Cara Frankenfeld, PhD

Associate Director, CIPHR
Faculty Scientist III

Research Interests

  • High-dimensional and correlated exposure data
  • Cancer, cardiometabolic health, migraine

Dr. Cara Frankenfeld joined MaineHealth Institute for Research in August 2023.  Dr. Frankenfeld holds a doctorate in Epidemiology and a master’s degree in Nutritional Science. She is an experienced epidemiologist and biostatistician with more than twenty years of work in the design and conduct of observational and clinical human health research studies, evidence synthesis, and scientific communication to diverse audiences. Her expertise is in research design and analysis of complex data, including high-dimensional and correlated data. She applies her expertise to understand the complex nature of exposures that people have in their day-to-day lives and how these exposures influence disease risk and severity. Her research has been funded by the federal, academic, and private sources. Utilizing her experiences in faculty and staff development, she also leads the CIPHR research support team. She is a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, an Associate Editor for Annals of Epidemiology and the Journal of Nutrition, and is on the Editorial Board for Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.

Complete list of published work in MyNCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1tg9tuYblRMQc/bibliography/public/

Haghihhathoseini A, Wojtusiak J, Min H, Leslie T, Frankenfeld C, Menon NM; (On behalf of the N3C Consortium). Does cohort selection affect machine learning from clinical data? AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2025;22:2024:473-482. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12099332/

DiBiase JF, Scharnetzki E, Edelman E, Reed EK, Helbig P, Rueter P, Miesfeldt S, Frankenfeld CL, Han PKJ, Jacobs E, Anderson EC. Socioeconomic and urban-rural disparities in genome-matched treatment receipt and survival after genomic tumor testing. JNCI Cancer Spectum 2024 Sep 23:pkae090. https://doi.org/10.1093/jncics/pkae090

Slavin M, Frankenfeld CL, Guirguis AB, Seng EK. Use of acid suppression therapy and odds of migraine and severe headache in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Neurol Clin Prac 2024;14(3):e200302. https://doi.org/10.1212/CPJ.0000000000200302

Hughes RL, Frankenfeld CL, Gohl DM, Huttenhower C, Jackson SA, Vandeputte D, Vogtmann E, Comstock SS, Kable ME. Methods in Nutrition & Gut Microbiome Research: An American Society of Nutrition Satellite Session. Nutrients 2023;15(11):2451. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15112451

 Frankenfeld CL, Maskarinec G, Franke AA. Metabolomics profiles of premenopausal women are different based on O-desmethylangolensin metabotype. Brit J Nutr 2022;128:1490-1498. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114521004463

Leslie TF, Frankenfeld CL, Menon N. Racial and economic residential segregation of diagnostic hospital: disparities in colorectal cancer time-to-treatment and survival in Georgia, United States. Cancer Epidemiol 2022;81:102267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2022.102267

Frankenfeld CL, Lampe JW, Hullar MA, Maskarinec G, Lim U, Monroe KR, Shepherd JA, Randolph TW, Wilkens LR, Boushey CJ, Le Marchand L. Components and biomarkers of diet quality associated with the gut microbiome in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. J Acad Nutr Diet 2022;122:78-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.05.023

 Frankenfeld CL, Hakes JK, Leslie TF. All-cause mortality and residential racial and ethnic segregation and composition as experienced differently by individual-level race, ethnicity, and gender: Mortality Disparities in American Communities data. Ann Epidemiol 2021;65:38-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2021.10.008

Frankenfeld CL, Leslie TF, Menon NM. Longer time-to-treatment but better survival for colorectal cancer patients presumptively not diagnosed in a hospital. Cancer Causes Control 2021;32:1185-1191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s105552-021-01464-8

Slavin M, Li H, Khatri M, Frankenfeld C. Dietary magnesium and migraine in adults: A cross-sectional analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2004. Headache 2021;61:276-286. https://doi.org/10.1111/head.14065

 Menon N, Leslie TF, Frankenfeld CL. Cancer capabilities of hospitals in the context of racial residential segregation. Public Health 2020;182:95-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2020.02.004

Frankenfeld CL, Menon N, Leslie TF. Time-to-treatment and survival-time for colorectal tumors and diagnosing hospital cancer-related diagnostic and treatment capabilities in Georgia. Cancer Epidemiol 2020;65:101684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2020.101684

Miller LM, Lampe JW, Newton KM, Gundersen G, Fuller S, Reed SD, Frankenfeld CL. Being overweight or obese is associated with harboring a gut microbial community not capable of metabolizing the soy isoflavone daidzein to O-desmethylangolensin in soy-consuming peri- and post-menopausal women. Maturitas, 2017;99:37-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2017.02.006

Atkinson C, Ray RM, Li W, Lin MG, Gao DL, Shannon J, Stalsberg H, Porter PL, Frankenfeld CL, Wähälä K, Thomas DB, Lampe JW. Plasma equol concentration is not associated with breast cancer and fibrocystic breast conditions among women in Shanghai, China. Nutr Res 2016;36(8):863-871. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2016.03.008

Wallace TC, Slavin M, Frankenfeld CL. Systematic review of anthocyanins and markers of cardiovascular disease. Nutrients 2016;8(1) pii:E32. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8010032

Frankenfeld CL, Sikaroodi M, Lamb E, Shoemaker S, Gillevet PM. High-intensity sweetener consumption and gut microbiome content and predicted gene function in a cross-sectional study of adults in the United States. Ann Epidemiol 2015;25:736-742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2015.06.083