Marie-Carmelle Elie

Marie-Carmelle Elie (born October 12, 1973) is an American emergency physician who is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine in 2022.

Early life and education Elie was undergraduate student at Columbia University, where she majored in biology and chemistry. During her undergraduate studies, she was awarded a scholarship to work on vitamin A. Her research looked to identify ways to measure vitamin A in humans, and to understand why certain HIV-positive mothers translated the virus to their babies.

Research and career Elie started her medical career at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She developed the departmental strategy on emergency medicine and critical care. She has searched for biomarkers that present in critical care patients who experience complications.

In 2010, Elie joined the University of Florida, where she developed an alert system to streamline and prevent errors in the critical care system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Elie switched focus to identify treatments for COVID-19, and identified that a 2-drug strategy (baricitinib plus remdesivir) can improve patient outcomes.

In 2020, Elie was appointed a professor and served as the Chair in the Department of Emergency Medicine from 2020-2025. She is the first Black woman to hold such a position at a major American medical school.

Selected publications

Personal life Elie is married to a pro tennis coach, with whom she has two children.