Each person in our lab makes a significant contribution to our research. We employ a proactive approach to science by constantly asking the question, “What if…?”
Meet our current team to learn more about their individual “What if…” focus areas.
Principal Investigator, Viruses and RNAi Unit, Department of Virology, Institut Pasteur Paris
“What if we redefined innate immunity by better understanding the immune system of infected insects? What if we could selectively control infected insects from transmitting diseases to humans?”
H.D.R, 2010
Life and Health Sciences University of Paris – René Descartes, France
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2001-2007
Host-Pathogen Interactions Dr. Raul Andino’s lab University of California San Francisco, CA, USA
Ph.D., 2000
Molecular and Cellular Physiopathology University of Paris, Pierre et Marie Curie, France Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Masters, 1994
Biology National University of Córdoba, Argentina
B.Sc., 1993
Biology National University of Córdoba, Argentina
Staff Scientist
“What if we could use bacteria to stimulate mosquito RNA interference immunity against viruses? What if we could engineer the mosquito microbiota to prevent mosquitoes to transmit arboviruses?”
Postdoctoral fellow, 2021 – present
Dr. Carla Saleh’s lab – Viruses and RNA Interference
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Postdoctoral fellow, 2017 – 2021
Dr. Mathilde Gendrin’s lab – Microbiota of Insect Vectors
Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, French Guiana
Postdoctoral fellow, 2016 – 2017
Dr. Federica Sandrelli’s lab
Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
Ph.D., 2016
Genetics and Molecular Biology of Development
Dr. Federica Sandrelli’s lab
Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
Research Assistant, 2012
Dr. Andrea Squartini’s & Dr. Giorgio Valle’s labs
Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
Master’s degree, 2011
Biotechnology, 2011
Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
PhD Student
“What if the interactions between viruses and the insect innate immune system vary during development? What if immune responses triggered at a young age provide antiviral immunity later in life?“
ERASMUS+ Intern 2021 – present
Dr. Carla Saleh’s lab
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
MSc Molecular Life Sciences, 2019 – present
Virology
Prof.dr. MM van Oers, Dr.ir. VID Ros’ lab
Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Microbiology
Prof.dr.ir. TJG Ettema’s lab
Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
BSc Biotechnology, 2019
Dr. Pilar Aragón Revuelta’s lab
Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
PostDoctoral Fellow
“What if we could understand how the host microbiome impacts viral infections? What if the host microbiome influences virus evolution? What if virus-induced aging could be mitigated?”
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024 – present
Host-Microbiome-Virus Interactions and Evolution
Carla Saleh’s lab
Institut Pasteur (Paris, France)
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2021-2023
Host-Microbiome-Virus Interactions
Marie-Anne Félix’s lab
Institut de Biologie de l’Ecole Normale Superieure (Paris, France)
Ph.D., 2017-2021
Virus Evolution
Santiago F. Elena’s lab
Polytechnic University of Valencia (Valencia, Spain)
Masters, 2015-2017
Biotechnology
Polytechnic University of Valencia (Valencia, Spain)
B.Sc., 2011-2015
Biology
University of Vigo (Vigo, Spain)
PostDoctoral Fellow
“What if we could disrupt the mosquitoes’ capacity to host viruses by manipulating their retrotransposons? What if we could genetically engineer retrotransposons to render mosquitoes incapable of transmitting diseases?”
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2023 – present
Dr. Carla Saleh’s Viruses and RNA Interference Unit
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Fulbright Fellow, 2021 – 2022
Dr. George Dimopoulos’ Vector Biology group
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
PhD, 2018 – 2023
Dr. Kostas Mathiopoulos’ Molecular Biology & Genomics lab
University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
Research Assistant, 2017-2018
Dr. Xavier Fernàndez-Busquets’ Nanomalaria joint unit
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia & Barcelona Institute for Global Health,
Barcelona, Spain
MSc, 2016
Applications of Molecular Biology – Genetics – Diagnostic Biomarkers
University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
PostDoctoral Fellow
“What if we could decipher the mechanism by which insects internalize dsRNA from the environment? What if this mechanism is conserved among kingdoms and could be leveraged for insect pest control?”
Postdoctoral fellow, 2023-present
Dr. Carla Saleh’s Viruses and RNA Interference Unit
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Ph.D., 2022
Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
School of Bio and Nanotechnology, National University of San Martín
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Microbiology Fellowship, 2010-2013
National Institute of Infectious Diseases
Buenos Aires, Argentina
B.Sc., 2009
Biochemistry
Catholic University of Córdoba, Argentina
PhD Student
“What if the presence of Wolbachia altered the viral composition of the Ae.aegypti microbiota, could it influence the efficacy of the Wolbachia-based biocontrol strategy? What if the viral communities of Ae.aegypti played a role in the interaction between Wolbachia and the vector’s ability to block DENV?”
Ph. D 2025 – present
Dr. Myrielle DUPONT-ROUZEYROL Dengue and Arbovirus Unit / Pr. Carla Saleh’s Viruses and RNA Interference Unit
Institut Pasteur (Nouvelle-Calédonie and Paris, France)
Masters, 2022-2024
Ecology-Epidemiology
University Of Sciences of Montpellier (Montpellier,France)
Bachelor 2019-2021
Microbiology
University Of Sciences of Montpellier (Montpellier,France)
Baccalaureate 2015-2018
Scientific path
Nevers High School (Montpellier,France)
Engineer and Lab Manager
“What if science could advance faster because the lab was operating at maximum capacity? What if each lab member could do more with their individual research because I was able to provide additional experimental support?”
Diplôme d’études supérieurs techniques (DEST), 2006
Genetic Engineering
Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France
Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (BTS), 1998
Biochemistry
Ecole National de Physique, Chimie et Biologie, Paris, France
Engineer
“What if I could help the team to manipulate the world’s number one serial killer, a.k.a. mosquitoes? What if I could help the team to manipulate arboviruses that are dangerous to humans?”
Master 2, Biologie Cellulaire, Physiologie et Pathologie, spécialité Neurobiologie
2010
Université de Paris Descartes , Paris, France.
Master 1, Biologie Cellulaire, Physiologie et Pathologie.
2009
Université de Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
Licence S.V.T., spécialité Biologie Cellulaire et Physiologie,
2008
Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France.
Technician
“What if my deep sequencing libraries could be created faster, better and more efficiently in order to give the scientists the data they need to have even more discoveries, conclusions and Aha! moments?”
Industrial microbiology and molecular biology Specialization, 1993
Ecole Supérieure des Techniques de Biologie Appliquée, Paris, France
Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (BTS), 1991
Biology Analysis
Ecole Supérieure des Techniques de Biologie Appliquée, Paris, France
Bioinformatician
“What if the informatics structure was so strong that our deep sequencing analysis could provide each scientist with solid biological and mathematical data to clarify results and propose new biological models?
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2001
Institut Pasteur Genopole, Paris, France
Ph.D., 1998
Microbiology (Virology)
University of Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital
Masters, 1994
Medical Virology
University of Paris, Pierre et Marie Curie, France
Masters, 1991-92
Life Science
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne University, Paris, France
Administrative Assistant
“What if all administrative distractions like equipment needs, travel arrangements, welcoming of PhD Students and Post-docs, scheduling, planning and budgeting, were eliminated so that the lab members could focus all their energy just on the research and their experiments?”
BTS Assistante de Direction
Lycée Robert Doisneau, Corbeil-Essonnes, France
Honorary Member
Visiting Sabbaticals
Susan Carpenter (USA), Iowa State University
Benjamin Kopek (USA), Hope College
Shaeri Mukherjee (USA), University of California San Francisco
Post-docs
Jared Nigg (USA), after Scientist, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California, USA
Alessandro Torri (Italy), after Project Manager, institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Vanesa Mongelli (Argentina)
Sabrina Johanna Fletcher (Argentina), after Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy
Bryan Arias (USA), after Codex DNA, San Diego, California, USA
Bertsy Goic (Chili), after Scientific Illustrator and Founder of “DrawInScience”
Fernando Merwais (Argentina), after Postdoc Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Valencia, Spain
Virginia de Oliveira (Brazil), afte rAssistant Professor, Universidad Federal do Tocantins, Brazil
Juan Mondotte (Argentina), after Managing Editor Springer Nature Group and Partner and Chief image analysis scientist
Yasutsugu Suzuki (Japan), after Assistant Professor, Ehime University, Japan
Lorena Tomé-Poderti (Uruguay), after Assistant Professor, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Nicolas Vodovar (France), after Research Associate, Lariboisière Hospital – INSERM UMR-S 942, Paris, France
Technician
Aurélien Gibaud (France), now Technician, Institut Pasteur, CNR Rage, Paris, France
Ariana Ghez Farrell (USA), now Ph D, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Retired
Brigitte Bidault (France)
Ph.D Students
Margot Karlikow (France), after PostDoc at University of Toronto
Pascal Miesen (Germany), after PostDoc at Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Benjamin Obadia (France), after PostDoc, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Marine Petit (France), after PostDoc at University of California, Davis, USA
Enzo Poirier (France), after PostDoc at Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
M.Sc and Summer Students
Chloé Baron (France)
Christian Bolton (USA)
Irene Chacon (Uruguay)
Sarah Leach (USA)
Petro Leka (Albania)
Tiago Martins (Portugal)
Gaspard Mouton (France)
Adrien Paul-Dubois-Taine (France)
Inès Partouche (France)
Charlotte Romanet (France)
Nidia Schemmel Jofre (Chili)
Estelle Soueidi (France)
Remi Woussen (France)
Yasmine Socratoff (France)
Madeleine Lausted (USA)
Mélanie Julia (USA)