Thompson - Cancer Prevention Lab

Directed by Professor Henry J. Thompson, our lab investigates how the foods we grow and eat shape the risk of chronic disease. Combining preclinical and clinical research, we work to define an individual's risk for cancer, uncover how components of the food supply both promote and prevent disease, and address the global epidemic of overweight and obesity. Through our companion Crops for Health initiative, we carry that science into public outreach — exploring how the crops farmers grow, especially pulses and dry beans, can be frontline tools for human health. Our goal is practical: to give health professionals and the public science-based tools for reducing cancer risk through diet, weight control, and healthier crops.

Diet, Weight Control, and Cancer Prevention

Directed by Professor Henry J. Thompson, the Cancer Prevention Laboratory conducts both preclinical and clinical research on the links between diet and chronic disease. A major focus is defining an individual's risk for cancer and identifying the chemicals in our food supply that influence it. Working closely with plant breeders and agricultural scientists, we study the health benefits of crops such as dry edible beans — evaluating antioxidant activity, glycemic response, and cancer-inhibitory potential across bean varieties. A second core focus is weight control, addressing the role of overweight and obesity in cancer and metabolic disease.

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Crops for Health: Agriculture as an Instrument of Public Health

Through our Crops for Health initiative, we explore a simple but powerful idea — that the crops farmers grow can be a frontline tool for human health. The program shares the science behind pulses and dry beans, from cancer-prevention research to recipes and public outreach, connecting the work of the field to the health of the plate.

Publications

Learn more about how the Cancer Prevention Laboratory is advancing the science linking diet, crops, and weight control to the prevention of cancer and chronic disease.

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News & Updates

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Ancient solutions could help in fight against cancer

The National Cancer Institute has awarded a $1.54 million five-year grant to Drs. Henry Thompson and Mark Brick to study the disease-fighting ability of a common bean domesticated in the Andean Mountains of South America.

CSU prof: Beans fight cancer

Dr. Meghan Mensack discusses her work with dry beans and the potential to improve disease prevention characteristics of various crops by investigating metabolomic profiles.

Contact Information

mailing address

301 University Ave, Room 110
Fort Collins, CO 80523

phone

(970) 491-7748

e-mail henry.thompson@colostate.edu