Jacquelyn Bedsaul-Fryer, PhD, MPH

Jacquelyn Bedsaul-Fryer, PhD, MPH, is a Cancer Prevention fellow in the Behavioral Research Program’s (BRP) Health Behaviors Research Branch (HBRB). In this role, she works with Dr. Kirsten Herrick on describing trends in 1) ultra-processed food consumption, 2) dietary intake of food groups, 3) micronutrient deficiencies and 4) inflammation in U.S. Americans. Dr. Bedsaul-Fryer has a secondary appointment in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genomics, working with Dr. Sam Mbulaiteye in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch. Broadly, she is interested in the assessment of diet, nutritional status, immunity, and host factors to identify targets for cancer prevention.

In May of 2024, Dr. Bedsaul-Fryer earned her MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus in human nutrition, epidemiology, and statistics as part of the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program at NCI. She earned her PhD in immunology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in May of 2022 under the mentorship of Joel Pomerantz, PhD. Her work identified the mechanistic basis for a class of primary immunodeficiency disorders called CADINS that lead to frequent infections and autoimmune syndromes in children that manifest in an autosomal dominant manner.

Dr. Bedsaul-Fryer became interested in how modifiable risk factors affect immunity to infections and cancer, leading her to intern at not-for-profit foundation, Sight and Life, as a nutritional immunologist. There, she explored the intersection of public health nutrition and immunity and collaborated towards reducing all forms of malnutrition in low-resource settings. She led efforts to build international collaborations and awareness in diverse protein sources and novel methodologies to assess complex etiologies for nutrition-related challenges, like anemia.

Dr. Bedsaul-Fryer looks forward to bridging her interdisciplinary interests and experience in nutrition, infection, and immunity to prevent cancer.