Mentorship makes the difference for physician-microbiome researcher
June 18, 2026
Story highlights
- As a graduate student, Erez Baruch, M.D., Ph.D., became interested in the connection between microbiome and immunotherapy.
- After he presented his research at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting, he met UT MD Anderson surgeon-scientist Jennifer Wargo, M.D. That connection changed his life.
- Wargo described his research as “game-changing science” and urged him to consider moving to Houston after he completed his Ph.D.
- Today, Baruch is a full-time faculty member at UT MD Anderson, where he’s working closely with doctors he considers his heroes.
One bold idea changed Erez Baruch’s life.
As a young graduate student in Israel, Baruch, now an M.D., Ph.D., and a team of researchers decided to embark on a study unlike any other.
Data published in the mid 2010s suggested that there was a connection between the microbiome — the bacteria in the gut — and the effectiveness of immunotherapy, particularly for melanoma patients.
Baruch and the rest of the team decided to test this with a clinical trial using fecal transplants. Melanoma patients whose cancer resisted immunotherapy underwent a colonoscopy and received the feces of patients who were cancer-free after immunotherapy. The team also gave the recipients oral pills containing the donors’ dried stool.
The results were remarkable. The gut microbiomes of all patients changed to more closely match the donors’. And, most importantly, in three of the 10 patients, the change appeared to boost their response to immunotherapy. Tumors were shrinking.
“It was a crazy idea,” Baruch says. “Very few people thought it would work, and there was some skepticism around the success.”
But at nearly the same time, another study being conducted across the globe used the same methods and yielded similar positive results.
Baruch presented the results at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, a gathering of the world’s leading oncology researchers.
It was there that he met fellow microbiome researcher and UT MD Anderson surgeon-scientist Jennifer Wargo, M.D.
‘Game-changing science’
An internationally renowned researcher, Wargo has high standards when it comes to science. In 2017, she published a landmark study that illustrated a healthier gut microbiome was linked to a better response to immunotherapy and remains at the forefront of a swiftly emerging field.
She attended Baruch’s AACR presentation and found his research fascinating. It proved in real-life patients what she had been studying for years.
“There’s good science, and then there’s game-changing science,” she says. “And this was game-changing science.”
But it wasn’t just the data. She was struck by Baruch’s passion for helping patients.
“I basically rushed over to meet him,” she says.
The two began to talk, and Baruch shared that he was about to complete his Ph.D. and was looking for his next role. He was unsure of where to go next. Wargo suggested he consider Houston. Mere months later, he began his internal medicine residency at The University of Texas Health Science Center, working on his research with nearby UT MD Anderson.
Establishing a career in melanoma medical oncology
Baruch didn’t have an easy start to his career in the United States. It was the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many residents were working on the front lines in intensive care units, and Baruch was no exception. He spent two months in the summer of 2020 working in a Houston COVID-19 ICU.
Two years later, after successfully completing an internal medicine residency in the physician-scientist track, he began a fellowship in medical oncology at UT MD Anderson, with a special focus on melanoma.
He was amazed by the depth of resources here, particularly when it came to microbiome research. UT MD Anderson is home to the Platform for Innovative Microbiome and Translational Research, more commonly known as PRIME-TR. It brings together clinicians, data scientists, spatial profiling experts and others from across UT MD Anderson with strategic industry partners to advance microbiome research and initiatives.
Baruch also was struck by the humility, curiosity and kindness of his colleagues. He started working alongside doctors who were his heroes, physicians like Melanoma Medical Oncology chair Michael Davies, M.D., Ph.D., melanoma medical oncologist Rodabe Amaria, M.D., melanoma brain metastasis leaders Isabella Glitza, M.D., Ph.D., and Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D., and gastrointestinal medical oncologist Michael Overman, M.D., who had also worked on fecal transplants. Their empathy for patients and willingness to dig deeper motivated him to develop those same qualities.
“I want to focus on becoming a really good doctor,” says Baruch. “And I have so many amazing examples around me.”
Baruch hadn’t planned on becoming a medical oncologist when he started medical school, but after a family friend received a devastating cancer diagnosis, he became determined to learn more about the field. Now, he’s a full-time faculty member at UT MD Anderson, seeing patients and setting up his lab. His research focuses on chronic inflammation driven by the gut microbiome, nerves and the gut-brain axis. Last year, he published a paper on how cancer-induced nerve damage impacts treatment result. He’s also become a husband and father.
He’s built a home and a life in Houston.
“Houston is a very family-friendly place. There are lots of parks and tons of activities for those boiling summer days, like museums, or NASA’s Johnson Space Center,” he says, reflecting on his new home. “The food scene has cuisine from all over the world, and the Houston Symphony is fantastic,” he says. “It’s got all of the benefits of a diverse, vibrant large city with a very reasonable cost of living.”
All the while, Wargo has continued to serve as his mentor.
“We owe it to patients with cancer to advance the field. And while part of that work is through our own work, it’s also through fostering the next generation of researchers who will make impacts,” says Wargo. “It’s just been so rewarding to stand beside Erez and watch him grow and excel with grace and a sense of humor.”
Topics
MelanomaI want to focus on becoming a really good doctor. And I have so many amazing examples around me.
Erez Baruch, M.D., Ph.D.
Physician & Researcher