Adaptive and innate immune responses fight viral infections and tumors.

Dendritic cells (DC) are the only antigen presenting cells which are able to initiate adaptive immune responses. We are identifying DCs and Monocytes/macrophages (Monos/Mph) in the placenta and other tissues. As we showed that different human DCs support antigen cross-presentation, not only from dead cells, but also from live cells, we are studying the underlying mechanisms to fight tumors or HIV-1 reservoirs.

After participating in the identification of these reservoirs, responsible for viral rebound in case of interruption of antiretroviral treatments, and developing an ultrasensitive quantification assay for the unintegrated linear DNA forms of the HIV-1 genome, we are studying the cellular and molecular characteristics of HIV-1 reservoirs, to develop original approaches for their eradication.

We have identified IL-7 as a danger signal triggered during acute viral infections. We are studying its role in the initiation of mucosal immune responses and its use as an adjuvant in mucosal vaccination.

We observed an inverse correlation between phenylalanine oxidase IL-4 Induced gene-1 (IL-4I1) density in primary cutaneous melanoma and patient survival, and discovered an unexpected role of IL4I1 on B cell biology. We study the immunosuppressive mechanisms of IL4I1 in patients and in mouse models of melanoma, as well as the role of the microbiota in antitumoral responses.

We are studying the Interferon responses of DC and Monos/Mph during SARS-CoV-2, HIV-1 and-2 infections as well as the initial steps of the immune responses to the yellow fever vaccine.

Using an original technique for quantifying thymic function, we have shown that an active thymus, associated with a genetic polymorphism, promotes the anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune response and prevents the severity of COVID-19 and we analyze the role of the thymus in different physiopathological conditions.

Finally, we have shown that a single deletion in a non-coding region of the genome induces glial tropism of variants of JCV, an opportunistic virus responsible for multifocal leukoencephalopathy

Alumni

Groupe Hosmalin

  • Dorian McIlroy, former PhD student (1994-1998) is now Assistant Professor, Université de Nantes
  • Fernanda Grassi, former PhD student (1995-1999) is now Researcher, Fiocruz, and Assistant Professor at Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saude Publica, Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
  • Muriel Andrieu, former PhD student (1997-2000) is now IR1 at Inserm U1016, Director of Cybio
  • Sandrine Kahi, former Post-doctoral fellow (2000-2002), became GCP Auditor, Senior CRA, at San.K.Bio Consulting, Miami, Florida and Montrouge, France
  • Miriam Lichtner, former Post-doctoral fellow (2002-2003), is now full Professor of Medicine, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
  • Concepcion Marañon-Lizana, former Post-doctoral fellow (2002-2006), became Senior Scientist at Genyo (Centro Pfizer-Universidad de Granada- Junta de Andalùcia- Genomica e Investigacion Oncologica), Granada, Spain
  • Alfredo Bellon, former Post-doctoral fellow (2009-2011), is Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania, Hershey, PA, USA
  • Vincent Feuillet, former Post-doctoral Fellow (2006-2011) is now CRCN at Inserm CIML, Marseille, France
  • Guillaume Hoeffel, former PhD student (2002-2006) is now CRCN at Inserm CIML, Marseille, France
  • Michelina Nascimbeni, former Post-doctoral Fellow (2007-2009) became a teacher, Paris, France
  • Leila Perié, former PhD student (2006-2009) is now Research Director at CNRS, Institut Curie, Paris, France
  • Diana Matheoud, former PhD student (2004-2009) became Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Quebec, Canada
  • Stéphanie Louis, former Post-doctoral fellow (2009-2012), became aPrincipal Scientist at Galapagos Sasù,  Romainville, France
  • Charles-Antoine Dutertre, former Post-doctoral fellow (2009-2012), is now CRCN, Inserm U1015, Villejuif
  • Jennifer Manuzak, former Post-doctoral fellow (2013-2014) is  now Assistant Professor, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, Louisiana, USA
  • Michael Valente, former PhD student (2009-2013), is Post-doctoral fellow at the CIML, Marseille, France
  • Jean-Baptiste Guillerme, former Post-doctoral fellow (2013-2016) and Camille Baey, former PhD student (2008-2013), became Technical Application Scientists at BioLegend, France
  • Stéphane Isnard, former PhD student (2013-2017), is Post-doctoral fellow, Université de Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Groupe Cheynier

  • David Gautier, former PhD student (2003-2007) is Co-Founder and CEO at Cibiltech. 
  • Sandra Rozlan, former EPHE and Master student (2006-2009) is Research associate at Cellectis.
  • Stéphanie Beq, former Post-doctoral fellow (2007-2009) is R&D Director at Thabor Therapeutics.
  • Véronique Fabre-Mersseman, former Post-doctoral fellow (2007- 2012) is EHS Engineer at NovAlix.
  • Raphaëlle Parker, former PhD student (2008 à 2012) became Medical Advisor at Janssen Inc.
  • Jacques Dutrieux, former Master and PhD student (2008-2012) is CRCN INSERM U1016.
  • Magali Rancez, former Post-doctoral fellow (2010-2014) is CRCN CNRS U1016.
  • Rosalie Ponte, former PhD student (2010-2014) became a teacher at Le Bugue, France.
  • Amandine Bernard, former Master and PhD student (2011-2015) is Clinical Research Associate at Institut Sainte Catherine.
  • Vélislava Terzieva, former MSCA invited scientist (2011-2013), became Associate professor at Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction, Sophia, Bulgaria.
  • Sandrine Logerot, former PhD student (2011-2015) is Clinical Trial Manager at Excelya.
  • Faten El Asmi, former Post-doctoral fellow (2014-2016), is Clinical data manager at Keyrus Life Science.
  • Carolina Moraes-Cabe, former Post-doctoral fellow (2016-2018), became research engineer at Institut Pasteur de Paris.
  • Hélène Marie Roux, former Master and PhD student (2018-2022), is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at the CRCHUM (Montréal)

Groupe Prévost-Blondel

  • Stéphanie Graff-Dubois, former Post-doctoral fellow Cancéropole (2006-2007) is Professor in Immunology at Sorbonne University
  •  Nadège Bercovici, former Post-doctoral fellow INSERM (2012-2015), is CRCN  CNRS U1016.
  • Arnaud Pommier. former PhD student (2009-2012) is engineer, University of Reims.
  • Fany Blanc, former Post-doctoral fellow INCA (2012-2015), is engineer, INRA Jouy en Josas.
  • Laetitia Douguet, former Master and PhD student (2010-2015) is Senior scientist, immuno-oncology project manager, TheraVectys 
  • Lloyd Bod, former Master, PhD student and Post-doctoral fellow (2012-2017) is Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Harvard Medical School (Boston).
  • Jan-Philipp Ramspott, former ERASMUS MD student (2015-2016) is MD, Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, Hospital Münster, Münster. (Germany).
  • Fériel Bekkat, former Master and PhD student (2017-2021). 
  • Samantha Chew, former Post-doctoral fellow INCA (2019-2021).