Arielle Elkrief, MD, FRCPC is a 2025 Gairdner Early Career Investigator.
She is a clinician–scientist (FRQS J1) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), where she also serves as Co-Director of the CHUM Microbiome Centre. She leads a multidisciplinary translational research program with the overarching goal of developing microbiome-based therapeutic strategies to enhance the efficacy of anticancer immunotherapy. Her laboratory integrates clinical trials, preclinical models, and advanced computational oncology to design and test novel microbiome-based interventions including fecal microbiota transplantation, prebiotics, nutrition modulation, and next-generation live biotherapeutic products.
Dr. Elkrief was among the first to demonstrate that antibiotic exposure compromises the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer, a landmark finding that altered clinical practice and shaped international treatment guidelines. Her team leads multiple investigator-initiated phase I and II clinical trials aimed at positively changing the microbiome to improve immunotherapy outcomes, while also leading a computational program to uncover the mechanistic underpinnings of microbiome-centered interventions.
She has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications. Her contributions have been recognized through several prestigious awards, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Women in Melanoma Award, and the Terry Fox Young Investigator Award.
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