Jelena Mustra Rakic, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar
Cardiovascular Research Inst
[email protected]

Jelena Mustra Rakic, PhD, received her PhD in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition from Tufts University in Boston. Her dissertation was focused on elucidating the effect and mechanisms of the naturally occurring carotenoid, lycopene, on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung carcinogenesis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The important finding from her PhD implicated smoking-related alterations in lipid metabolism as one of main pathways leading to chronic inflammation and lung diseases development. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, Dr. Mustra Rakic is interested in exploring the effects of tobacco smoking and/or vaping on biochemical properties of lipids and lipoproteins that contribute to excessive inflammation, and the risk of chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease and cancer.  

Publications: 

APOL1 Risk Variants Associate With the Prevalence of Stroke in African American Current and Past Smokers.

Journal of the American Heart Association

Rakic JM, Pullinger CR, Van Blarigan EL, Movsesyan I, Stock EO, Malloy MJ, Kane JP

Elastin Degradation and Lung Function Deterioration with Remote Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Never-smokers.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (Miami, Fla.)

Mustra Rakic J, Zeng S, Rohdin-Bibby L, Van Blarigan EL, Liu X, Ma S, Kane JP, Redberg RF, Turino GM, Oestreicher Stock E, Arjomandi M

Dietary lycopene attenuates cigarette smoke-promoted nonalcoholic steatohepatitis by preventing suppression of antioxidant enzymes in ferrets.

The Journal of nutritional biochemistry

Rakic JM, Liu C, Veeramachaneni S, Wu D, Paul L, Ausman LM, Wang XD

Effects of daily almond consumption for six months on cognitive measures in healthy middle-aged to older adults: a randomized control trial.

Nutritional neuroscience

Rakic JM, Tanprasertsuk J, Scott TM, Rasmussen HM, Mohn ES, Chen CO, Johnson EJ

Role of lycopene in smoke-promoted chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung carcinogenesis.

Archives of biochemistry and biophysics

Mustra Rakic J, Wang XD

Lycopene Inhibits Smoke-Induced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Lung Carcinogenesis by Modulating Reverse Cholesterol Transport in Ferrets.

Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Mustra Rakic J, Liu C, Veeramachaneni S, Wu D, Paul L, Chen CO, Ausman LM, Wang XD