Scaria and his team of collaborators have three research areas:Which species in the gut microbiome is important to prevent enteric infection? How does microbiota change flavonoid metabolism and gut health? The trouble with gut microbes is they are anaerobic — they die with exposure to oxygen — making them hard to culture. The idea was to study the impact of chemotherapy on gut microbiome. “Our focus is on animal health, but I think ultimately, we will get bigger solutions that can apply to humans also.