Skip Navigation
Department of Nutritional Sciences
Menu

Sue A. Shapses, Ph.D., RD

Professor of Nutritional Sciences, Rutgers
Director, NEXT Center at the NJ-IFNH
Ph.D. Columbia University, 1988
Sue A. Shapses headshot.

Sue Shapses brings together clinical experience and academic training to study nutritional aspects of disease and works closely with the Department of Medicine at Rutgers-RWJH. She received her MS and PhD from Columbia University followed by postdoctoral training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Critical Care Medicine) and a fellowship at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (Orthopaedic Biochemistry). She earned her RDN after an internship at Rochester Strong Memorial Medical Center and more recently spent a sabbatical learning in the Department of Medicine/ Division of Endocrinology/Bone Biology, University of Sydney. She served as interim-Chair in the Department of Kinesiology and Health at Rutgers for three years and is currently the Director of the human Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism Center (NEXT Center) at the NJ-IFNH. Sue held numerous committee and leadership roles at the Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Sciences), NIH, NASA and has served as advisor on industry boards (i.e., Merck, Bayer). She has supervised PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and Assistant Professors (K awards).

The major focus in the laboratory is to determine how obesity and loss of body weight contributes to the risk of osteoporosis and the comorbidities of obesity. A focus in the lab is to determine mechanisms that regulate the rate bone loss during caloric restriction and the role of specific nutrients such as vitamin D, protein and calcium. Hormones, bone turnover and gut peptides are measured using techniques of spectrophotometry, HPLC, and radioimmunoassay, stable isotopes and mass spec to assess absorption. The lab examines healthy individuals with a focus on obesity including gastric bypass patients, and patients with spinal cord injury and diabetes and racial differences in metabolic syndrome. In recent years, Sue's attention has turned to the intersection of how diet affects inflammation, the microbiome, and the timing of food intake to impact bone and glycemic indices.

Obesity, the intestine and bone chart.

Publications can be viewed at: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3128-2325.

Selected Articles and Reviews

  1. Amariti J, McGuire BD, Ogilvie AR, Beavers KM, Hansen KE, Schlussel Y, Walkup MP, Shapses SA. Older Women who are Overweight or Obese Have Vertebral Abnormalities, Partially Degraded TBS, and BMD that Worsen with Weight Loss. Calcif Tissue Int. 2022 Apr 6. doi: 10.1007/s00223-022-00973-1.
  2. 2. Ogilvie AR, Schlussel Y, Sukumar D, Meng L, Shapses SA. Higher protein intake during caloric restriction improves diet quality and attenuates loss of lean body mass. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022 May 11. doi: 10.1002/oby.23428.
  3. Meng L, Su C, Shapses SA, Wang X. Total and free vitamin D metabolites in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. J Endocrinol Invest. 2022 Feb;45(2):301-307. doi: 10.1007/s40618-021-01633-1.
  4. Onishi JC, Häggblom MM, Shapses SA. Can Dietary Fatty Acids Affect the COVID-19 Infection Outcome in Vulnerable Populations? mBio. 2020 Jul 23;11(4):e01723-20. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01723-20.
  5. Castle M, Fiedler N, Pop LC, Schneider SJ, Schlussel Y, Sukumar D, Hao L, Shapses SA. Three Doses of Vitamin D and Cognitive Outcomes in Older Women: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020 Apr 17;75(5):835-842. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glz041.
  6. Shapses SA, Pop LC, Wang Y, Obesity is a concern for bone health with aging, Nutr Res. 2017; 39:1-13.
  7. Fransniak J, Shapses SA, Wei S, Scott R, Wang X. Vitamin D binding protein in infertile women. Fertility Res Practice 2017; Oct 10;3:14
  8. Pop LC, Sukumar D, Schlussel Y, Schneider SH, Stahl T, Gordon CL, Shapses SA. Three doses of vitamin D on bone mineral density and structural properties in women: a double blind randomized trial. Osteoporos Int. 2017 1:377-88.
  9. Wang Y, Dellatore P, Dourard V, Qin L, Watford M, Ferraris R, Lin T, Shapses SA. High fat diet enriched with saturated, but not monounsaturated fatty acids adversely affects femur, and both diets increase calcium absorption in older female mice. Nutr Res, 2016, 36:742-50.
  10. Pop LC, Sukumar D, Tomaino K, Schlussel Y, Schneider SH, Gordon C, Wang X, Shapses SA. A Controlled Intervention of Weight Loss and Bone Mineral Density in Older Men. Am J Clin Nutr 2015; 101(3):659-67.
  11. Yousefzadeh P, Shapses SA, Wang X. Vitamin D Binding Protein Impact on 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels under Different Physiologic and Pathologic Conditions. Int J Endocrinol. 2014;2014:981581. doi: 10.1155/2014/981581. Epub 2014 Apr 28.
  12. Shapses SA, and Sakumar D. Bone metabolism in obesity weight loss. Ann Rev Nutr, 2012; 32:287-309. arjournals.annualreviews.org/eprint/STaWyJyHES8nSPjAVDmC/pdfplus/10.1146/annurev.nutr.012809.104655.
  13. Sukumar D, Ambia-Sobhan H, Zurfluh R, Schlussel Y, Stahl TJ, Gordon CL, Shapses SA. Areal and volumetric bone mineral density and geometry at two levels of protein intake during caloric restriction: a randomized, controlled trial. J Bone Miner Res. 2011;26(6):1339-48.
  14. Sukumar D, Partridge NC, Wang X, Shapses SA. The high serum monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in obesity is influenced by high parathyroid hormone and not adiposity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011;96(6):1852-8.
  15. Shapses SA, Manson JE. Vitamin D and prevention of cardiovascular disease and diabetes: why the evidence falls short. JAMA. 2011;305(24):2565-6.
  16. 9. Ross AC, Manson JE, Abrams SA, Aloia JF, Brannon PM, Clinton SK, Durazo R, Gallo RL, Gallagher JC, Jones G, Kovacs CS, Mayne ST, Rosen CJ, Shapses SA. The 2011 Report on dietary reference intakes for calcium and vitamin D: What clinicians need to know. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2011; 96(1):53-8.

Chapters

  1. Shapses SA and Fleet J. Title: Vitamin D. In: Present Knowledge in Nutrition. Basic Nutrition and Metabolism. Editors: Marriott, Birt, Stalling V, Yate A. Elsevier. St Louis, MO, p 93-114, 2020.
  2. Shapses SA. Calcium and Phosphorus. In: Biochemical, Physiological & Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition. Ed. Stipanik, Caudill, M, Elsevier, 2018.
  3. Shapses SA, Mauro T, Brolin RE. Nutritional Concerns for Bariatric Surgery. In: Preventive Nutrition: In: The Comprehensive Guide for Health Professionals, Fifth Edition, Eds: A Bendich & RJ Deckelbaum. Humana Press/Springer, New York, p 439-55, 2015.
  4. Shapses SA, Lewis RD, Pollack N. Relationships between fat and bone in children and adults. In: Diet, Nutrients and Bone Health. Eds. Anderson JB, Garner SC, Klemmer PJ eds. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2011.