FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Mindy Kurzer with the Heathy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute at the University of Minnesota will be on campus to speak with students for a School of Human Environmental Science's Research Colloquium series.

Kurzer is speaking from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday in the Leland Tollett Auditorium (A211) in the John W. Tyson Building (poultry science). Her presentation, which is open to all students, faculty and staff, is "Forging Community-University Partnerships in Food and Health."

The purpose of the series is to expose students and faculty to research in areas of apparel merchandising and product development, human development and family science, hospitality and nutrition, all programs in the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

"Because of the efforts of Dr. Sabrina Trudo, associate professor of human nutrition and hospitality innovation and 21st Century Endowed Chair in Human Environmental Sciences, we are most fortunate to be able to host such a high-caliber and distinguished scholar as Dr. Kurzer," said Betsy Garrison, professor and director of the School of Human Environmental Sciences.

Kurzer's research focuses on the biological effects of bioactive constituents of plant foods such as soy and green tea. She has been the principal investigator of two clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health to evaluate the breast cancer preventive effects of green tea in postmenopausal women, and the best cancer preventive effects of exercise in premenopausal women.

The Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute is focused on food safety, prevention of obesity and chronic disease, food policy and food security, and within those areas, the integration of agriculture and medicine.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.