Joshua Bomser

Joshua Bomser is associate professor of nutrition in the Department of Human Sciences. His research interests are in dietary bioactive components and chronic disease.

He has been a faculty member at The Ohio State University since 2000, holding a previous appointment in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Ohio State. Early experiences as a high school wrestler sparked his interest in nutrition. As an undergraduate, Bomser held research positions at Biospherics, Inc and the United States Department of Agriculture, examining non-nutritive sweeteners and bioactive phytochemicals, respectively. These positions were critical in shaping his current research and teaching interests. In his free time, Josh enjoys spending time at his children’s soccer, volleyball and baseball events.

• Post-doctoral Fellowship, Pesticide Toxicology, University of California, Berkeley, 2000
• PhD, Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois- Urbana/Champaign, 1999
• BS, Human Nutrition, University of Maryland - College Park, 1993

Bomser's research interests include understanding how phytochemicals in our diet can influence disease progression, specifically cancer. Recent interests have focused on how dietary components can alter the way in which cancer cells utilize energy, with a specific emphasis on how carbohydrate and non-carbohydrate carbon sources influence cellular growth, inflammation and signal transduction.  

• 2004 - Present Assistant Professor, Department of Human Nutrition, The Ohio State University.
• 2000 - 2004 Assistant Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State University. Functional Foods in Disease Prevention
• 1998 - 2000 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, University of California-Berkeley. Studied the toxic effects of pesticides on mammalian signal transduction pathways. Primary Investigator: Dr. John Casida
• 1993 - 1998 Graduate Research Assistant, Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Conducted Ph.D. thesis research examining the anti-cancer activity of natural products. Thesis advisor : Dr. Keith W. Singletary
• 1992 - 1993 Research Assistant, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Weed Science Lab Beltsville, Maryland. Bioassayed plant products for herbicidal activity. Advisor: Dr. John Lydon

• Paudel L, Wyzgoski FJ, Giusti MM, Johnson JL, Rinaldi PL, Scheerens JC, Chanon AM, Bomser JA, Miller AR, Hardy JK, Reese RN. NMR-based metabolomic investigation of bioactivity of chemical constituents in black raspberry (Rubus occidentalisL.) fruit extracts. J Agric Food Chem. 2014 Feb 26;62(8):1989-98.
• DiSilvestro RA, Joseph E, Zhao S, Bomser J. Diverse effects of a low dose supplement of lipidated curcumin in healthy middle aged people. Nutr J. 2012 Sep 26;11:79.
• Johnson JL, Bomser JA, Scheerens JC, Giusti MM. Effect of black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.) extract variation conditioned by cultivar, production site, and fruit maturity stage on colon cancer cell proliferation. J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Mar 9;59(5):1638-45.
• Long AC, Bomser JA, Grzybowski DM, Chandler HL. All-trans retinoic Acid regulates cx43 expression, gap junction communication and differentiation in primary lens epithelial cells. Curr Eye Res. 2010 Aug;35(8):670-9.
• Neilson AP, Song BJ, Sapper TN, Bomser JA, Ferruzzi MG. Tea catechin auto-oxidation dimers are accumulated and retained by Caco-2 human intestinal cells. Nutr Res. 2010 May;30(5):327-40.
• Gutierrez-Orozco F, Stephens BR, Neilson AP, Green R, Ferruzzi MG, Bomser JA.  Green and black tea inhibit cytokine-induced IL-8 production and secretion in AGS gastric cancer cells via inhibition of NF-κB activity. Planta Med. 2010 Oct;76(15):1659-65.
• Clubbs EA, Bomser JA. Basal cell induced differentiation of noncancerous prostate epithelial cells (RWPE-1) by glycitein. Nutr Cancer. 2009;61(3):390-6.
• Kent KD, Clubbs EA, Harper WJ, Bomser JA. Apoptotic effects of dietary and synthetic sphingolipids in androgen-independent (PC-3) prostate cancer cells. Lipids. 2008 Feb;43(2):143-9.
• Jing P, Bomser JA, Schwartz SJ, He J, Magnuson BA, Giusti MM. Structure-function relationships of anthocyanins from various anthocyanin-rich extracts on the inhibition of colon cancer cell growth. J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Oct 22;56(20):9391-8.
• Long AC, Agler A, Colitz CM, Zhang J, Hayek MG, Failla ML, Bomser JA. Isolation and characterization of primary canine lens epithelial cells. Vet Ophthalmol. 2008 Jan-Feb;11(1):38-42.
• Zhang J, Park SI, Artime MC, Summy JM, Shah AN, Bomser JA, Dorfleutner A,  Flynn DC, Gallick GE. AFAP-110 is overexpressed in prostate cancer and contributes to tumorigenic growth by regulating focal contacts. J Clin Invest. 2007 Oct;117(10):2962-73.
• Oonsivilai R, Cheng C, Bomser JA, Ferruzzi MG, Ningsanond S. Phytochemical profiling and phase II enzyme-inducing properties of Thunbergia laurifolia Lindl. (RC) extracts. J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Dec 3;114(3):300-6.
• Neilson AP, Hopf AS, Cooper BR, Pereira MA, Bomser JA, Ferruzzi MG. Catechin  degradation with concurrent formation of homo- and heterocatechin dimers during in vitro digestion. J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Oct 31;55(22):8941-9.
• Albrecht DS, Clubbs EA, Ferruzzi M, Bomser JA. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) inhibits PC-3 prostate cancer cell proliferation via MEK-independent ERK1/2 activation. Chem Biol Interact. 2008 Jan 10;171(1):89-95.