Research activities
I completed my Ph.D. in Systems Biology (Oct. 2008 – Dec. 2011) under the joint supervision of Dr. Annick Lesne and Dr. Arndt Benecke, within the Systems Epigenomics Group at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette (Paris area). My research focused on the development of systems biology approaches for the analysis and interpretation of transcriptomic data. In particular, I applied these methods to identify transcriptomic biomarkers associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) progression in liver-transplanted patients.To investigate host transcriptomic and proteomic responses induced by viral infections, I pursued postdoctoral training in Systems Virology (Feb. 2012 – Mar. 2014) in the laboratory of Prof. Michael Katze at the University of Washington in Seattle. Kinetic aspects are often underappreciated when characterizing virus–host interactions. To address this limitation, I developed systems virology strategies integrating transcriptomic and proteomic analyses with a strong focus on host response kinetics. These approaches were implemented in studies involving: (i) mice infected with respiratory viruses; and (ii) non-human primates infected with viruses causing hemorrhagic fevers. Using these animal and viral models, I demonstrated the critical role of early molecular host events in controlling viral infections and modulating pathogenicity. I also contributed to the characterization of animal models used in biomedical research, including the annotation of the Syrian hamster transcriptome.
From April 2014 to April 2019, I was a postdoctoral researcher in Systems Vaccinology within the research unit “Immunology of Viral Infections and Autoimmune Diseases” (ImVA), led by Dr. Roger Le Grand at the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) in Fontenay-aux-Roses. My project focused on investigating the diversity of immune cell populations during vaccination and HIV-associated inflammation. In collaboration with Dr. Anne-Sophie Beignon, I applied systems approaches to predict optimal intervals between prime and boost injections in a Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine model in non-human primates. In parallel, I collaborated with Dr. Elisabeth Menu on metagenomic approaches to characterize the diversity of vaginal and rectal microbiota in cynomolgus macaques.
Since September 2019, I have been an Associate Professor in Systems Immunology at Sorbonne University, within the research unit “Immunology-Immunopathology-Immunotherapy” (i3), directed by Prof. Encarnita Mariotti-Ferrandiz, at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. I am a member of the SIMRA team (Systems Immunology of Immune and Microbial Repertoires in Autoimmune Diseases), where my research aims to elucidate the molecular, cellular, and microbial mechanisms underlying autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. More specifically, I develop systems immunology approaches to: (i) identify biomarkers associated with disease severity; (ii) integrate multi-omics data to investigate disease mechanisms across different levels of biological complexity; and (iii) predict patients’ responses to immunotherapies.