Bertrand Routy

Dr. Bertrand Routy MD, PhD is a young clinician-scientist and associate professor in the department of hemato-oncology at the CHUM (University of Montreal) with clinical expertise in lung cancer. Upon his recruitment to the CRCHUM in 2018 after completing his PhD with Pr. Laurence Zitvogel, Dr. Routy quickly established himself as director of the CRCHUM oncomicrobiome research unit where he began work to develop novel microbiome-based therapeutics in 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 deleterious impact 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. Dr. Routy is internationally recognized as a leader in the microbiome field with more than 12,000 citations including publications in Science, Nature Medicine and Annals of oncology and h-index of 35. Moreover, his unending commitment to improving immunotherapy responses in cancer patients has led to several awards from prestigious societies including the 2021 Gairdner Foundation award, young investigator of Quebec award and the 2022 Terry Fox Clinician Scientist Award.