Presentation

Genomics and Development of Childhood Cancers
Our laboratory is interested in identifying cellular heterogeneity and hierarchies, and in decoding the molecular mechanisms involved in the tumorigenesis of childhood cancers. Our team lies at the interface between cancer biology and developmental biology. We are specialized in bioinformatics and the analysis of large-scale genomic data to answer complex biological questions such as: what are the programs that govern cell fate in our brain? can we use the tumor ecosystem as a vulnerability to propose new therapeutic strategies?
Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children. The mechanisms of tumor initiation in adult and childhood cancers are very different. Pediatric cancers often result from deregulation of normal developmental processes, causing a block in cell differentiation. By hijacking programs of the normal development, cancer cells have time to develop and grow as pre-cancerous lesions then progress into a tumor.
One of the main goals of our team is to identify these mechanisms in order to resolve the spatio-temporal origins of pediatric brain tumors using single-cell omics technologies and genome-wide data analyses. In addition, we investigate the transcriptional and post-transcriptional programs of the normal development that are hijacked by cancer cells in order to exploit these vulnerabilities and to propose new therapeutic strategies for these deadly cancers. We use computational biology and genomics to understand what are the normal differentiation programs driving cell differentiation and use this knowledge to better understand the mechanisms that are hijacked by cancer cells in children. Our main strengths are cancer biology, computational biology and genomics.
One of the main aims of our team is to identify these mechanisms in order to trace the developmental origins (in time and space) of pediatric brain tumors. We are also interested in identifying the transcriptional and post-transcriptional programs that are hijacked by cancer cells. The aim of our research program is to exploit these developmental vulnerabilities and propose new strategies for treating these deadly cancers. To achieve this, our team analyzes data from single-cell omics and genome-wide data from human embryonic development and patient tissues. Our core strengths are cancer biology, computational biology and genomics.
Human at the heart of our priorities! We're convinced that together we'll make faster progress in cancer research!
We recruit at all levels (postdoc, engineer, PhD, Master)!
You have a background in computational biology and you are interested in omics data applied to the development of childhood cancers? Send us your CV to olivier.saulnier@curie.fr
Les membres de l'équipe
Mafalda FRÈRE
Research intern from AgroParisTech (6 months)
Loïc LECOMTE
Engineer
Marine LOUARN
Postdoctoral fellow
Lexane LOUIS
PhD candidate (École doctorale Sciences du Vivant, Université PSL)