Jacquelyn Bedsaul-Fryer, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Jacquelyn Bedsaul-Fryer, Ph.D., M.P.H. (she/her), joined DCEG in the Infection and Immunoepidemiology Branch as a postdoctoral fellow through the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program in September 2024. She will be investigating the role of Epstein Barr virus sero-immune profiles, viral genetics, and host factors in endemic Burkitt lymphoma in the EMBLEM study, under the mentorship of Sam Mbulaiteye, MBChB, M.Phil., M.Med. She has a dual appointment in the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program’s Risk Factor Assessment Branch in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. In this role, she works with Dr. Kirsten Herrick on dietary assessment methods and describing trends in food consumption and exposure to cancer-associated infections by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in the U.S.

Prior to joining DCEG, Dr. Bedsaul-Fryer earned her M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 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 Ph.D. in immunology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in May of 2022 under the mentorship of Dr. Joel Pomerantz. 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's interest in how malnutrition and socioeconomic factors affect immunity to infections and cancer led her to intern at nonprofit 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 sustainable protein sources and novel methodologies to assess complex etiologies for nutrition-related challenges, like anemia, in women and children in low- and middle-income countries.