top of page
Picture 1_edited.png

- Fighting bacterial infection -

 

There is a dramatic increase of multi-drug resistant bacterial infection worldwide. New treatments that will not induce antibacterial resistance are needed.

I am a senior researcher working in the field of Immunology, Inflammation & Host-Pathogen Interactions. My work focusses on identifying new ways to improve our immune system against bacterial infections.

My research tackles two main subjects:

  • How our immune cells are using metal ions, like Zinc and Copper, to kill bacteria  and how can we facilitate this?

  • How mitochondria dynamics and specific enzymes HDACs control our immune response.

Picture 1_edited.png

Fighting bacterial infection

There is a dramatic increase of multi-drug resistant bacterial infection worldwide. We need to find new way to treat these infections that will limit antibacterial resistance.

Why this research is important ?

Antibiotic Resistance

10 Million of death per year due to antibiotic resistance

We will reach this number in 2050 if we do not act now. This number will be far superior to the estimated number of death due to cancer (8M) or diabetes (1.5M)...

(UK Review on antimicrobial resistance, 2014) 

Salmonella
 

40% of Foodborn Illness Outbreak due to Salmonella in France.

Salmonella outbreaks cost the EU 3 billion Euros per year, and is the most commonly pathogen found in poultry and pigs.

(Les zoonoses expliquées par l’EFSA: Salmonella. 2014)

Uropathogenic E. coli

50% of women will develop a urinary track infection in their lifetime

UTI account for >1M hospitalisations and $3.5 billion in medical expenses each year in the USA alone
 

My projects

Protein_HDAC6_PDB_3C5K.png

IMMUNOACETYL - Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship 894690 - Horizon 2020

HDAC6 (Histone Deacetylase 6) is an enzyme that can modify other proteins by removing an Acetyl group. Thus, it participates to the modulation of signalisation pathways and cellular response to danger signals.

Rebecca L. Cooper Foundation #021765

Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, but they control several other pathways, including the immune response. They are very responsive to environmental cues and fluctuate between a tubular and fragmented network. We investigated how this dynamic controls the inflammatory and the antibacterial responses.

Screenshot 2022-03-20 at 10.03.07.png
Screenshot 2022-03-20 at 09.35.01.png

Discovery Early-Career Research Award (Australian Research Council)

We showed that macrophages can use Zinc and copper to eliminate bacterial infection. But, pathogens such Salmonella and Uropathogenic E. coli have evolved to subvert the zinc toxicity pathway. In broader term, my project investigated how macrophages control and use metal ions as an antimicrobial weapon and how we can enhance our immune system using this knowledge.

Home: Services
Image by Hans Isaacson

Funding

This work would not be possible without these funding bodies

Home: List
Screenshot 2022-03-18 at 15.32.25.png

European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 894690

2021 - 2023

Screenshot 2022-03-18 at 16.06.52.png

Rebecca L. Cooper Foundation #021765

2018 - 2020

images.jpeg

Genome Innovation Hub Collaborative Project

2020 - 2021

Understanding host-pathogen interactions through development new co-transcriptomic single cell RNA sequencing technologies

Screenshot 2022-03-20 at 11.16.58.png

Vertex Innovation Awards

2020 - 2022

Improving the ability of CF macrophages to handle mycobacterium abscessus (MABS)

arc_stacked.png

Discovery Early-Career Research Award (Australian Research Council)

2013 - 2016

Screenshot 2022-03-20 at 12.00.00.png

Veterinary Comparative Respiratory Society

2012

Commencement of race training in Standardbred racehorses results in a derangement of cellular immune regulation at the level of the alveolar macrophage

1583137226118.jpeg

Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale

2007 - 2008

4th year PhD grant

ministere-Enseignement-superieur.jpg

French Ministry of Research

2004 - 2007

3-years PhD Scholarship - Role of TLR2, phagocytosis and intracellular NOD receptors in the detection of S. aureus by macrophages from different micro-environments.

bottom of page