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Lampe
Johanna Lampe, PhD, RD
- Professor and Associate Director, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutch
- Member, Pathogen-Associated Malignancies Integrated Research Center (PAM IRC)
- Research Professor, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Public Health
Background
Dr. Johanna Lampe is an experimental nutritionist and cancer prevention researcher who studies how one’s diet, particularly the consumption of plant foods, affects cancer risk. She uses nutrition-intervention studies to investigate differences in how people respond to various foods. She also uses such feeding studies to search for biomarkers, or molecular signals, of dietary exposure. Such biomarkers are more accurate than relying on individuals to self-report the foods they eat. Dr. Lampe and colleagues found that for people who are overweight and obese, a “slow-carb” diet rich in slowly digested carbohydrates, such as whole grains, significantly reduced markers of inflammation associated with chronic disease. She also showed that cruciferous vegetables like broccoli increase the activity of enzymes that help break down cancer-causing compounds. Such findings one day may contribute to personalized dietary recommendations to lower cancer risk. Dr. Lampe’s team also studies how bacteria in the intestinal tract influence the risk of colon and breast cancer.
Education
PhD, Nutrition Sciences, University of Minnesota, 1990
BS, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Minnesota, 1982
RD, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Minnesota, 1982
Research Interests
How constituents of diet alter cancer risk factors in humans
The relationship between diet, gut microbial community and health
Evaluating biomarkers of dietary exposure
Implementing controlled dietary studies and other interventions in humans to examine biologic responses
Measuring phytoestrogen concentrations in biologic samples for epidemiologic studies
Current Projects
Studies that evaluate gut microbial phenotypes in relation to health and disease; evaluate the interactions between gut microbial community and various cancer-risk parameters in dietary interventions; and evaluate the relationships between obesity, gut microbiome, and inflammation.