Benjamin G. H. Guthrie, PhD

Dr. Guthrie [Connie and Bob Lurie Fellow] seeks to understand how the microbiome—the collection of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other organisms that inhabit the body—affects patients’ response to chemotherapeutics. His research focuses on fluoropyrimidines, small molecules that are used to treat colorectal, head and neck, and breast cancers, but are not well tolerated by all patients. While it is known why some patients in that subset display adverse effects, the reason for poor tolerance in others is unclear. Dr. Guthrie will use molecular, ecological, and organismal approaches to understand how our microbiome might inadvertently degrade or prematurely activate fluoropyrimidines.