CV Science

Lubka Roumenina PhD in biochemistry

Course and current status

• CURRENT POSITION(S)

2019  – now          Deputy Director of the InC2 Inflammation, Complement and Cancer team, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers CRC)

2021 – now           Senior researcher (DR2) of Inserm, group leader, group leader: Complement in physiology and pathology at InC2 team

• PREVIOUS POSITIONS

2011 – 2021         Researcher (staff, INSERM CR), group leader at Cordeliers Research Center, Paris, France.

2008 – 2011         Postdoctoral research, Cordeliers Research Center, INSERM UMRS 872, Complement and diseases group, EMBO Long Term Fellowship 

2004 – 2007         Assistant professor in Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Sofia, Bulgria, responsible for seminars and laboratory practicals in Immunology for bachelor students (parallel to my PhD)

 

• EDUCATION 

2014                      Habilitation to supervise scientific research (HDR), University Paris 5, Paris, France

2004 – 2007           PhD from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria.

2003                      Summer internship, University of Helsinki, Finland, FEBS fellowship

2003                      Master of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Sofia, Bulgaria

 

• ADDITIONAL TRAINING

2018, 2012           Training for mentoring PhD students, INSERM and Sorbonne University, Paris

2017                      Training for members of ethical committees, Veterinary school Maison Alfort

2014                      Training for animal experimentation, supervisor of animal experimentation, INSERM, Paris

2013                      Training course for Lab management for group leaders, EMBO, Germany.

Scientific summary

• Main area of research: Complement system                                                                                      

Complement and diseases: complement in cancer, in kidney diseases, and in sickle cell disease

Intracellular complement proteins: mechanism of action, physiological and pathological relevance 

 

• PUBLICATIONS AND INVITED PRESENTATIONS 
  • H-factor=50. 142 scientific publications, 4 patents, 36 invitations for conferences and 26 seminars.
  • 84 original research articles (15 first/co-first author and 23 as last/co-last author); 34 review articles; 8 editorials, 8 chapters. Book Editor: The complement system- innovative diagnostic and research protocols, Springer
  • Total citations over 10 000

 

AWARDS

2023, 2026            RIPEC3 Excellence award by INSERM

2023                      Association Robert Debré for medical research (ARDRM) award for basic research

2022                      SVAR Complement Excellence Award by European Complement society

2021                      Reviewer of the Year award from Kidney International, 2021

2021                      Innovation in cancer award, Les Entreprises contre le Cancer, 2021

2018                      Young Investigator Award by the International Complement Society

2018                      Award for PhD students’ supervision and research (PEDR), by INSERM    

 

•      ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

2026                      INFIBREX day From cellular interactions to inter-organ communication, Paris, co-organizer

2025                       Workshop Antibodies and Complement, Catania, Italy, co-organizer

2024                      Cancer research symposium CRC/ Zhejiang University, Paris, France, co-organizer

2023 - 2025          CRC day – scientific conference of the Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, co-organizer

2021 - 2025          International Conference on Complement Therapeutics, Greece, co-organizer

2016, 2025           Meeting of the French Kidney and Endothelium club, Paris, France, co-organizer

 

• SELECTED FUNDING OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS

2020 – 2023         Roche (industrial grant), PI

2015 – 2024         CSL Behring (3 industrial grants), PI

2022 – 2024         National research agency (ANR) collaborative grant PRC, partner 

2022 – 2024         National Cancer Institute (INCA) collaborative grant PLBio, PI

2023 – 2027         CAPES/COFECUB collaboration grant France-Brazil, PI, (5 years PhD and post doc fellowships)

2023 – 2028         International research projects, Inserm, France-Bulgaria collaboration, PI

2023 – 2024         CommitBio, industrial grant, PI

2023 – 2026         EJPRD European grant for rare diseases research, partner

2024 – 2025         Campus France RILA collaboration grant France-Bulgaria, PI

2024 – 2025         ARC contre le cancer, PI

2024 – 2026         Emergence UPCite, PI 

2024 – 2027         National research agency (ANR) collaborative grant PRC, PI 

2025 – 2027         National Cancer Institute (INCA) collaborative grant PLBio, PI

2025 – 2027         European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed), PI

 

2026 – 2028         Medical Research Foundation FRM Team excellence label, PI 

 

• LEADERSHIP

I am the deputy director of the Inflammation, Complement and Cancer team (45 members), and a leader of the Complement in heath and disease group (25 members: 8 researchers, 4 post docs, 7 PhD students, 4 engineers and 2 master students).  Over the years I supervise(d) or co-supervised 5 post docs, 11 PhD students, 9 foreign PhD student internships; 17 Master M2 students, 14 Master M1 students, 9 bachelor students and 4 visiting scientists. My PhD student Dr. N. Merle obtained the prestigious award Prix de la Chancellerie des Universités de Paris for a remarkable thesis in 2018.

 

• TEACHING ACTIVITIES over the last 5 years

2019 - now           Teaching days for the European and International Complement conferences

2017 – 2019         Innate Immunity and Infectious Disease summer school, Institute Pasteur, Paris

2019 – now           Complement and transfusion, lecture, University Paris East, France

2011 - now           many Complement lectures in Sorbonne University and University Paris Cite, France

2013 - now           Hosting of primary school and high school students visits (from 1 to 8 days) to discover the work of researchers.

 

• LEADERSHIP/MEMBERSHIPS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES

President elect (2026 - 2027) and Councillor (2021-2025) of the International Complement society

Board member of Complement UK, 2021-2024;

Member of the Research Commission of the SFNDT (Société Francophone de Néphrologie Dialyse et Transplantation) since 2023 and member 2015.

Member of European Complement Network (2009-present)

Member of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

WP leader of Hospital University Federation COMET and InIdex Infibrex.

 

 

10   Major publications from the last 5 years

 

1.    Boudhabhay I, Rezola Artero M, Vasilev V, Redissi A, Peliconi J, Majdi A, Fleury E, Petkova M, Ananiev J, Merle NS, Mayinga C, Bodard S, Hummel A, Leon J, Calas L, Buob D, El Karoui K, Mesnard L, Rafat C, El Sissy C, Hamidi H, Meuleman M-S, Chauvet S, Dragon-Durey M-A, Duong Van Huyen JP, ROUMENINA LT. In situ Complementomics enables spatial complement activation profiling and identification of therapeutic targets across human tissues. preprint, ResearchSquare, under revision. 2025. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7784747/v1
2.    Minery A, Radanova M, Segarra L, Peliconi J, Redissi A, Fleury E, Boudhabhay I, and ROUMENINA LT., (2026) Tumour cell-intrinsic complement C1r and C1s regulate cancer cell fitness and shape the immune microenvironment in triple-negative breast cancer, Cellular and Molecular Life Science, in press
3.    Rezola Artero M, Minery A, Revel M, Armento A, Jarboui M-A, Boudhabhay I, de Castro Deus M, Zarantonello A, Fleury E, Segarra L, Redissi A, Merle NS, Dragon-Durey MA, Monnot C, Sautes-Fridman C, Dimitrov JD, Fridman WH, Ueffing M, and ROUMENINA LT., (2026) Intracellular complement Factor H promotes tumor progression through modulation of cell cycle and actin cytoskeleton. Communications Biology, 9(1):524.
4.     Grunenwald A, Peliconi J, Lavergne J, Revel M, Voilin E, Robe-Rybkine T, Crambert G, Dimitrov JD, Blanc-Brude O, and ROUMENINA LT. (2025) Transcriptomic atlas reveals organ-specific disease tolerance in sickle cell mice., Blood Adv. 25;9(6):1405-1419. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2024013435.
5.    Grunenwald A, Boudhabhay I, Revel M, Poillerat V, Voilin E, Majdi A, Chaibi K, Gaudry S, Woodruff TM, Crambert G, Guihaire J, Zaidan M, Oniszczuk J, Frimat M, Gnemmi V, Aletti M, Nielly H, Gilardin L, and ROUMENINA LT (2025), The temporal gene expression landscape of rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury reveals the timing of complement activation, Communications Biology, 9(1):171. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-09449-y.
6.    Rezola Artero M, Minery A, Nedelcev L, Radanova M, and ROUMENINA LT. (2025) Complement and the hallmarks of cancer., Semin Immunol. 2;78:101950.
7.    Revel M, Rezola Artero M, Hamidi H, Grunenwald A, Blasco L, Vano YA, Marie Oudard S, Sanchez-Salas R, Macek P, Rodriguez Sanchez L, Cathelineau X, Vedié B, Sautes-Fridman C, Herman Fridman W, ROUMENINA LT.* and Dragon-Durey MA*. (2024) Humoral complementomics - exploration of noninvasive complement biomarkers as predictors of renal cancer progression., Oncoimmunology. 13(1):2328433., * equal contribution
8.     Boudhabhay I, Poillerat V, Grunenwald A, Torset C, Leon J, Daugan MV, Lucibello F, El Karoui K, Ydee A, Chauvet S, Girardie P, Sacks S, Farrar CA, Garred P, Berthaud R, Le Quintrec M, Rabant M, de Lonlay P, Rambaud C, Gnemmi V, Fremeaux-Bacchi V, Frimat M, and Roumenina LT., (2021) Complement activation is a crucial driver of acute kidney injury in rhabdomyolysis, Kidney Int, 99(3):581-597, with editorial comment and Inserm press release, best Kidney Int basic research paper presented by a young nephrologist for 2021 award to I. Boudhabhay
9.     Daugan MV, Revel M, Russick J, Dragon-Durey MA, Gaboriaud C, Robe-Rybkine T, Poillerat V, Grunenwald A, Lacroix G, Bougouin A, Meylan M, Verkarre V, Oudard SM, Mejean A, Vano YA, Perkins G, Validire P, Cathelineau X, Sanchez-Salas R, Damotte D, Fremeaux-Bacchi V, Cremer I, Sautès-Fridman C, Fridman WH, and Roumenina LT., (2021) Complement C1s and C4d as Prognostic Biomarkers in Renal Cancer: Emergence of Noncanonical Functions of C1s, Cancer Immunol Res, 9(8):891-908., with editorial comment, webinar, and feature in Focus of Complement
10.  Daugan MV, Revel M, Thouenon R, Dragon-Durey MA, Robe-Rybkine T, Torset C, Merle NS, Noé R, Verkarre V, Oudard SM, Mejean A, Validire P, Cathelineau X, Sanchez-Salas R, Pickering MC, Cremer I, Mansuet-Lupo A, Alifano M, Sautès-Fridman C, Damotte D, Fridman WH, and Roumenina LT., (2021) Intracellular Factor H drives tumor progression independently of the complement cascade, Cancer Immunol Res., 9(8):909-925, with Inserm press release