Stephen D. Hursting, PhD, MPH
Professor of Nutrition
hursting@email.unc.edu
704-250-5059
View CV
Dr. Hursting is a Professor of Nutrition at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis, NC. He is also Professor in the Department of Nutrition and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An international leader in the area of nutrition, obesity, metabolism and cancer, his lab focuses on the molecular and metabolic mechanisms underlying obesity-cancer associations, and the impact of obesity- energy balance modulation (eg, calorie restriction and exercise) or pharmacologic agents on cancer development, progression, and responses to chemotherapy. Primarily using genetically engineered mouse models of breast cancer (recently in parallel with several clinical trials), colon cancer and pancreatic cancer, Dr. Hursting has identified the IGF1/Akt/mTOR and NF-kB signaling pathways as key targets for breaking the obesity-cancer link. His publications establish causal links between obesity, cancer and several systemic factors (including IGF-1, insulin, leptin and IL-6) and components of their downstream signaling pathways (including mTOR and NF-kb).
Prior to joining the UNC faculty in 2014, Dr. Hursting was Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, the McKean-Love Endowed Chair of Nutritional, Molecular and Cellular Sciences in the UT College of Natural Sciences, and Professor of Molecular Carcinogenesis at the UT-MD Anderson Cancer Center (2005-14). Dr. Hursting earned a BA in biology from Earlham College and a PhD in nutritional biochemistry and an MPH in nutritional epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also completed postdoctoral training in molecular biology and cancer prevention as a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Show More
Elaine (Elle) Glenny, PhD
Research Associate, Hursting Lab - Chapel Hill
Elle completed her PhD at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill under the supervision of Dr. Ian Carroll where she investigated the consequences of severe calorie restriction on intestinal stem cell function and potential interactions of the gut microbiota. To further delineate dietary regulation of intestinal epithelial cell function, Elle has remained at UNC-Chapel Hill where she is now working with Drs. Stephen Hursting and Jatin Roper (Duke University) to investigate adipose-derived inflammatory factors that may drive colorectal tumor progression in obesity.
Evan Paules, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Hursting Lab
Evan Paules joined the NRI in August 2016 as a doctoral student under the mentorship of Dr. Zeisel. Following his graduation, Evan joined the lab of Dr. Hursting where he is now a postdoctoral researcher. Evan is currently investigating the determinants of heterogenic responses to dietary interventions in individuals. Evan attended Rider University where he graduated with a double major in Biochemistry and Behavioral Neuroscience. He was also a member of Rider University’s Division 1 swim team for all four years while he attended Rider.
Erika Rezeli
Lab Manager, Hursting Lab - Chapel Hill
Study Finds Weight Loss Amount is More Important than Diet Type in Reversing Obesity-Cancer Link
March 28, 2016 • Researchers striving to break the link between obesity and cancer have found in a new preclinical study that significant weight loss through calorie restriction, but not moderate weight loss through a low-fat diet, was linked to reduced breast cancer growth. The preliminary findings (abstract #4321) will be presented from 1-5 p.m. April 19 at the 2016 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
Anti-Inflammatory Diet May Fight Breast Cancer
March 28, 2016 • Promising work is underway in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Hursting at the NRI to identify dietary interventions that can reduce the risk of cancer. Omega-3 fatty acids are well known anti-inflammatory dietary supplements. Because inflammation is associated with cancer, Hursting is investigating whether these supplements can reduce risk of developing cancer.
NRI Researcher Receives Award to Further Work on Obesity and Cancer
December 1, 2015 • University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill professor Stephen Hursting has received a prestigious National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award (OIA), which provides stable funding for cancer research with breakthrough potential. Dr. Hursting, a professor in UNC’s Department of Nutrition, Nutrition Research Institute and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, is one of 43 researchers nationwide to receive an OIA. The grant will provide Hursting with $5.34 million over a seven-year period to further his research on the mechanistic links between obesity and cancer.
Dr. Hursting Awarded Grant from Breast Cancer Research Foundation
October 28, 2015 • The Breast Cancer Research Foundation seeks “to prevent and cure breast cancer by advancing the world’s most promising research.”Since 1993 BCRF-supported investigators have been deeply involved in every major advance in breast cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In 2015-2016, BCRF is awarding $48.5 million in grants to more than 240 scientists to advance this work. Among those recipients is Stephen Hursting, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor of Nutrition at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute.
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Obesity and Cancer Metabolism: A Perspective on Interacting Tumor-Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors.
When less may be more: calorie restriction and response to cancer therapy.
Energy balance and obesity: what are the main drivers?
Metabolic Reprogramming by Folate Restriction Leads to a Less Aggressive Cancer Phenotype.