Dr. Joel Mason is a Professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine and the School of Nutritional Science & Policy. He is a Senior Scientist and Leader of the Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Team at the HNRCA. He studies the cellular pathways by which 1-carbon nutrients, obesity, and the colonic microbiome alter the risk of cancer formation, and his team develops strategies based on this knowledge for the purposes of cancer prevention. Among Dr. Mason’s research accomplishments is the elaboration of cellular mechanisms by which abundant intake of folate protects against colon cancer, insights into how folate availability interacts with certain genetic traits and environmental factors in determining the risk of developing breast and colon cancer, and the demonstration—in both animal models and humans—that obesity incites inflammation and precancerous molecular changes in the lining of the colon.