Background
I hold a PhD in Bioinformatics and Genomics from Aix-Marseille University. My journey began with a focus on transcriptional regulation using Drosophila heart development as a model. During this time, I was involved in both experimental work and data analysis under the co-supervision of Laurent Perrin and Carl Herrmann. I continued with a postdoctoral position at the Center for Human Genetics (CME) in the Laboratory of Computational Biology (LCB) led by Stein Aerts, where I focused on gene regulatory networks (GRNs), their disruption, and evolution. During this period, I contributed to the development of methods and tools for inferring transcriptional regulatory networks, such as i-cisTarget and iRegulon, which have been widely adopted by the scientific community.
In 2015, I joined the Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy (CIML) for a second postdoctoral position, investigating the disruption of thymic development leading to leukemogenesis, which led to my recruitment by the CNRS in 2018. Currently, I work at the Cancer Research Center of Marseille (CRCM), where my research focuses on understanding physiological and pathological thymopoiesis. To achieve this, I employ integrative approaches, including mathematical modeling, transcriptional regulatory network inference, and single-cell omics analyses.
Reasearch project
Impact of TCR signaling on physiological and pathological thymocyte differentiation
Several projects I contribute to aim to understand how T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling influences normal and pathological thymopoiesis. In particular, we investigate the role of PTEN, a tumor suppressor (in collaboration with Elisabeth Remy), as well as key TCR components, including LAT, LCK, and CD45 (in collaboration with Bernard Malissen).
Integrated analysis of multi-omics data to understand T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL)
In collaboration with Laurent Tichit, this project integrates various omics datasets (genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics) derived from patients to explore the biological processes underlying T-ALL pathogenesis. The goal is to fully exploit data generated by our lab and publicly available datasets to better understand oncogenic pathways and clonal evolution in T-ALL, contributing to advancements in precision medicine.
Characterization of cellular responses to IL-2 variants for the development of innovative cancer therapies
This project investigates cellular responses modulated by IL-2 muteins to design targeted cancer immunotherapies. It involves an international collaboration with the Molecular Immunology Center in Havana (Karina Garcia and Tania Carmenate), the Luminy Institute of Mathematics (Elisabeth Remy), and Institut Curie (Loredana Martignetti, Laurence Calzone, Denis Thieffry), combining experimental approaches and mathematical modeling.
Scientific and Administrative Responsibilities
Scientific Committees
- Member of the steering committee of the BIOinformaTIque en provenCe (BIOTIC) network since 2024.
- Member of the board of the French Bioinformatics Society (SFBI) since 2021.
- Occasional roles: member of lecturer recruitment committees, thesis committees and juries, Master’s juries, and doctoral school juries.
Pedagogical Initiatives
- Member of the training working group for the French Genomic Medicine Plan (2022–2025).
- Member of the teaching team for EBAii (2024).
- Member of the teaching team for the first edition of the French Institute of Bioinformatics’ Thematic School of Integrative Bioinformatics (ETBII, 2023).
Supervision and Co-Supervision of Research Projects
I supervise Master’s and PhD students working at the intersection of mathematics, bioinformatics, oncology, and immunology.
Organization of Scientific Events
- JOBIM 2023 (Chair of the Program Committee), 2024, and 2025 (Program Committee Member).
- Organization of BIOTIC network virtual seminars and events since its creation in 2024.