Erez Baruch, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Melanoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2020 | Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, IL, Immunology, PhD |
| 2011 | Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, IL, MD |
Postgraduate Training
| 2022-2025 | Medical Oncology Fellowship, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2020-2022 | Internal Medicine Residency, The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, Houston, Texas |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2025 | Texas Medical Board |
| 2024 | American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) |
| 2019 | United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) |
Honors & Awards
| 2026 | The American Society for Clinical Investigation - Young Physician-Scientist Award |
| 2025 | The Waun Ki Hong Award for Achievement in Basic Science Research |
| 2025 | K99/R00 Pathway to Independence, National Cancer Institute |
| 2024 | Young Investigator Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology and Conquer Cancer Foundation |
| 2022 - Present | Member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society |
| 2021 | Runner-Up, The NOSTER & Science Microbiome Prize |
| 2011 | Dean's Award of Excellence in Clinical Training, Tel Aviv University, Faculty of Medicine |
| 2011 | Excellence in Medical Research during Internship, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2019. Targeting the gut microbiome in patients on immune checkpoint blockade using FMT from CR donors. Invited. Houston, Texas, US.
National Presentations
- 2019. Clinical Significance of Immunotherapy Induced Pancreatic Atrophy and Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. Invited. National Institute of Health and American Association for Cancer Research - Cancer. Bethesda, Maryland, US.
International Presentations
- 2021. Can fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) overcome resistance or toxicity to immune checkpoint blockade?. Invited. European Society for Medical Oncology Immuno-oncology (EMSO I-O), CH.
- 2019. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and re-induction of anti-PD-1 therapy in refractory metastatic melanoma patients - preliminary results from a phase I clinical trial. Invited. Atlanta, US.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2026 - Present |
| Title: | Neoadjuvant Ipilimumab/Nivolumab + Microbiota-directed Prebiotic Dietary Intervention to Optimize Immune Response in Melanoma |
| Funding Source: | American Cancer Society |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | RSG-24-1255125-01-CPHP |
| Date: | 2026 - Present |
| Title: | Decoding Microbiome–Liver–Immune Interactions in Immunotherapy-Related Hepatitis |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2026 - Present |
| Title: | Adverse gut microbiome promotes resistance immune checkpoint inhibitors via chronic inflammation |
| Funding Source: | NCI |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | 4R00CA296940-02 |
| Date: | 2025 - 2025 |
| Title: | Adverse gut microbiome promotes resistance immune checkpoint inhibitors via chronic inflammation |
| Funding Source: | K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | 1K99CA296940-01 |
| Date: | 2024 - 2025 |
| Title: | Mechanisms driving the gut microbiome effect on anti-tumoral immunity are shared across cancer types |
| Funding Source: | American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Conquer Cancer Foundation - Young Investigator Award |
| Role: | PI |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Lobel, L, Fonseca-Pereira, D, Nakatsu, G, Michaud, M, Cao, YG, Bae, S, Krabak, C, Oren, Y, Clay, SL, El Tekle, G, Chun, E, Kon, S, Chan, AT, Clardy, J, Glickman, J, Ajami, NJ, Day, A, Damania, A, Baruch, EN, White, MG, Diggs, LP, Wargo, J, Riffelmacher, T, Balancio, A, Kronenberg, M, Huttenhower, C, Garrett, WS. Dietary sulfur amino acids enhance anti-tumor immunity in colon cancer via an NKT cell-XCL1-cDC1 circuit. Immunity 59(6):1708-1725.e12, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42190649.
- Dizman, N, Qiu, Y, Irajizad, E, Saha, S, Jiang, Y, Simon, JM, Burton, EM, Baruch, EN, Amaria, RN, Glitza, IC, Tawbi, H, Lorenzi, PL, Davies, MA, Gershenwald, JE, Peterson, CB, Ajami, NJ, Wargo, J, Fahrmann, JF, Daniel-MacDougall, CR, McQuade, JL. Microbiome-derived bile acids and association with dietary fiber intake to anti-tumor responses in patients with melanoma receiving immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Journal of Clinical Oncology 44(16):9575, 2026. e-Pub 2026.
- Baruch EN, Gleber-Netto FO, Nagarajan P, Rao X, Akhter S, Eichwald T, Xie T, Balood M, Adewale A, Naara S, Sathishkumar HN, Islam S, McCarthy W, Mattson BJ, Ferrarotto R, Wong MK, Davies MA, Jindal S, Basu S, Roversi K, Nikpoor AR, Ahmadi M, Ahmadi A, Harwood C, Leigh I, Gong D, Tallon de Lara P, Tao DL, Davidson TM, Ajami NJ, Futreal A, Rai K, Kochat V, Castillo M, Gunaratne P, Goepfert RP, Hernandez SD, Khushalani NI, Wang J, Watowich SS, Calin GA, Migden MR, Yuan M, Liu N, Ye Y, Hwang WL, Vermeer PD, D'Silva NJ, Bunimovich YL, Yaniv D, Burks JK, Gomez J, Dougherty PM, Tsai KY, Allison JP, Sharma P, Wargo JA, Myers JN, Talbot S, Gross ND, Amit M. Cancer-induced nerve injury promotes resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy. Nature, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40836096.
- Markovits E, Harush O, Baruch EN, Shulman ED, Debby A, Itzhaki O, Anafi L, Danilevsky A, Shomron N, Ben-Betzalel G, Asher N, Shapira-Frommer R, Schachter J, Barshack I, Geiger T, Elkon R, Besser MJ, Markel G. MYC Induces Immunotherapy and IFNgamma Resistance Through Downregulation of JAK2. Cancer Immunol Res 11(7):909-924, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37074069.
- Margolis N, Moalem H, Meirson T, Galore-Haskel G, Markovits E, Baruch EN, Vizel B, Yeffet A, Kanterman-Rifman J, Debby A, Besser MJ, Schachter J, Markel G. Adenosine-Deaminase-Acting-on-RNA-1 Facilitates T-cell Migration toward Human Melanoma Cells. Cancer Immunol Res 10(9):1127-1140, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35731225.
- Spencer CN, McQuade JL, Gopalakrishnan V, McCulloch JA, Vetizou M, Cogdill AP, Khan MAW, Zhang X, White MG, Peterson CB, Wong MC, Morad G, Rodgers T, Badger JH, Helmink BA, Andrews MC, Rodrigues RR, Morgun A, Kim YS, Roszik J, Hoffman KL, Zheng J, Zhou Y, Medik YB, Kahn LM, Johnson S, Hudgens CW, Wani K, Gaudreau PO, Harris AL, Jamal MA, Baruch EN, Perez-Guijarro E, Day CP, Merlino G, Pazdrak B, Lochmann BS, Szczepaniak-Sloane RA, Arora R, Anderson J, Zobniw CM, Posada E, Sirmans E, Simon J, Haydu LE, Burton EM, Wang L, Dang M, Clise-Dwyer K, Schneider S, Chapman T, Anang NAS, Duncan S, Toker J, Malke JC, Glitza IC, Amaria RN, Tawbi HA, Diab A, Wong MK, Patel SP, Woodman SE, Davies MA, Ross MI, Gershenwald JE, Lee JE, Hwu P, Jensen V, Samuels Y, Straussman R, Ajami NJ, Nelson KC, Nezi L, Petrosino JF, Futreal PA, Lazar AJ, Hu J, Jenq RR, Tetzlaff MT, Yan Y, Garrett WS, Huttenhower C, Sharma P, Watowich SS, Allison JP, Cohen L, Trinchieri G, Daniel CR, Wargo JA. Dietary fiber and probiotics influence the gut microbiome and melanoma immunotherapy response. Science 374(6575):1632-1640, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34941392.
- Amit M, Liu C, Mansour J, Gleber-Netto FO, Tam S, Baruch EN, Aashiq M, El-Naggar AK, Moreno AC, Rosenthal DI, Glisson BS, Ferrarotto R, Wong MK, Tsai K, Flores ER, Migden MR, Silverman DA, Li G, Khanna A, Goepfert RP, Nagarajan P, Weber RS, Myers JN, Gross ND. Elective neck dissection versus observation in patients with head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer 127(23):4413-4420, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34358340.
- Andrews MC, Duong CPM, Gopalakrishnan V, Iebba V, Chen WS, Derosa L, Khan MAW, Cogdill AP, White MG, Wong MC, Ferrere G, Fluckiger A, Roberti MP, Opolon P, Alou MT, Yonekura S, Roh W, Spencer CN, Curbelo IF, Vence L, Reuben A, Johnson S, Arora R, Morad G, Lastrapes M, Baruch EN, Little L, Gumbs C, Cooper ZA, Prieto PA, Wani K, Lazar AJ, Tetzlaff MT, Hudgens CW, Callahan MK, Adamow M, Postow MA, Ariyan CE, Gaudreau PO, Nezi L, Raoult D, Mihalcioiu C, Elkrief A, Pezo RC, Haydu LE, Simon JM, Tawbi HA, McQuade J, Hwu P, Hwu WJ, Amaria RN, Burton EM, Woodman SE, Watowich S, Diab A, Patel SP, Glitza IC, Wong MK, Zhao L, Zhang J, Ajami NJ, Petrosino J, Jenq RR, Davies MA, Gershenwald JE, Futreal PA, Sharma P, Allison JP, Routy B, Zitvogel L, Wargo JA. Gut microbiota signatures are associated with toxicity to combined CTLA-4 and PD-1 blockade. Nat Med 27(8):1432-1441, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34239137.
- Amit M, Liu C, Gleber-Netto FO, Kini S, Tam S, Benov A, Aashiq M, El-Naggar AK, Moreno AC, Rosenthal DI, Glisson BS, Ferrarotto R, Wong MK, Migden MR, Baruch EN, Li G, Khanna A, Goepfert RP, Nagarajan P, Weber RS, Myers JN, Gross ND. Inclusion of extranodal extension in the lymph node classification of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Cancer 127(8):1238-1245, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33320343.
- Baruch EN, Youngster I, Ben-Betzalel G, Ortenberg R, Lahat A, Katz L, Adler K, Dick-Necula D, Raskin S, Bloch N, Rotin D, Anafi L, Avivi C, Melnichenko J, Steinberg-Silman Y, Mamtani R, Harati H, Asher N, Shapira-Frommer R, Brosh-Nissimov T, Eshet Y, Ben-Simon S, Ziv O, Khan MAW, Amit M, Ajami NJ, Barshack I, Schachter J, Wargo JA, Koren O, Markel G, Boursi B. Fecal microbiota transplant promotes response in immunotherapy-refractory melanoma patients. Science 371(6529):602-609, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33303685.
- Baruch EN, Ortenberg R, Avivi C, Anafi L, Dick-Necula D, Stossel C, Moshkovits Y, Itzhaki O, Besser MJ, Schachter J, Barshack I, Markel G. Immune co-culture cell microarray - a feasible tool for high-throughput functional investigation of lymphocyte-cancer interactions. Oncoimmunology 9(1):1741267, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32373399.
- Harel M, Ortenberg R, Varanasi SK, Mangalhara KC, Mardamshina M, Markovits E, Baruch EN, Tripple V, Arama-Chayoth M, Greenberg E, Shenoy A, Ayasun R, Knafo N, Xu S, Anafi L, Yanovich-Arad G, Barnabas GD, Ashkenazi S, Besser MJ, Schachter J, Bosenberg M, Shadel GS, Barshack I, Kaech SM, Markel G, Geiger T. Proteomics of Melanoma Response to Immunotherapy Reveals Mitochondrial Dependence. Cell 179(1):236-250.e18, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31495571.
- Roszik J, Markovits E, Dobosz P, Layani A, Slabodnik-Kaner K, Baruch EN, Ben-Betzalel G, Grimm E, Berger R, Sidi Y, Schachter J, Shapira-Frommer R, Avni D, Markel G, Leibowitz-Amit R. TNFSF4 (OX40L) expression and survival in locally advanced and metastatic melanoma. Cancer Immunol Immunother 68(9):1493-1500, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31501955.
- Asher N, Marom EM, Ben-Betzalel G, Baruch EN, Steinberg-Silman Y, Schachter J, Shapira-Frommer R, Markel G. Recurrent Pneumonitis in Patients with Melanoma Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Oncologist 24(5):640-647, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30777894.
- Margalit O, Mamtani R, Lawrence YR, Yang YX, Baruch EN, Reiss KA, Golan T, Halpern N, Aderka D, Giantonio B, Shacham-Shmueli E, Boursi B. Locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma: Are preoperative short and long course radiotherapy truly equivalent?. Mol Clin Oncol 10(5):555-559, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30967950.
- Eshet Y, Baruch EN, Shapira-Frommer R, Steinberg-Silman Y, Kuznetsov T, Ben-Betzalel G, Daher S, Gluck I, Asher N, Apter S, Schachter J, Bar J, Boursi B, Markel G. Clinical Significance of Pancreatic Atrophy Induced by Immune-Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Case-Control Study. Cancer Immunol Res 6(12):1453-1458, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30275274.
- Ben-Betzalel G, Baruch EN, Boursi B, Steinberg-Silman Y, Asher N, Shapira-Frommer R, Schachter J, Markel G. Possible immune adverse events as predictors of durable response to BRAF inhibitors in patients with BRAF V600-mutant metastatic melanoma. Eur J Cancer 101:229-235, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30096703.
- Nemlich Y, Baruch EN, Besser MJ, Shoshan E, Bar-Eli M, Anafi L, Barshack I, Schachter J, Ortenberg R, Markel G. ADAR1-mediated regulation of melanoma invasion. Nat Commun 9(1):2154, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29855470.
- Galore-Haskel G, Baruch EN, Berg AL, Barshack I, Zilinsky I, Avivi C, Besser MJ, Schachter J, Markel G. Histopathological expression analysis of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) along development and progression of human melanoma. Oncotarget 8(59):99580-99586, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29245925.
- Shlaifer A, Siman-Tov M, Radomislensky I, Peleg K, Shina A, Baruch EN, Glassberg E, Yitzhak A. Prehospital administration of freeze-dried plasma, is it the solution for trauma casualties?. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 83(4):675-682, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28930960.
- Shlaifer A, Yitzhak A, Baruch EN, Shina A, Satanovsky A, Shovali A, Almog O, Glassberg E. Point of injury tourniquet application during Operation Protective Edge-What do we learn?. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 83(2):278-283, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28230629.
- Shina A, Baruch EN, Shlaifer A, Shovali A, Levi M, Yosefy O, Segal D, Bader T, Shavit I, Yitzhak A. Comparison of Two Intraosseous Devices: The NIO Versus the EZ-IO by Novice Users-A Randomized Cross Over Trial. Prehosp Emerg Care 21(3):315-321, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 27870553.
- Baruch EN, Kragh JF Jr, Berg AL, Aden JK Rd, Benov A, Shina A, Shlaifer A, Ahimor A, Glassberg E, Yitzhak A. Confidence-Competence Mismatch and Reasons for Failure of Non-Medical Tourniquet Users. Prehosp Emerg Care 21(1):39-45, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 27494564.
- Baruch EN, Benov A, Shina A, Berg AL, Shlaifer A, Glassberg E, Aden JK 3rd, Bader T, Kragh JF Jr, Yitzhak A. Does practice make perfect? Prospectively comparing effects of 2 amounts of practice on tourniquet use performance. Am J Emerg Med 34(12):2356-2361, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27614373.
- Glick Y, Baruch EN, Tsur AM, Berg AL, Yifrah D, Yitzhak A, Dagan D, Bader T. Extending a Helping Hand: A Comparison of Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps Humanitarian Aid Field Hospitals. Isr Med Assoc J 18(10):581-585, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 28471615.
- Benov Avi, Elon G, Baruch EN, Avi S, Gilad T, Moran L, Itay Z, Ram S, Tarif B, David D, Avraham Y, Yitshak K. Augmentation of point of injury care: Reducing battlefield mortality-The IDF experience. Injury 47(5):993-1000, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26725147.
- Nadler R, Gendler S, Benov A, Shina A, Baruch E, Twig G, Glassberg E. Intravenous access in the prehospital settings: What can be learned from point-of-injury experience. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 79(2):221-6, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26218689.
Invited Articles
- Baruch EN, Ajami NJ, Wargo JA. Cultivating the microbiome to enhance cancer immunotherapy. Nat Rev Clin Oncol, 2026.
Review Articles
- Baruch EN, Wang J, Wargo JA. Gut Microbiota and Antitumor Immunity: Potential Mechanisms for Clinical Effect. Cancer Immunol Res 9(4):365-370, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34003768.
- Darnell EP, Mooradian MJ, Baruch EN, Yilmaz M, Reynolds KL. Immune-Related Adverse Events (irAEs): Diagnosis, Management, and Clinical Pearls. Curr Oncol Rep 22(4):39, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32200442.
- Baruch EN, Berg AL, Besser MJ, Schachter J, Markel G. Adoptive T cell therapy: An overview of obstacles and opportunities. Cancer 123(S11):2154-2162, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28543698.
Editorials
- Baruch EN, Gaglani T, Wargo JA. Fecal microbiota transplantation as a mean of overcoming immunotherapy-resistant cancers - hype or hope?. Ther Adv Med Oncol 13:17588359211045853, 2021. PMID: 34603515.
Abstracts
- Baruch E, Eshet Y, Steinberg-Silman Y, Ben-Betzalel G, Asher N, Shapira-Frommer R, Apter S, Schachter J, Boursi B, Markel G. Anti PD-1 therapy induced pancreatic atrophy and its clinical significance. 14th International Congress of the Society for Melanoma Research. Travel Award Winner.
- Baruch EN, Yaal-Hahoshen N, Stadler Y, Kahn P, Gat A, Sperber F, Even-Sapir E, Skornick Y, Inbar M, Schneebaum S. Breast cancer prediction models for non-sentinel axillary lymph node metastases – assessing validity and correlation to disease recurrence. 11th International Conference.
- Baruch EN, Shina A, Twig G, Nadler R, Benov A, Shlaifer A, Shovali A, Bader T, Yitzhak A. Casualty height and injury profile during the “Protective Edge” military campaign. Annual Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS).
- Baruch E, Shina A, Lipski A, Nadler R, Benov A, Glassberg E, Yitzhak A. Evolution of the Israeli Defense Forces Fluid Resuscitation Protocols. Annual Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS).
- Baruch E, Krauch JF, Berg AL, Aden JK, Benov A, Shina A, Shlaifer A, Ahimor A, Glassberg E, Yitzhak A. A Confidence-Competence Mismatch and Reasons for Failed Use of Tourniquets among Non-Medical Users - Pitfalls in Performance. Annual Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS).
- Baruch E, Harel M, Barshack I, Ben-Betzalel G, Shapira-Frommer R, Schachter J, Geiger T, Markel G. Anti PD-1 Therapy in Metastatic Melanoma - Profiling Tumor Protein Expression in Association with Response. 8th ILANIT/Federation for Israeli Society of Experimental Biology Conference.
- Baruch E, Anafi L, Avivi C, Dick-Necula D, Barshack I, Besser MJ, Schachter J, Markel G, Orthenberg R. A Feasible Tool for Investigating Immunotherapy-related Mechanisms in a High Throughput Manner. 3rd Djerassi Student Symposium on Cancer Research - Outstanding Abstract Winner.
Letters to the Editor
- Shavit I, Gaitini L, Matter I, Swaid F, Safadi A, Badarna M, Almog O, Baruch EN, Lipsky AM, Somri M. Blind tracheal intubation through iLTS-D versus direct laryngoscopy by novice intubators during manual in-line neck stabilization: A randomized controlled trial. J Clin Anesth 72: 110289, 2021.
Web Publications
- Baruch E, Wang J, Wargo JA. Gut Microbiota and Anti-tumor Immunity: Potential Mechanisms for Clinical Effect.
- Darnell EP, Baruch E, Mooradian MJ, Yilmaz M, Reynold KL. Immune-Related Adverse Events (irAEs): Diagnosis.
- Baruch EN, Berg AL, Besser MJ, Schachter J, Markel G. Adoptive T-Cell Therapy - An Overview of Obstacles and Opportunities.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified August 07, 2026