Team

She studied Biology at the University in Bonn and Frankfurt, Germany, and obtained her PhD from Paris University, France in the Barré-Sinoussi lab. She worked at Research Institutes in West and Central Africa, in particular with Institut Pasteur in Senegal and in Central African Republic and the CIRMF in Gabon. In 2009, she obtained the position of Associate Professor at Institut Pasteur.
In 2014 she was appointed head of the Unit “HIV, inflammation and persistence” at Institut Pasteur. As Dean, she build up and directed the Pasteur-Paris University International PhD Program from 2008 to 2013. Among other duties, she serves in the Steering Committee of the Center for Innovative Therapies for infectious Disease models (IDMIT).
Her research contributed to the discovery and genetic characterization of several HIV and SIV viruses in Africa and South-East Asia. These studies were essential in the early times to better understand the epidemic of HIV-1, to improve clinical monitoring and for vaccine candidate development.
Today, her work is focused on deciphering the early host innate immune responses which are involved in the control of viral reservoirs in tissues, in particular those playing a major role in the induction and education of adaptive immune responses, i.e. secondary lymphoid organs.
These studies are performed with the ultimate aim to provide crucial novel insights for research on therapeutic and preventive approaches in humans..