The Bahr Lecture Series is supported through the generosity of Janice M. Bahr, a Professor Emerita of Physiology at Illinois. Bahr research uses the laying hen, the only animal that gets ovarian cancer identical to the human, to develop techniques for the early detection of ovarian cancer. She evaluates the dietary influences of Indian spices, such as curcumin and ashwagandha, which have anti-inflammatory properties on the incidence and severity of ovarian cancer. She also studies how the elevation of the pituitary hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, in postmenopausal women may cause ovarian cancer.