Elizabeth H. Jeffery

Functional Foods, Anticarcinogens, Detoxification Enzymes

Dr. Jeffery's research focus is on the mechanism of disease prevention by dietary components, including cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli. She works with a multidisciplinary team of scientists interested in developing a "better broccoli"---one that will significantly decrease risk for cancer through both enhanced detoxification enzyme synthesis and suppression of tumor growth, without greatly changing people's dietary habits. Her approach is to define mechanism using molecular biology, then to correlate this with whole animal and clinical studies. She is particularly focused on effects that can be obtained at physiological levels following ingestion of a meal.

Eberhardt M.V. and Jeffery E.H. When dietary antioxidants perturb the thiol redox. J. Sci. Food Agric. 86: 1996-1998 (2006)

Jeffery E.H. and Keck A.S., Translating knowledge generated by epidemiological and in vitro studies into dietary cancer prevention.  Mol. Nutr. Fd. Res. 52:S7-S17 (2008)

Lai R-H., Miller MM, Jeffery EH Glucoraphanin hydrolysis by microbiota in the rat cecum results in sulforaphane absorption. Food and Function 1: 161-166 (2010)

Cramer J and Jeffery EH Sulforaphane Absorption and Excretion Following Ingestion of a Semi Purified Broccoli Powder Rich in Glucoraphanin and Broccoli Sprouts in Healthy Men Nutr Cancer  DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2011.523495 (2011)

Courses recently taught:

FSHN 480 - Basic Toxicology

FSHN 561 - Nutritional Oncology 

FSHN 510 - Bioactive Food Components

Ph.D.(Biochemistry), University of London, England

Dr. Elizabeth Jeffery is Professor of Nutritional Pharmacology and Toxicology, teaching and performing research in the area of safety and efficacy of functional foods and dietary supplements, with emphasis on biochemical mechanisms of cancer prevention by broccoli and related crucifers. Dr. Jeffery gained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of London, England, studying the effects of vitamin E and selenium deficiency on detoxification enzymes. She then spent 10 years in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota, studying the basic biochemistry of the hepatic detoxification enzymes, before joining the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1983.

A toxicologist by training, Dr. Jeffery is active in the Society of Toxicology where she has held elected positions on the Education and Nominating Committees. She is past President of the Midwest Regional Chapter of the Society of Toxicology and past Chair of the Toxicology specialty section in the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. She is past Chair of the Dietary Bioactive Components Research Interest Section of the American Society of Nutrition and past committee member of the National Academy of Science Food and Nutrition Board's Committee on use of Dietary Supplements by military personnel. She has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology and as guest Field Editor for the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and reviews research grant proposals for both the NIH and the USDA. Dr. Jeffery receives funding from industry and local and federal government sources, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health. She is also faculty on an NIH training grant in toxicology, and past Director of a USDA National Needs training grant in functional foods.  Dr. Jeffery has been with the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition since 1997, although she has been on campus since 1983. Other appointments on campus are: Veterinary Biosciences (College of Veterinary Medicine), Pharmacology (College of Medicine), the Environmental Toxicology Program and the Division of Nutritional Sciences. Dr. Jeffery has M.S. and Ph.D. students who major in Nutritional Sciences, Food Science and Human Nutrition, and Toxicology. With the growing need for research into the safety and efficacy of functional foods and dietary supplements, Dr. Jeffery's research meets needs that are timely, and that train students appropriately for careers in academia, government, or the food and pharmaceutical industries. The general public deserves to know how they can modify their diet to improve their health.