Research

Many chronic diseases in humans are linked to chemicals from the diet and environment that interact with and potentially alter biomolecules such as DNA and enzymes.  We study chemical and biochemical processes influencing the toxicity of diet-derived chemicals and develop chemistry-based tools to facilitate such studies.  Thus, our research at the interface of chemistry and biology involves understanding chemical toxicity on the basis of chemical structure and reactivity.  Broad impacts of the knowledge and tools resulting from this work are intended to improve human health and disease prevention strategies.