Rate My Professor Ilaria Elia

Ilaria Elia is an assistant professor on the tenure track in the Faculty of Medicine at KU Leuven, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, where she has served as head of the Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation of Cell Function since August 2021. She completed her Master's degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Pisa in 2012, graduating with 110/110 cum laude honors. Elia earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from KU Leuven in 2017 through the VIB Center for Cancer Biology, with a thesis titled 'The metabolic requirements of breast cancer cells during metastatic colonization' under Prof. Sarah-Maria Fendt. From 2018 to 2021, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School's Department of Cell Biology, supported by EMBO and CRI fellowships, studying metabolic competition between T cells and cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment under Profs. Marcia C. Haigis and Arlene Sharpe.

Elia's research investigates metabolic cross-talk between cancer cells and immune cells, particularly CD8+ T cells, within tumor microenvironments to enhance immunotherapy outcomes. Her laboratory examines how nutrient niches drive metabolic reprogramming, T cell exhaustion, and anti-tumor immunity in metastatic contexts like melanoma lung and liver metastases. Notable publications include 'Breast cancer cells rely on environmental pyruvate to shape the metastatic niche' (Nature, 2019), 'Proline metabolism supports metastasis formation and could be inhibited to selectively target metastasizing cancer cells' (Nature Communications, 2017), 'Tumor cells dictate anti-tumor immune responses by altering pyruvate utilization and succinate signaling in CD8+ T cells' (Cell Metabolism, 2022), 'Formate supplementation enhances anti-tumor CD8+ T cell fitness and efficacy of PD-1 blockade' (Cancer Discovery, 2023), and 'The metabolic cross-talk between cancer and T cells' (Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 2023). She has received the ERC Starting Grant for the SpaceMet project on spatial heterogeneity of tumor and CD8+ T cell metabolism in liver metastasis (2025), Beug Foundation Metastasis Prize (2023), FEBS Excellence Award (2022), and other honors including Keystone Symposia and Academische Stichting Leuven travel grants. Elia contributes to programme committees and networks at KU Leuven.