Unit: Department of Global and Community Health
Mail Stop: 5B7
Office Location: Robinson B428
Phone: 703-993-1911
Email: cfranken@gmu.edu
Download Cara Frankenfeld's Curriculum Vitae
Cara Frankenfeld is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Global and Community Health. Dr. Frankenfeld completed a M.S. in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Arizona, where she studied infant growth in relation to infant and maternal HIV serostatus. She completed a Ph.D. in Epidemiology at the University of Washington, where she studied the relationship between markers of intestinal bacteria profile and breast cancer risk factors. In addition to this main area of study, she also worked on projects evaluating the validity of food frequency questionnaires, footwear and fall risk in the elderly, and risk factors for meningioma. She completed postdoctoral studies at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and at the National Cancer Institute. Prior to joining the faculty at GMU, Dr. Frankenfeld was a scientific consultant in private industry, working primarily in the areas of environmental and occupational epidemiology.
Her current research focuses on nutritional and chronic disease epidemiology. Dr. Frankenfeld is specifically interested in the relationship between dietary flavonoids (particular compounds in plants) and bone health, cancer, and other chronic conditions. She is also interested in the connection between indigenous microbiota (e.g. gut flora) and human health status. She is a member of the American College of Epidemiology, the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, and the American Society for Nutrition. Dr. Frankenfeld teaches courses in introductory and nutritional epidemiology.
Recent Publications:
Frankenfeld CL, Cerhan JR, Cozen W, Davis S, Schenk M, Morton LM, Hartge P, Ward MH. Dietary flavonoid intake and non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 May;87(5):1439-45.
Lampe JW, Nishino Y, Ray RM, Wu C, Li W, Lin MG, Gao DL, Hu Y, Shannon J, Stalsberg H, Porter PL, Frankenfeld CL, Wähälä K, Thomas DB. Plasma isoflavones and fibrocystic breast conditions and breast cancer among women in Shanghai, China. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Dec;16(12):2579-86.
Lunn JC, Kuhnle G, Mai V, Frankenfeld C, Shuker DE, Glen RC, Goodman JM, Pollock JR, Bingham SA. The effect of haem in red and processed meat on the endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Carcinogenesis. 2007 Mar;28(3):685-90.
Song KB, Atkinson C, Frankenfeld CL, Jokela T, Wähälä K, Thomas WK, Lampe JW. Prevalence of daidzein-metabolizing phenotypes differs between Caucasian and Korean American women and girls. J Nutr. 2006 May;136(5):1347-51.
Frankenfeld CL, McTiernan A, Thomas WK, LaCroix K, McVarish L, Holt VL, Schwartz SM, Lampe JW. Postmenopausal bone mineral density in relation to soy isoflavone-metabolizing phenotypes. Maturitas. 2006 Feb 20;53(3):315-24.
Educational Background: