Françoise LENFANT / CORALIE FONTAINE

Françoise LENFANT

PhD, Director of research, Group leader

Career path

Françoise LENFANT received her PhD in Microbiology from the Institut National des Sciences Appliqués à Toulouse, in 1991. From 1991 to 1994, she worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the field of Molecular Biology at the University of California, USA, then in Toulouse in the field of reproduction and was recruited as a principal investigator at INSERM, Toulouse, in 1997. Since 2005, Francoise LENFANT is a Director of research at the INSERM U1297, working on modulation of Estrogen Receptor in medicine.

Main domains of expertise

Sexual steroids, Estrogen Receptor, reproduction, endothelium, breast cancer, in vivo models.

Coralie FONTAINE

CRCN (research fellow, normal class) at INSERM

Develops research on the impact of estrogen receptor (ER)a modulation on the arterial wall with implications for vascular pathologies such as atherosclerosis.

Career path
D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Lille (2002-2006), Postdoc at the University of Nice (2007-2008), joined the I2MC in Toulouse in 2008 and was recruited as a research fellow at Inserm in 2010.

Field of expertise 
Nuclear receptor, estrogen, endothelium, in vivo approaches.

Jean-François ARNAL

Jean-Francois ARNAL, Professor of Physiology

Jean-François ARNAL is professor in Physiology at Toulouse 3 University of Medicine and at Toulouse University Hospital since 1997, after a doctorate in medicine (1990), and a doctorate in physiopathology (1993) followed with a post-doctoral internship at the ‘Emory University at Atlanta (1994). He led the team until 2019 studying the structure-function relationships for optimization of Estrogen Receptor Alpha (ERα) modulation in medicine, summarized in the review: Membrane and Nuclear ERα Actions: From Tissue Specificity to Medical Implications. Arnal JF, Lenfant F, Metivier R, Flouriot G, Henrion D, Adlanmerini M, Fontaine C, Gourdy P, Chambon P, Katzenellenbogen B, Katzenellenbogen J. Physiol Rev . 2017 Jul 1; 97 (3): 1045-1087. PMID: 28539435. He is a foreign member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium (2020). He collaborates with Mithra Pharmaceuticals on Estetrol (E4) in oral contraception He obtained the Lamonica Prize for Cardiology of the Academy of Sciences in 2019. He is also a professor in physiology in PACES / PASS and in the 2nd year of medicine and is co-responsible for the Master resaerch  in physiopathology: from molecular to medical, and prepare future M.D. students in 2nd year of medicine at the INSERM School and at the ” MD-PhD training program ”. Videos M2 level: Role of estrogens in cardiovascular diseases – Jean-François ARNAL – Dec 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Gq8xIWubM

Marine ADLANMERINI

CRCN,  INSERM researcher 

Career path
Marine ADLANMERINI received her PhD in Physiology at the university of Toulouse (FR) in 2015. From 2016 to 2020, she worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Mitch Lazar in Philadelphie (USA) and then joined I2MC at Toulouse in 2021. She was recruited at the position of CRCN (tenured researcher) at the Inserm in Decembre 2021.

Main domains of expertise
Nuclear receptor (ER and REV-ERB), estrogen, circadian rhythms, metabolism, in vivo approaches.

Elodie CHANTALAT

PU-PH en Anatomie et en Gynécologie Obstétrique

Chirurgie de l’endométriose et des cancers gynécologiques; cheffe de service de gynécologie au CHU de Toulouse.
Affiliée à l’équipe INSERM depuis 2012, développement de projets transversaux de recherche fondamentale sur l’endométriose avec le Dr Françoise Lenfant grâce à une étroite collaboration ayant permis de mettre en place un parcours de soin pour l’endométriose au CHU permettant aux patientes de participer aux différents projets de recherche fondamentaux sur l’endométriose.

Xavier GAME

Florence TREMOLIERES

Endocrinologist, MD.PHD, PU-PH in Medical Gynecology

Career path

Doctorate in Medicine in 1989, speciality Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases. Post-doctoral training (1989-1991) in the Department of Bone Mineral Metabolism (Pr. D.J. Baylink), University of Loma Linda (California – USA). University thesis in Developmental Biology at the University Paul Sabatier (Toulouse III) in 1995. Habilitation to direct research (HDR) in 2002. She joined Team 9 (Dr. Françoise Lenfant, Pr. Pierre Gourdy) of the I2MC in 2006 as a clinician. Head of department since 2011 of the Menopause Centre, the only university centre in France dedicated to menopausal women. Founding member (2009) and President of the Study Group on Menopause and Hormonal Aging (GEMVi) (2019). Member of the boards of the European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) (2009-2015) and of the International Menopause Society (IMS) (2014-2018). Officer of the Palmes Académiques (2017).

Area of expertise 

Study of the tissue consequences of estrogen deficiency states, particularly in terms of bone, cardiovascular and oncology in the post-menopause. Specialist in post-menopausal osteoporosis and metabolic bone pathologies.

She is a regular speaker at national and international congresses on the subjects of menopause and osteoporosis and is the author of more than 170 articles published in international or national referenced journals and of more than 15 book chapters.

Marie VALERA

Lecturer – Hospital practitioner

Career path

2005 : PhD in Dental Surgery. Paul Sabatier University (UPS) Toulouse III. 2005-2006: Master 2 Research. Mention Cellular and Integrated Physiology-Physiopathology.UPS Toulouse III. 2006-2009: University Doctorate in Cellular, Molecular and Integrated Physiopathology. INSERM U1048, I2MC. 2016 : Recruitment as Senior Lecturer/Hospital Practitioner. Her habilitation to direct research was obtained in 2020.

Her current research interests include maternal health during and after pregnancy, and child health in the first 1,000 days. She has also developed a number of studies on hospital-based clinical teaching, in particular through qualitative analysis.

Area of expertise 
Haematology, animal experimentation, qualitative study, dental prevention

Mélissa BUSCATO

Engineer

Career path

Holder of a BTS BioAnalyses and Controls at the Saliège high school in Balma and an engineering degree in Sciences and Life of the Earth at the EPHE. She joined I2MC on a fixed-term contract in 2011.

She works as an engineer in the team on the study of vascular and metabolic effects of estrogens and SERMs.

Field of expertise 
Animal experimentation, cellular and molecular biology, histology.

Adrien GARGAROS

PhD Student at INSERM

Adrien Gargaros’ project focuses on the study of estrogen receptors in endometriosis lesions and the implementation of a new model for studying the pathology.

Career path

Master of Biology and Health specializing in Physiopathology at the University of Toulouse (2020). Study engineer since 2021.

Areas of expertise

Cell and molecular biology, Cell culture, Imaging, Animal experimentation, Estrogen receptor

Khrystyna BORIAK

Post-Doctoral researcher 

Career Path: Holder of a PhD in General Medicine (Poltava, Ukraine) and a PhD in Sciences from the University of Poltava. She joined I2MC in 2022 as part of the PAUSE-Ukraine program by the ANR.

Ariane WEYL

PhD Student / Clinician

Sylvie Nguyen

Engineering Assistant 

Career Path: Holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Burgundy. She joined I2MC on a fixed-term contract in 2023. As part of her preparation for the diploma from EPHE (École Pratique des Hautes Études), she is working on studying the impact of testosterone on endometrial tissue in transgender individuals with endometriosis.

Pauline AURIOL

Assitant Engineer

Perrine SINGLA

PhD Student

Perrine Singla’s doctoral project focuses on the characterization of endometriosis by studying the initiation phase of the pathology in order to identify the factors responsible for the development of lesions.

Career Path: She holds an Engineering degree in Biological Engineering and a Master’s degree in Genomics and Data Analysis. She joined the I2MC in 2023.

Area of Expertise: Cellular and molecular biology, cell culture, bioinformatics.

Faustine Darnaud

PhD Student

Faustine Darnaud’s doctoral project involves studying the co-regulation of estrogenic and circadian signaling pathways.

Career Path : She holds a Master’s degree in Drug and Health Product Sciences with a specialization in Pharmacological Innovations from Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse (2024).

Areas of Expertise: Circadian rhythms, estrogens, nuclear receptors, hepatic metabolism, in vivo approaches.

Juline MARJOLLET

PhD Student  

Le projet de thèse de Juline consiste à étudier les effets des œstrogènes sur les cellules endothéliales du tissus adipeux (thèse en cotutelle avec l’équipe Dinamix).

Cheminement de carrière

Ecole d’ingénieur Polytech Marseille en génie biologique spécialité biotechnologies & Master de recherche spécialité maladies métaboliques et vasculaires.

Domaines d’expertise

Tissu adipeux, aorte, cellules endothéliales, œstrogènes, approches in vivo.

Anna GOSSET

PhD Student / Clinician