Team members
Hélène Dutartre
Team co-leader helene.dutartre[at]ens-lyon.fr
I am an INSERM researcher since 2005 and working at the CIRI since 2012. I am co-leading the team with Chloé since 2021. Having a formation in immunology and a multidisciplinary experience (in molecular virology, crystallography, drug design and vaccinology), I am interested in all the aspects of the interaction between viruses and their host: the infection of innate immune cells, viral mechanisms inducing the alteration of their functions, and how viral infections can be blocked. In the projects I am supervising, we use primary human cells, and we perform a multidisciplinary approach combining virology, immunology and screening of chemical compounds library to identify antiviral drugs.
Chloé Journo
Team co-leader chloe.journo[at]ens-lyon.fr
I have been an Associate Professor at ENS de Lyon since 2012, and I am co-leading the team with Hélène since 2021. I am fascinated by the molecular mechanisms with which viruses reprogram the host cells' functions. The projects that I lead in the team are at the interface between the fields of virology and of cancer cell biology. Teaching is a passion, and I love to pass on the taste for virology and immunology to students and younger colleagues.
Sandrine Alais
Research engineer sandrine.alais[at]ens-lyon.fr
Florence Lormières
Technical staff florence.lormieres[at]ens-lyon.fr
Samuel Martial
Engineer (AI) samuel.martial[at]ens-lyon.fr
In the team for more than three years now, I started as a Master's trainee (Integrative Physiopathology, Virology & Cancer axis), whose subject concerned the screening of a chemical library in order to find inhibitors of viral transmission of HTLV-1. I then joined the team as an Assistant Engineer (AI) for a period of 2 years, in order to work on the “Biofilm Project”. This project consists in characterizing the biofilm present on the surface of cells infected by HTLV-1, understanding its role in viral transmission, and identifying the main role of the proteins that constitute it. A very large part of my work is done with Lucas Sareoua, for whom I prepare the tools that are necessary for him to carry out the experiments.
Auriane Carcone
PhD student auriane.carcone[at]ens-lyon.fr
I am a PhD student in the Retroviral Oncogenesis Team since September 2019, after graduating from a M.Sc. in Biosciences from the ENS de Lyon and M.Sc. in Bioengineering from EPFL. Under the supervision of Dr. Hélène Dutartre, I am working on the phenotypical alterations in dendritic cells after exposure to HTLV-1 virus. I developed this strong interest for the study of host-pathogen interactions during my education and previous internships, and my PhD thesis allows me today to concretize it.
Beside my research activities, I am also teaching in the biology school in ENS de Lyon, mostly in virology and immunology classes in 1st year Master and 3rd year Bachelor. My teaching and tutoring activities are for me an important component of my PhD and allow me to share my passion for infectiology with my students.
Thomas Duchateau
Ph.D. student thomas.duchateau[at]ens-lyon.fr
After a master at the ENS Lyon, I do my Ph.D. in the team following my internship. My current project is about a shared protein between all subtypes of HTLV-1 that is slightly different between variants and those modifications could have important impact on health and immunity. My passion is a mix between research (in virology/microbiology) and education and I aim to be an associated professor.
LUCAS SAREOUA
Ph.D. Student lucas.sareoua[at]ens-lyon.fr
Having a strong interest in virology and host-pathogen interactions, I first completed a master's degree in virology in Paris before being recruited as a PhD student in this team in June 2022. I am working under the supervision of Hélène Dutartre and, with the help of Samuel Martial, we are seeking to better characterise the viral biofilms induced by HTLV-1 and their impact on viral transmission.
Hanane El manssouri
Research Engineer hanane.el_manssouri[at]ens-lyon.fr
Graduated with a master’s degree in Oncology, I’m a research engineer in the team. I am particularly interested in oncology and cancer cell biology. In this sense, I lead a research project in retroviral oncology. More precisely, my work focuses on the study of the interaction between the regulatory oncoprotein Tax of the retrovirus HTLV-1 and a family of cell receptors called selective autophagy receptors (SARs). I also study their effect on innate signaling during chronic infection and oncogenesis.
MarCH 2021: