Prof. ILARIA ELIA
Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation of Cell Function
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven

Assistant Professor, KU Leuven
Dr. Ilaria Elia is an assistant professor at KU Leuven, leading the laboratory of Metabolic RegulaAon
of Cell FuncAon since 2021.
Dr. Elia conducted her Ph.D. studies in the laboratory of Prof. Sarah-Maria Fendt (VIB, KU Leuven).
There, she invesAgated the metabolic requirements of metastasizing breast cancer cells in lung
metastasis. She made a significant discovery, revealing the essenAal role of the amino acid proline
in generaAng ATP during metastaAc colonizaAon (Elia et al., Nature CommunicaAons, 2017).
AddiAonally, she uncovered the crucial role of pyruvate-driven α-ketoglutarate metabolism in
extracellular matrix remodeling, despite the transcripAonal regulaAon of the rate-limiAng enzyme
P4HA (Elia et al., Nature, 2019). This research was highlighted in a Research Watch arAcle by
Cancer Discovery and a Research Highlight arAcle by Nature Reviews Cancer.
A\erward, she pursued a postdoc on immunometabolism at Harvard Medical School in the
laboratories of Prof. Marcia Haigis and Prof. Arlene Sharpe. She has successfully applied for
funding to cover her postdoctoral studies (EMBO and CRI) and presented her work at several
internaAonal conferences. During her postdoctoral work, Dr. Elia opAmized a co-culture system
replicaAng the interacAon between cancer cells and immune cells in an in vivo tumor
microenvironment-like se^ng. This system allowed the discovery of two targets. First, she
idenAfied that pyruvate anaplerosis drives succinate signaling and anA-tumor immunity (Elia et
al., Cell Metabolism, 2022). Second, her research unveiled the enhancement of immunotherapy
strategies through one-carbon metabolism (Rowe*, Elia* et al., Cancer Discovery, 2023).
In August 2021, she started her laboratory at KU Leuven, focusing on invesAgaAng how the local
nutrient microenvironment affects metabolic reprogramming and T cell funcAon. To address this
challenge, her laboratory aims to invesAgate the metabolic compeAAon between T cells and
tumor cells in local metabolic niches. They seek to modulate the metabolic acAvity of immune
cells to facilitate infiltraAon into hosAle metabolic areas and achieve a complete response to
immunotherapy. Dr. Elia has secured significant funding for her independent research group,
presented at internaAonal conferences, wrote two review arAcles, and undertook several
insAtuAonal responsibiliAes. Finally, she has recently received the presAgious FEBS Excellence
Award and the Beug FoundaAon Metastasis Prize.