Keywords: Tumor immune microenvironment, cancer Immunotherapy, Inflammation, IL-17, Microbiome, Senescence

Research: My group’s areas of interest are the identification of immunologic correlates associated with clinical response of colorectal cancer patients to immune checkpoint inhibitors and the understanding of the role of the intratumoral IL-17 onto the anti-tumor immune response in patients treated with T cell checkpoint inhibitors. We are investigating how specific bacteria such as the Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis and the microbiome in general (community of bacteria) associated with the colonic epithelium can promote IL-17 production that participates to the colon carcinogenesis. We propose that the nature of the microbiome can define the risk to develop colorectal cancer but also the response of cancer patients to immunotherapy, in part by impacting the mucosal inflammation and the tumor immune micro-environment. Another area of interest is the possibility to use biomaterials to modulate the tumor immune microenvironment and impact the anti-tumor immune response. We are investigating in mouse models of lung metastases how the use of biomaterial implants and biological scaffolds could help to decrease the risk of tumor recurrence and metastases associated with tumor surgical resection via their impact on systemic inflammation and cellular senescence.

Publications and Interests: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1LmHKe5EpUOko/bibliography/40388957/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending