Biography: I obtained my master's degree in genetics and biochemistry from Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III in France in 2008. I then joined the Research Unit CNRS UMR 5235 LPHI ex DIMNP in Montpellier, France with Dr. Henri Vial, as a research assistant. In five-and-a-half years there, my work contributed to the characterization of enzymes involved in phospholipid biosynthesis in Plasmodium falciparum. In 2016, I obtained my PhD in Parasitology from the University of Montpellier, France, funded by the Labex ParaFrap an international PhD program. I worked under the co-supervision of Dr. Yvon Sterkers (CHRU -UMR MIVEGEC) and Prof Artur Scherf (BIHP - Pasteur Institute, Paris) and studied DNA replication in Leishmania parasites and for the first time implemented the genetic tool CRISPR-Cas9 to study this parasite. It was in 2017 that I joined the team of Prof. Mattias Marti for my postdoc. 

Research Interests: Currently, I  am interested in understanding how the deprivation of a lipid host factor, lyso-phosphatidylcholine, triggers sexual commitment in Plasmodium falciparum. I am investigating parasite metabolism and gene activation to find a link between metabolites and gametocytes formation as well as looking at how parasite genotypes can play a role in transmission. In the battle against malaria, it is important to target gametocyte formation to block parasite transmission.