The Joanna Peloquin Lab focuses on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We're working on individualized care for IBD patients through functional genomic studies, specifically those related to diet, host and microbiota interactions.

The Gerard E. Mullin Lab studies nutrition and the way that diet affects weight loss. In particular, we study how having an imbalanced gut microbiome may prevent weight loss in certain people.

Work in the Cynthia Sears Laboratory focuses on the bacterial contributions to the development of human colon cancer and the impact of the microbiome on other cancers and the therapy of cancer. The current work involves mouse and human studies to define how enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, pks+ Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium nucleatum, biofilms and the colonic microbiota induce chronic colonic inflammation and colon cancer. Prospective human studies of the microbiome and biofilms in screening colonoscopy are in progress as are studies to determine if and how the microbiome impacts the response of individuals with cancer to immunotherapy and other cancer therapies.