Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., R.D.

Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control

Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., R.D., is Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control for the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB as well as Professor and Webb Endowed Chair of Nutrition Sciences and an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor.

Demark-Wahnefried is a nutrition scientist with training in biochemistry, genetics and behavioral science. For the past two decades, her research career has spanned basic science studies focused on determining mechanisms of action of food-related components on neoplastic progression, to clinical research that involves nutrition-related concerns of cancer patients, as well as determining effective lifestyle interventions that improve the overall health of cancer survivors and their families.

Prior to joining the Cancer Center, Demark-Wahnefried was a professor in behavioral science at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nutritional science and chemistry from the University of Michigan. She completed her graduate work at Baylor College of Medicine Texas Woman’s University in Houston and at Syracuse University.

Demark-Wahnefried’s laboratory has conducted some of the largest studies exploring metabolic and body composition changes in response to cancer treatment. She has experienced particular success in studying the delivery of home-based lifestyle interventions among cancer survivors where she leads a number of National Institutes of Health-funded trials aimed at improving the diet and exercise behaviors of cancer survivors. For her work in this area, she was a named a Susan G. Komen Professor of Survivorship.