Scientific topics
Keywords
ITMO
Stéphane GERMAIN Role of Matrix Proteins in Hypoxia and Angiogenesis
Course and current status
Name and Presentation : Stéphane GERMAIN, Ph.D. (stephane.germain@college-de-france.fr)
Permanent position as DR2 INSERM
Date of birth: March, 1970, 23rd
Head of the team #3 "Role of Matrix Proteins in Hypoxia and Angiogenesis"
Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology - College de France, Paris, France
Scholar :
- Habilitation à diriger les recherches, University Paris VI, 2006
- Ph.D., University Paris VI, 1998 Graduated with highest honours.
Professional Experience and Positions held :
Since 2007: I am currently head of the laboratory "Role of Matrix Proteins in Hypoxia and Angiogenesis", founded in 2007 (INSERM U833 then Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology - College de France). Currently, 10 to 12 people work in my laboratory (including 3 full-time researchers, 2 medical doctors, 2 post-doctoral researchers, 3 Ph.D. students, 1 engineer, 1 engineer-assistant, 2 technicians).
2000 - 2007 : Permanent position as Junior Researcher (CR1) in the laboratory of Pr.Pierre Corvol (INSERM Unit 36, Paris). I started to supervise a small team within this laboratory (1 M2 student, 1 PhD student, 1 technician). The discovery and charaterization of new genes involved in the regulation of hypoxia-induced angiogenesis as a means to develop therapeutics.
1998 - 2000 : Post-doctoral fellow ; Developmental Signalling laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, UK. Transcriptional signaling in response to TGF-b during development. The discovery that different families of transcripion factors (paired-like homeodomain and forkhead/winged helix) recruit active Smads through a common short Smad interaction motif (SIM).
Teaching and Training Experience :
Since 2003: I have supervised 6 PhD students and post-doctoral fellows to completion. As first authors, they published their work in Circulation, Blood, Circulation Research, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, FASEB J, J Biol Chem, Am J Pathol, PLoS ONE.
Boards and Committees:
Since 2015: Vice-President of the Groupe de Réflexion sur la Recherche Cardiovasculaire (GRRC)
Since 2012: Member of the Editorial Board of Vascular Cell
Since 2011: Member of the Editorial Board of PLoS ONE
Member of the Steering Committe of the LABEX MemoLife
Since 2010: Member of the Review Editorial Board of Frontiers in Pharmacotherapy of Neoplastic Diseases.
Member of the Editorial Board of Vascular Cell
2008-2011: Member and President (2010-2011) of the National Scientific Committee n°3 of the LNCC (French National Association against Cancer).
Since 2009: Council Member of the Groupe de Réflexion sur la Recherche Cardiovasculaire (GRRC)
Since 2008: Council Member of French Society of Angiogenesis
Scientific Evaluation:
- Expert to evaluate National or European research programs (INSERM, ANR, INCa, AERES, FRM, Technology Foundation STW (Dutch funding agency for academic research), Netherlands; National Medical Research Council , Singapour; Fondazione CARIPLO, Italy; Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer; Région Pays de Loire; Région Aquitaine, France).
- Sollicited reviews for international journals (Circulation, Blood, JCI, Oncogene, ATVB, Development, Carcinogenesis, British Journal of Cancer, Journal of Cell Science, FEBS Letters, PLoS ONE, FASEB J, Acta Biomaterialia, Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, J. Vasc. Res....).
Prizes and Awards:
Since 2012: Incentive bonus (Prime d'excellence) INSERM
- 2012 Award for Cancer Research (Prix du Conseil Général des Yvelines).
Since 2011: Incentive bonus (Contrat de Recherche Translationnelle) given by the INSERM institute and the “Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris” (APHP) to reward translational research on the following personal program (ANGPTL4, a biomarker of clear cell renal carcinoma : transfer to the clinic)
2003-2008: Incentive bonus (Contrat d'interface) given by the INSERM institute and the “Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris” (APHP) to reward translational research on the following personal program (Hypoxia-induced gene expression in human endothelial and tumor cells: Identification of new angiogenic factors)
Honors:
- Directeur de recherche INSERM : January 2011-Present
- Chargé de recherche INSERM : January 2001-2010
- Post-doctoral fellowship Imperial Cancer Research Fund, UK : October 1999-January 2001
- Société Française d’Hypertension Artérielle Fellowship : October 1998-September 1999.
- G.R.R.C. (Groupe de Réflexion sur la Recherche Cardiovasculaire) Fellowship : October 1997-September 1998.
- Ministère de la Recherche Fellowship : October 1994 - September 1997.
Patent:
1- Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (angptl4) polypeptides for use in the preservation of vascular endothelial cell barrier integrity. INSERM Transfert.
European priority application was filed: Filing number: PCT/EP2011/050682; Filing date: 19 Jan 2011
Scientific summary
The sequence of biological events that permits an organism to maintain tissue viability in hypoxia remains poorly understood. Variations in oxygen concentration lead to respiratory, metabolic and vascular adaptations in tissues. How hypoxic endothelial cells (EC) integrate chemical signals with mechanical cues from their local tissue microenvironment in order to produce functional capillary networks that exhibit specialized form remains an open question. A key role of hypoxia in the regulation of many endothelial functions is nevertheless well established and growing evidence show that angiogenesis, defined as the events leading to blood vessels formation by sprouting or growth of preexisting vessels, can be triggered by hypoxia, both during development and in pathological conditions, such as cardiovascular ischemia and tumors. Our team is interested in understanding how angiogenesis and vascular integrity are regulated in hypoxic conditions.
