University of Massachusetts Amherst

Department of Nutrition

Dr. Richard J  Wood

 

 Associate Professor

 

Telephone:                413-545-1687

Email:                        rwood@nutrition.umass.edu

Campus Address:      210 Chenoweth

 

Education and Training:

  • NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, Human and Clinical Nutrition, University of Chicago

  • Ph.D., Nutritional Physiology, University of Connecticut

  • M.S., Nutritional Science, University of Connecticut

  • B.A., Biology, Boston University

 Research Interests:

 

  • My broad research interest is to further our understanding of the role of diet on gene expression and the relationships among micronutrient nutrition, genetic polymorphisms, and chronic disease. I am especially interested in the role of iron and vitamin D status in disease risk, as well as the molecular determinants of mineral homeostasis and the role of aging. My laboratory group has worked extensively with the Caco-2 human intestinal cell culture model system to study the molecular role of the vitamin D hormone in the absorptive enterocyte. In addition, my laboratory has been involved in recent years in several studies in collaboration with epidemiological researchers at the National Cancer Institute to investigate the connection between iron status and gastrointestinal cancers. 

 

Selected Recent Publications:

  • Wood RJ. Manganese and birth outcome. Nutr Reviews 2009; 67:416-420.

  • Martini LA and Wood RJ. Milk intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and prostate cancer. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab 2009; 53:688-694.

  • Peters BSE, Santos LC, Fisberg M, Wood RJ, Martini LA. Prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in Brazilian adolescents. Annals Nutr Metab 2009; 54:15-21.  

  • Cui M, Zhao Y, Hance K, Shao A, Wood R, Fleet J. Effects of MAPK signaling on 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D-mediated CYP24 gene expression in the enterocyte-like cell line, Caco-2.  J Cellular Physiol. 2009; 219:132-142

  • Angelo G, Lamon-Fava S, Sonna LA, Lindauer ML, Wood RJ. Heat shock protein 90beta: a novel mediator of vitamin D action. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008; 367(3):578-83. 

  • Martini LA, Wood RJ.  Vitamin D-blood pressure connection: update on epidemiologic, clinical and mechanistic evidence. Nutr Reviews 2008; 66:291-297.

  •  Wood RJ. Vitamin D and adipogenesis: new molecular insights. Nutr Reviews; 2008: 66:40-46. 

  • Seaverson EL, Buell JS, Fleming DJ, Bermudez OI, Potischman N, Wood RJ. Chasan-Taber L, Tucker KL. Poor iron status is more prevalent in Hispanic than in non-Hispanic white older adults in Massachusetts. J Nutr. 2007; 137:414-420. 

  • Mernitz H, Smith DE, Wood RJ, Russell RM, Wang X-D. Inhibition of lung carcinogenesis by 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and 9-cis retinoic acid in the A/J mouse model: evidence of retinoid antagonism of vitamin D toxicity. Clin Cancer Res. 2007.;120: 1402-1409.

  • Wood RJ. Calcium and Phosphorus. In: Biochemical, Physiological, and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition, 2e, ed. M Stipanuk. Elsevier, Ltd. 2006. page 887-920 

  • Martini L, Booth S, Saltzman E, Latorre M, Wood RJ. Dietary phylloquinone depletion and repletion in postmenopausal women: effects on bone and mineral metabolism. Osteoporosis International. 2006. 17(6):929-35. 

  • Gunter MJ, Stolzenberg-Solomon R, Cross AJ, Leitzmann MF, Wood R, Virtamo J, Taylor P, Albanes D, Sinha R. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and colorectal cancer risk in a cohort of Finnish male smokers. Cancer Research. 2006. 15;66(4):2483-7. 

  • Crowell R, Ferris AM, Wood RJ, Joyce P, Slivka H. Comparative effectiveness of zinc protoporphyrin and hemoglobin concentration in identifying iron-deficiency in a group of low-income preschoolers: The practical implications of illness. Pediatrics. 2006. 118(1):224-32. 

  • Cross AJ, Gunter MJ, Wood RJ, Pietinen P, Taylor PR, Virtamo J, Albanes D, Sinha R. Iron and colorectal cancer risk in the alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene cancer prevention study. Int J Cancer. 2006. 15;118:3147-52

  •  Taparia S, Fleet JC, Peng J-B, Wang XD, Wood RJ. 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D and 25-hydroxyvitamin D - mediated regulation of TRPV6 (a putative epithelial calcium channel) mRNA expression in Caco-2 cells. Eur J Nutr. 2006 45(4):196-204.

  • Martini L, Wood RJ. Vitamin D and the metabolic syndrome. Nutr Reviews 2006; 64:479-486.

  • Wood RJ, Ronnenberg A. Iron. In: Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 10th edition. Shike M, Ross AC, Caballero B, Cousins RJ, eds. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. BaltimoreMD. 2005. Page 248-270. 

  •  Wood RJ. Bioavailability: definition, general aspects and fortificants. In: Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition, 2e, ed. Cabellero B and Allen L. Elsevier Ltd. 2005
  •  Wood RJ, Tchack L, Angelo G, Pratt RE, Sonna LA. DNA microarray analysis of vitamin D-induced gene expression in human colon carcinoma cell line. Physiological Genomics. 2004; 17:122-129
  •  Ronnenberg AG, Wood RJ, Wang X, Xing H, Chen C, Chen, D, Guang W, Huang A, Wang L, Xu X. Preconception hemoglobin and ferritin concentrations are associated with pregnancy outcome in a prospective cohort of Chinese women. J Nutr 2004; 134:2586-91.
  • Wood RJ. The iron-heart disease connection: Is it dead or just hiding?

Ageing Research Reviews 2004; 3:355-367.

Recent Grants:

 

  • National Institutes of Health- National Cancer Institute (Subcontracts)

“               Iron and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Gastric Cancer in the ATBC Study”, 2008

“               Iron and Colon Cancer in the PLCO Study”, 2006

“               Iron and Inflammatory Biomarkers and Colon Cancer in the ATBC Study”, 2004

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH RO1 DK64327)

“               Functional Role of CaT1 and Calbindin D in Calcium Transport”, 2003-2007

Teaching:

 

Basic Nutrition; Advanced Nutrition - Minerals; Nutrition for a Healthy Lifestyle; Methods in Nutrition Research; Advanced Topics - Nutritional Genomics; Senoir Undergraduate Seminar; Graduate Journal Club

http://www.umass.edu/sphhs/nutrition/