Laurence Zitvogel

Laurence Zitvogel was born in Suresnes, France. Zitvogel has worked with her spouse, Guido Kroemer, since 2001. == Education ==

Zitvogel earned her degree in medical oncology from the University of Paris in 1992. Zitvogel started her scientific career in 1993 at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) in Michael Lotze's laboratory. She received her Ph.D. in Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the Gustav Roussy Cancer Center in 1995. == Career and leadership ==

Zitvogel supervised work in 2013 that analyzed the multifaceted modes of action of the anticancer probiotic, Enterococcus hirae. and is the editor-in-chief and founder of one of the first journals in immune-oncology, OncoImmunology. She is a professor of immunobiology at the University of Paris XI Medical School and is a scientific director at the Department of Immuno-Oncology at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Center in Villejuif, France. She is also the director of U1015 Inserm Tumour Immunology and Immunotherapy Laboratory and co-director of the Center for Clinical Investigation in Biotherapies of Cancer at Inserm. Zitvogel's research team found that bacteria in the gut had a major effect on the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors in mice. == Research ==

Zitvogel's work focuses on intestinal bacterial flora. Her primary research objectives are to identify cell adhesion molecules that serve as actionable checkpoints for tumor surveillance. Zitvogel discovered that cancer therapies with long-term beneficial effects may have limited impact on local disease, but should activate a relevant adaptive immune reaction. Accompanying this, she saw that the relocation of enterotropic and immunosuppressive Treg17 cells to cancerous tissue (tumors and tdLNs) is repressed by the molecular interaction between the HEV addressin MAdCAM-1 and the integrin α4β7 expressed by Treg17 cells. She examined the connections between nutrition, inflammation, and the immune system's impact on cancer. Correspondingly, Zitvogel found that nutritional interventions are emerging as novel strategies for improving the outcome of treatments with PD-1/PD-L1–targeting ICIs. Continuing on with Zitvogel's cancer research, she found that probiotics used as a complement to the existing therapeutic arsenal (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy) could become a sixth therapeutic modality against cancer. Zitovgel's ongoing research falls into three main categories: studying the modes of action of immune checkpoint inhibitors, seeking predictors of response to immunomodulators, and defining the role of the gut microbiome in cancer immunosurveillance. == Awards ==

Zitvogel's awards include: • INSERM prize for Research in Clinical and Therapeutic Approaches to Cancer (2007) • Swiss Bridge Award (2014) • European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) for Immuno-Oncology (2017) • Baillet Latour Prize (2018) • Jakob-Herz Prize (2018) • ARC Griffuel Prize (2019) • Bob Pinedo Cancer Care Award (2022) == References ==