Masonic Cancer Center Focusing on Microbiome Research with New Chainbreaker Grant

The University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center has a new 13-member research team that will focus on microbiomes thanks to a new Chainbreaker grant. The team will analyze the relationship between gut bacteria and colon cancer which has been a quickly growing area of research. 

The team will be co-led by Timothy Starr, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health; and Alexander Khoruts, MD, a professor in the Department of Medicine. 

Dean Jakub Tolar said the mission will be to clarify how the microbiome influences these cancer outcomes with a goal of “shifting the current paradigms” of cancer care in both diagnostics and treatments.