Research in the Chapkin lab focuses on dietary/microbial modulators related to the prevention of cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases. NIH has continuously funded our program for the past 32 years. During this time, we have made highly significant contributions in cancer cell biology with specific emphasis in five foci: elucidation of signal transduction processes in intestinal stem cells; plasma membrane spatiotemporal dynamics, cancer biology and dietary membrane altering agents; investigation of the role of inflammation as a critical factor in cancer development, and its modulation by environmental/botanical agents; establishment of models for chronic inflammation and cancer prevention studies; and development of novel noninvasive Systems Biology-based methodologies to assess crosstalk between the gut microbiome and the host transcriptome and its application to translational research.