Laurence Zitvogel

Laurence Zitvogel demonstrated that Akkermansia muciniphila is a key bacterial species mediating checkpoint immunotherapy response and that antibiotic use impairs immunotherapy efficacy by disrupting beneficial gut microbiome composition. Her work established the causal relationship between gut microbiome and anti-PD-1 response using germ-free mouse models colonized with responder versus non-responder microbiomes. Her development of live biotherapeutic approaches using defined bacterial consortia has advanced microbiome-based cancer therapy from correlation to clinical intervention.