Research Programs: Women's Cancer, Carcinogenesis & Chemoprevention
Professor, Department of Food Science and Nutrition and Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology & Transplantation
Director of Graduate Studies, Nutrition Graduate Program

mkurzer@umn.edu
612-624-9789 — office
612-625-8292 — lab
Preferred method of contact: e-mail

Dr. Kurzer received her Ph.D. in nutrition in 1984 from the University of California, Berkeley. She then performed research in the areas of energy expenditure, obesity, and reproductive hormones in Rome (National Nutrition Institute) and Denmark (University of Odense) as a NATO postdoctoral fellow. Following this, she was a postdoctoral fellow with P.K. Siiteri at the Reproductive Endocrinology Center, University of California, San Francisco for 2.5 years. She joined the University of Minnesota faculty in 1989.

Research Interests

Dr. Kurzer conducts research on the interactions between hormone metabolism and cancer, as well as the biological effects of dietary estrogens (phytoestrogens). Her main current research projects are clinical studies of 1) the effects of exercise on breast cancer biomarkers (reproductive hormones, IGF-axis proteins, inflammatory markers and oxidative stress) in premenopausal women; 2) the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on breast cancer biomarkers (urinary and circulating hormones and markers of oxidative stress) in postmenopausal women, in collaboration with Dr. Susan Raatz; and 3) the tissue distribution of soy isoflavones after soy consumption in young men, in collaboration with Dr. Joel Slaton. Other studies include effects of flaxseed and macrobiotic diets on urinary estrogen metabolites in postmenopausal women and effects of phytoestrogens on bone health and polycystic ovary syndrome.

Selected Publications

Nettleton, JA, Greany KA, Thomas W, Wangen KE and Kurzer MS. Soy and probiotic supplements do not affect concentrations of reproductive hormones in postmenopausal women with and without breast cancer. J Altern Complement Med, 2005;11:1067-1074.

Nettleton JA, Greany KA, Thomas W, Wangen KE and Kurzer MS.Effect of soy consumption on the 2:16-hydroxyestrone ratio in postmenopausal women depends on equol production status but is not influenced by probiotic consumption. J Nutr. 2005;135:603-608.

Nettleton, JA, Greany KA, Thomas W, Wangen KE and Kurzer MS. Soy and probiotic supplements do not affect concentrations of reproductive hormones in postmenopausal women with and without breast cancer. J Altern Complement Med, 2005;11(6):1067-1074.

McMullen MH, Hamilton-Reeves JM, Bonorden MJL, Wangen KE, Phipps WR, Feirtag JM and Kurzer MS. Consumption of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium longum does not alter phytoestrogen metabolism and plasma hormones in men: a pilot study. J Altern Complement Med. 2006;12(9): 887-94.

Hamilton-Reeves JM, Rebello SA, Thomas W, Slaton JW, Kurzer MS. Soy protein isolate increases urinary estrogens and the ratio of 2:16 alpha-hydroxyestrone in men at high risk of prostate cancer. J Nutr. 2007; 137:2258-2263.

Hamilton-Reeves JM, Rebello SA, Thomas W, Slaton JW, Kurzer MS. Isoflavone-rich soy protein isolate suppresses androgen receptor expression without altering estrogen receptor-beta expression or serum hormonal profiles in men at high risk of prostate cancer. J Nutr. 2007;137:1769-1775.

Greany KA, Nettleton JA, Wangen KE, Thomas W, Kurzer MS. Consumption of isoflavone-rich soy protein does not alter homocysteine or markers of inflammation in postmenopausal women. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007. [Epub ahead of print.]

Schmitz KH, Warren M, Rundle AG, Williams NI, Gross MD, Kurzer MS. Effects of aerobic exercise on oxidative stress, estrogens, and body size among young women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008;17: 220-223.

Hamilton-Reeves JM, Rebello SA, Thomas W, Kurzer MS, Slaton JW. Effects of soy protein isolate consumption on prostate cancer biomarkers in men with HGPIN, ASAP, and low-grade prostate cancer. Nutr Cancer 2008;60:7-13.

Tseng M, Olufade T, Kurzer MS, Fang CY, van der Schouw Y, Wähälä Daly MB. Assessment of Soy Intake in a Sample of US Women. Nutr Cancer, in press.

Sturgeon SR, Heersink JL, Volpe SL, Bertone-Johnson ER, Puleo E, Stanczyk FZ, Sabelawski S, Wähälä K, Kurzer MS, Bigelow C. Effect of Dietary Flaxseed on Serum Levels of Estrogens and Androgens in Postmenopausal Women. Nutr Cancer, in press.