Laura Kresty

Laura A. Kresty, PhD, MS

John A. & Carla S. Klein Family/Mark B. Orringer Research Professor of Thoracic Surgery
Associate Professor, Thoracic Surgery
Director, Thoracic Surgery Cancer Biology Lab

Biography

Laura Kresty, Ph.D., M.S., is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the Thoracic Surgery Cancer Biology Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Dr. Kresty joined the University of Michigan in July of 2017. Her research is focused on inhibiting esophageal and lung cancer progression through the use of natural products and pharmacologic agents and understanding how genetic, host-related (sex, age, obesity, microbiome profile) and environmental factors (diet, medication and tobacco use) mediate cancer development, progression, response to therapy, and metastasis.

Dr. Kresty earned her M.S. in Public Health in 1995 and completed her PhD in Public Health from The Ohio State University in 2000, with a major in Cancer Chemoprevention and Epidemiology and a minor in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. She remained at The Ohio State University to complete a NCI-Sponsored Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Molecular Oncology, followed by a faculty appointment in Internal Medicine. In 2008, Dr. Kresty joined the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and Sylvester Cancer where she continued her research focused on prevention of aerodigestive tract cancers. Dr. Kresty also served as Director for the Doctorate in Epidemiology Program and was a Cancer Biology Steering Committee Member at the University of Miami. Dr. Kresty joined the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2013 where she conducted research through June of 2017.

Dr. Kresty’s research is focused on characterizing molecular and biologic alterations leading to esophageal and lung cancers with the goal of developing efficacious interventions for cancer prevention and treatment. Examples of recent agents under investigation include Cranberry Proanthocyanidins, Mito-Lonidamine, Mito-Honokiol, Mito-Magnolol, Vitamin D, the NSAID sulindac alone and in combination with ranitidine. Dr. Kresty’s lab utilizes a combination of genetic, pharmacologic, and standard molecular biology techniques for combined with a battery of high-throughput platforms for target identification, understanding cancer-host interactions and investigating cancer inhibitory signaling mechanisms. Panels of human cancer cell lines, primary cultures, stem cell cultures, as well as rodent models, including a rat surgical model of acid reflux-induced esophageal adenocarcinoma are routinely employed prior to translating the evaluation of promising agents into early phase trials in high risk human cohorts.

Dr. Kresty has Editorial responsibilities for Molecular CarcinogenesisClinical Nutrition, a Specialty of Frontiers in Nutrition, The Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight and is a peer reviewer for multiple additional journals in her field. She is a Standing Member of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Prevention Study Section and has served on numerous additional NCI, NIDDK, and NCCAM Review Sections since 2009. Dr. Kresty is a member of the Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Program within the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.

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