CV Science

Amélie Bonnefond PhD Human Genetics

Course and current status

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS

2014     HDR (‘Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches’ that is an accreditation to supervise research) - Lille University (Lille, France)   

2007 - 2010     PhD in Human Genetics with honors; Thesis entitled “Genetics of glucose control” under the guidance of Dr Martine Vaxillaire - Lille University (Lille, France)   

2006 - 2007     MSc in Human Biology and Health; Thesis entitled “MYEOV is a new prognostic factor in multiple myeloma” under the guidance of Dr Jérôme Moreaux - Montpellier II University (Montpellier, France)

2004 - 2007     Diploma of Agronomist – Montpellier SupAgro (Montpellier, France)

2002 - 2004     Post-secondary preparatory school (CPGE) / classes preparing for entrance examinations to the French “Grandes Ecoles” – option “Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science” - Champollion high school (Grenoble, France)

2026 - present     Director of Research (DR1) Inserm / Head of the unit 'METAB-OMICS'  Inserm/CNRS unit #1283/8199 - Lille Pasteur Institute, Lille University, Lille University Hospital, EGID (Lille, France)

2024 - 2025     Director of Research (DR1) Inserm / Team Leader – Inserm/CNRS unit #1283/8199 - Lille Pasteur Institute, Lille University, Lille University Hospital, EGID (Lille, France)

2020 - 2023     Director of Research (DR2) Inserm / Team Leader – Inserm/CNRS unit #1283/8199 - Lille Pasteur Institute, Lille University, Lille University Hospital, EGID (Lille, France)

2015 - present     Honorary Senior Scientist – Section of Genomics of Common Disease -  School of Public Health, Imperial College London (London, UK) 

2012 - present     Scientific director of the next-generation sequencing platform LIGAN  (http://ligan.good.cnrs.fr/en/)

2014 - 2019     Senior Research Associate (CR1) Inserm – CNRS unit #8199 - Lille Pasteur Institute, Lille University, EGID (Lille, France) 

2012 - 2014     Postdoctoral researcher – CNRS unit #8199 - Lille Pasteur Institute, Lille University, EGID (Lille, France)

2012 - 2013     Visiting postdoctoral researcher – Inserm unit #695, headed by Prof Michel Marre - Faculty of Medicine X. Bichat - Paris 7 University (Paris, France)           

2011 - 2012     Postdoctoral researcher – Inserm unit #1122, headed by Dr Sophie Visvikis-Siest -  Lorraine University (Nancy, France)

2022-2027     Consolidator Grant Award from the European Research Council (ERC; 2,000,000€) 

2021     Minkowski award from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)

2018     Auguste Loubatières award from the Société Francophone du Diabète (French-speaking diabetes society) 

2017 - 2022     Starting Grant Award from the European Research Council (ERC; 1,500,000€) 

2015 - 2018     Excellence Award from Inserm

2017     Best poster prize of the Miami 2017 Winter Symposium Diabetes: Today’s Research – Tomorrow’s Therapies [“Expression and functional assessment of candidate type 2 diabetes susceptibility genes identify four new genes contributing to human insulin secretion”] 

2013     Young Investigator Travel Grant Award of the American Diabetes Association's 73rd Scientific Sessions (in the amount of $1,000 USD) 

2012     Rising Star prize of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)

2010     Prize of the Association for the Study of Congenital Abnormalities (AEAC, ‘Association pour l’étude des anomalies congénitales’)

Scientific summary

So far, my scientific career has been focused on the dissection of the genetic etiologies of type 2 diabetes (T2D), obesity and cardiovascular diseases in order to elucidate their physiology towards a better stratification of the patients and a putative identification of new drugs towards more personalized medicine.

My achievements and expertise have been:

I/ Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) or targeted association studies of quantitative traits to identify novel loci associated with risk of T2D/obesity/cardiovascular disease;

II/ Genetic and functional evaluations of the contribution of rare variants in genes of interest (identified via GWAS, animal or familial studies), to either monogenic diabetes/obesity or to common T2D/obesity risk;

III/ Impact of clonal hematopoiesis on risk of T2D and vascular complications;

IV/ Next-generation sequencing and identification of new mutations or genes involved in rare and common forms of diabetes and obesity