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Chaoran Ma, assistant professor of nutrition, has been elected to a three-year team as chair of the Diet and Cancer research interest section (RIS) of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN). She assumed this role in September and will serve through 2027.

The American Society for Nutrition was formed in 2005 from a merger of the American Society for Nutritional Sciences (formerly the American Institute for Nutrition), the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and the Society for International Nutrition. Its mission is to advance the science, education and practice of nutrition.

Members of the Diet and Cancer RIS focus on the impact of nutritional status and dietary factors in cancer development, the role of diet in modulating cellular, biochemical and molecular events associated with carcinogenesis at numerous sites in animal and human models, and the relevance and application of research in the field of cancer chemoprevention.

As chair, Ma hopes to facilitate and promote innovative research and transformative ideas in the field of diet and cancer while helping the ASN disseminate critical findings, best practices and new methodologies to the broader community. As an early-career researcher, Ma aspires to strengthen connections with experts, collaborators and leaders in the field, creating opportunities for future research and meaningful collaborations. 

Additionally, she seeks to enhance her leadership and organizational skills, contributing to her professional growth and ability to make a lasting impact in the field.

Ma joined the UMass Amherst faculty in 2023 after spending several years as a research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on understanding age-related chronic complex diseases, especially cancer and neurodegeneration, and how modifiable risk factors, including diet and behavioral factors, affect the disease processes. 

Her research explores how the complex interplay of genetic, metabolic and the gut microbial factors affect the variability of individuals’ responses to dietary intakes, and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the roles of dietary and behavioral factors in etiology, progression and survival of age-related chronic diseases.