RESEARCH INTEREST On the clinical-translational side, Dr. Abreu is an expert in intestinal inflammation, Crohn's disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). On the basic science side, the focus of her laboratory has been host-bacterial interactions and, in particular, the role of toll-like receptor signaling in intestinal inflammation and neoplasia. They have focused on toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) as a model for how recognition of bacteria by TLRs in the intestine functions broadly with an eye to translating this to patients before they develop dysplasia.