-90.(PMC2903421)
8. Faith JJ*, Rey FE*, O’Donnell D, Karlsson M, McNulty NP, Kallstrom G, Goodman AL,
Gordon JI. 2010. Creating and characterizing communities of human gut microbes in
gnotobiotic mice. ISME J 4 :1094-8. (PMC2927777)
9. Rey FE, Harwood CS. 2010. FixK, a global regulator of microaerobic growth, controls
photosynthesis in Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Mol Microbiol 75: 1007–20. PMCID: Policy
Exempt – Not resulting from NIH funding.
10. Mahowald M*, Rey FE*, Seedorf H, Turnbaugh PJ, Fulton RS et al. 2009. Characterizing a
model human gut microbiota composed of members of its two dominant bacterial phyla.
Proc Natl Acad Sci 106: 5859-64. (PMC2660063)
11. Rey FE, Heniger E , Harwood CS. 2007. Redirection of metabolism for biological hydrogen
production by Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Appl Environ Microbiol 73: 1665-71.
(PMC1828789)
12. Rey, FE, Oda Y, Harwood CS. 2006. Regulation of uptake hydrogenase and effects of
hydrogen utilization on gene expression in Rhodopseudomonas palustris. J Bacteriol 188
(17):6143-52. (PMC1595397)
13. Rey FE, Pagano PJ. 2002. The reactive adventitia: fibroblast oxidase in vascular function.
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Bio 22 (12):1962-71.
14. Rey FE, Li X, Garvin JL, Pagano PJ. 2002. Perivascular superoxide anion contributes to
impairment of endothelium-dependent relaxation: role of gp91phox. Circulation 106 (19):2497-
502.
15. Rey FE, Cifuentes ME, Quinn MT, Pagano PJ. 2001. Novel competitive inhibitor of
NAD(P)H oxidase assembly attenuates vascular O2
– and systolic blood pressure in mice.
Circ Res 89 (5):408-14.
*Contributed equally

Patents
Rey FE, Harwood CS, Flickinger MC. A structured material for the production of hydrogen. US
Patent 7,745,023
Rey FE, Harwood CS. Hydrogen Production from microbial strains. US Patent 20,120,220,006
Gordon JI, Faith JJ, McNulty N, Rey FE, Goodman AL, Kallstrom G, Ridaura V. Cultured
Collection of Gut Microbial Community. WO Patent 2,012,122,522

Professional activities
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Journals: Nature Chem Biol, mBio, Journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology
(ISME), Applied Environmental Microbiology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of
Molecular Biology, Scientific Reports, Proceedings B, FEMS Microbiology Reviews.
Funding agencies: NIH (NIBIB, NCCAM), The Canada Foundation for Innovation, Research
Foundation – Flanders (FWO)

Farrukh Aqil, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Medicine. He received his doctorate in Microbiology from and has extensive experience of over 12 years in phytochemistry, microbiology, cancer biology and cancer prevention. Prior to moving to the as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Cancer Chemoprevention Group, he has a faculty in the Department of Biotechnology, .

His research focus is on cancer chemoprevention primarily of breast, lung and ovarian cancers using both standard chemotherapeutic drugs and agents from natural origin like berries. In the last few years his focus has been to evaluate the effectiveness of selected berries against lung cancer. In another project he has focused on chemopreventive efficacy and mechanisms of whole berry and spice powder against breast cancer. He has developed analytical techniques for tissue and plasma distribution of bioactive principles. Finally, he is developing novel combinatorial approaches for the treatment of lung and ovarian cancer by testing natural agents and standard chemo drugs using drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cancer cells.

More recently, he has played a key role in the development of polymeric implants for continuous systemic and local delivery of drugs, a technology which has fetched several patents. Another upcoming drug delivery technology in which he has also played a key role is based on biocompatible exosomes for delivery of small molecules and siRNAs. He has participated in many conferences and presented his work in the form of 60 abstracts/oral presentations. Dr. Aqil has authored or co-authored over 45 articles in peer reviewed journals, has 12 book chapters and has edited 4 books. He is an as associate editor in International Research Journal of Microbiology and serves as peer reviewer for more than 30 journals.

Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, PhD is Professor of Clinical Nutrition and cooperating Graduate Faculty, School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Maine. She is also cooperating professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Harokopio University, Athens, Greece and at the Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Milan, Italy. She received her MS in Human Physiology and PhD in Nutrition Science from the Pennsylvania State University and did post-doctoral training at the Department of Physiological Chemistry, University of Cologne, Germany and the University of Cologne Hospital.

Dr. Klimis-Zacas has been involved in biomedical research exploring the role of trace minerals and dietary bioactives on chronic diseases such as Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease and the Metabolic Syndrome including basic and clinical investigations. Her applied investigations involve cross-cultural studies that utilize dietary interventions to reduce cardiovascular risk in populations both in the United States and the Mediterranean region.

Her past studies have documented the beneficial role of wild blueberries on vascular function, structure and metabolism in normotensive and hypertensive states. Her recent investigations examine the role of wild blueberries on attenuating co-morbidities associated with the Metabolic Syndrome such as Obesity-induced inflammation, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance as well as gene expression related to the above.

Dr. klimis-Zacas was awarded a senior Fulbright Fellowship to the Hellenic School of Public Health, Athens, Greece where she was involved in the Pan European Project EPIC (European Perspective study Into Cancer) and received two Fulbright Specialist awards to the University of Milan, Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences. Additionally, Dr. klimis-Zacas was the recipient of the prestigious Fondazione Cariplo Fellowship to lead research on the use of biosensors in exploring dietary approaches for degenerative disease prevention at the University of Milan.

Dr. Klimis-Zacas is the editor of “Manganese in Health and Disease”, ‘Nutritional Concerns for Women”, and has acted as editor-in-chief of “Annual Editions in Nutrition” and member of several editorial boards including the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry and Council member of the International Society of Trace Mineral Research in Humans (ISTERH). Dr. Klimis-Zacas is a member of many professional societies dedicated to promoting health and preventing disease including The American Society for Nutrition, The International Atherosclerosis Society, The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, The Italian Society of Nutrition, The Hellenic Dietetic Association and many others.

Daniele Del Rio is Associate Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Parma. He is running the Laboratory of Phytochemicals in Physiology at the Department of Food Science and is the co-founder of the LS9 “Bioactives & Health” Interlaboratory Group, where the biological activity of human and microbiota derived phytochemical metabolites represents one of the core research topics. Daniele is an Honorary Visiting Scholar at the UK Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research Unit in Cambridge, a Visiting Fellow of the Wolfson College, University of Cambridge and a senior collaborator of the Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme (NNEdPro), an independent knowledge generation and research platform overseen by the British Dietetic Association. Dan is also the Commissioned Reviews Editor of the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics (the official Journal of the British Dietetics Association) and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the University Spin-Off “Madegus”, focused on Nutritional Education for Children.
Daniele has been recently listed among the Thomson-Reuters Highly Cited Researchers. His publications could be retrieved at Google Scholar and Researcher ID

Professor Williams is Chair of Neuroscience in the School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading, UK. She received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Reading in 2000. Her research group, the Nutritional Psychology laboratory, investigates the health benefits of plant-derived chemicals. The main focus of her laboratory is the interplay between dietary intake and measures of psychological well-being such as cognitive performance, food preference, mood, and quality of life using a wide range of techniques (e.g. animal studies, randomised controlled trials, neuroimaging) and population groups (e.g., school-aged children, healthy adults, older adults, patients with mild cognitive impairment). The group have published a number of articles including a demonstration that improvements in spatial working memory induced by a high flavonoid diet can be linked to de novo protein synthesis in rat hippocampus, flavonoid supplementation is associated with increased cerebral blood perfusion in healthy older adults, and that single acute doses of blueberries can significantly improve memory and attention in children aged 8-10 years old. She has published more than fifty peer-reviewed research articles, four book chapters and four patents.

Cheatham Nutrition & Cognition Lab, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Nutrition Research Institute, Kannapolis

Dr. Cheatham is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and a member of the Nutrition & Brain Development Team at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) on the North Carolina Research Campus. At the NRI, Dr. Cheatham is studying the effects of nutrients (e.g., fatty acids, choline, iron, zinc, antioxidants) on the development and functioning of the hippocampus and frontal lobes, brain structures that are integral to the formation and retrieval of memories and to higher-order cognition. She uses both cognitive testing and an electrophysiological technique known as event-related potentials in her work with adults, as well as behavioral assessments in her studies with children.

Dr. Cheatham earned her Ph.D. in Child Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience in September 2004 at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (rated number one in the nation by US News & World Report) with Patricia Bauer and Megan Gunnar, both internationally renowned in their field. During her tenure at the Institute, she studied the development of memory and attention with Dr. Bauer, while simultaneously studying the effects of stress and social support on memory development with Dr. Gunnar.

She first became interested in the interplay between nutrition and brain development during her work with the chair of her dissertation committee, Dr. Michael Georgieff, a leading neonatologist who studies the effects of iron intake on brain development. Even though her dissertation did not have a nutrition component, the mentoring she received from Dr. Georgieff was invaluable for the understanding of the effects of nutrition on the brain. In addition, she began to appreciate the value of interdisciplinary ventures and came away with a desire to seek collaborative opportunities that cross traditional lines. She subsequently accepted a position on an interdisciplinary project at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) exploring the effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a fatty acid, on cognitive development. Dr. Cheatham views interdisciplinary work as a pathway to a cohesive picture of brain development and functioning.

In her recent research, Dr. Cheatham hypothesizes that DHA’s effects on the ability of the brain to process information or even the ability of the brain to utilize DHA when it is present may be differentially affected by background diet (e.g., the total fat composition of the diet) and the organism’s history (e.g., expression of genes). She is assessing the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on declarative memory using behavioral and electrophysiological (event-related potential) paradigms. Important to her work at the Nutrition Research Institute is the ability to classify participants by single nucleotide polymorphisms (snp) in genes that are involved in the fatty acid metabolism process and are possibly introducing a confound into the data as people of a certain genotype metabolize fatty acids more readily than others.

Dr. Cheatham’s goal is to elucidate factors surrounding hippocampal development in children and senescence in adults. She believes that a focus on the nutritional aspect of brain research is key to discovering possible interventions that would help improve brain development and slow cognitive decline, giving every child and adult a chance to maximize their own cognitive abilities.

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Aedin Cassidy was appointed to a personal Chair in Nutrition in 2004. Her research focuses on understanding the impact of plant bioactives on cardiometabolic health.

She completed her PhD and post-doctoral work at Cambridge University. Prior to joining UEA she was Head of Molecular Nutrition in the Biosciences Division of Unilever Research, UK. She has been awarded the Nutrition Society Medal (1999), ‘Outstanding Contribution to Research’ in Tokyo, Japan for contribution to isoflavone research (2008), Finalist, Times Higher Education Awards for ‘International Collaboration of the Year’ 2013, awarded ‘Outstanding Contribution to Clinical research on Flavonoids’ at the International Conference on Polyphenols, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2013). She was awarded the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2013 and is listed on Highly Cited Researchers.

She has served on various committees and expert panels including RAE2008 and REF2014. She is a Fellow of the Society for Biology and the Royal Society of Chemistry.