I am highly interested in investigating the role of DNA damage in colon cancer with a focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying cancer development and discovering novel therapeutic approaches. I have been developing murine models that faithfully recapitulate the initiation of colon tumorigenesis in a mismatch repair (MMR) deficient genetic background to understand the processes that support tumor growth and further develop novel effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of MMR deficient colon cancers. Moreover, these models will help to elucidate the role of cancer stem cells in MMR-deficiency driven tumorigenesis and to understand the mechanisms that support tumor growth and further to investigate their role in immunotherapy response and disease recurrence. I am also currently investigating the effect of microbiota manipulation and diet regimen on tumor modulation and development.