Dr. Jacob Allen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also holds appointments in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. Dr. Allen directs the Integrative Microbiota Physiology Lab, where his research focuses on how environmental factors—such as diet, exercise, stress, and aging—affect the gut microbiome and its interactions with the immune system. His work employs a combination of in vitro systems, animal models, and clinical studies to explore how gut microbes influence human health.