Topic: The next frontier of toxicity anti-cancer research 

Dr. Bertrand Routy, MD, PhD is a clinician-scientist and associate professor in the department of
hemato-oncology at the CHUM (University of Montreal). Upon his recruitment to the CRCHUM
in 2018 after completing his PhD with Pr. Laurence Zitvogel, Dr. Routy quickly established
himself as the scientific director of the CHUM Microbiome Centre where he began his work to
develop novel microbiome-based therapeuticsin oncology.
His work contributed to the discovery of the gut microbiome as a novel prognostic biomarker for
immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in various cancers. He characterized the deleteriousimpact of
antibiotic-related gut dysbiosis on ICI outcomes, which led to pivotal changes in clinical oncology
practice. Moreover, he demonstrated that modulation of the microbiome by fecal microbiota
transplantation, probiotics, and prebiotic supplementation had the potential to circumvent ICI
resistance. His team currently leads several microbiota-centered trials in oncology ranging from
phase I to phase II trials, with the aim of decreasing primary ICI resistance.
Dr. Routy is internationally recognized as a leader in the microbiome field with more than
21,000 citations including publications in Science, Nature Medicine and Annals of oncology, and
h-index of 50. Moreover, his unending commitment to improving immunotherapy responses in
cancer patients has led to several awards from prestigious societies, including the FRQS 2023
Junior 2 ranked #1, the Prix de la Relève Scientifique du Québec in 2022 and the 2021 Gairdner
Foundation award.