Jennifer W. Bea, PhD is a physiological scientist, with a special emphasis on body composition and chronic disease prevention and management, with a focus on cancer. Her expertise includes imaging and anthropometric techniques to assess body composition, as well as subjective and objective dietary, physical activity, and functional assessments, lifestyle interventions, and circulating biomarkers. She is the Director of the Body Composition Research Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Dr. Bea is also Co-Leader for the Cancer Prevention and Control Program and Director of the Behavioral Measurement and Intervention Shared Resource at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. Dr. Bea is a consultant for the National Women’s Health Initiative and a member of the NRG Oncology Cancer Prevention and Control Committee. She has acquired substantial research funding from the National Institutes of Health, foundations, and industry. Dr. Bea has published >100 peer reviewed journal articles and several book chapters. Additionally, Dr. Bea is highly committed to training the next generation of scientists and clinicians via courses, mentorship, and research education, including serving as PI on the NCI funded R25 STEP-UP program in cancer prevention and control and the Research Education Core Leader for the Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention (NCI U54).
Research Areas:
Bea JW, Odegaard A, Chen Z, Blew R, Lind K, Caan B, Roe D, Bland V, Valencia C, Ochs-Balcom H; Abdominal visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue associations with postmenopausal breast cancer incidence; JNCI Cancer Spectr; 2025 Jan 23:pkaf007. doi: 10.1093/jncics/pkaf007. Online ahead of print.
Bea JW, de Heer H, Lane T, Charley B, Yazzie E, Wertheim B, Roe D, Schwartz A; Restoring Balance: a physical activity intervention for Native American cancer survivors and their familial support persons. Exercise, Sport, and Movement. Exercise, Sport, and Movement 1(2):e00007, Spring 2023. | DOI: 10.1249/ESM.0000000000000007; Restoring Balance: A Physical Activity Intervention for Nati... : Exercise, Sport, and Movement (lww.com). [PMID: 37731941; PMCID: PMC10508873]
Bea JW, Chen Z, Blew R, Nicholas JS, Follis So, Bland VLo, Cheng TD, Ochs-Balcom HM, Wactawski-Wende J, Banack HR, Neuhouser ML, Laddu D, Stefanick ML, Cauley JA, Caan B, LeBoff MS, Chlebowski RT, Odegaard AO; MRI based validation of abdominal adipose tissue measurements from DXA in postmenopausal women; Journal of Clinical Densitometry; 2021; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocd.2021.07.010. [PMID: 34404568; PMCID: PMC8799761] 
