Frédéric PENDINO Senior Research Scientist (PhD, HDR, CRCN) - Improving (CAR-)T cell therapies
Course and current status
Frédéric Pendino (PhD, HDR) is a Senior Research Scientist (Group Leader, CRCN, Inserm) and Principal Investigator at Institut Cochin (Inserm U1016, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France) in the team entitled "Cancer Immunotherapy & Cell Reprogramming". He leads a research program at the interface of cancer biology, hematology, and immuno-oncology, with a strong focus on cancer epigenetics and therapeutic responses.
After obtaining a Master of Science in Biochemistry (1997) and a predoctoral degree (D.E.A.) in Endocrinology (1998), he pursued a PhD at Institut Universitaire d'Hématologie, Saint-Louis Hospital (Paris), where he studied how retinoids regulate telomerase; he defended his thesis in 2004. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training through a prestigious Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship at the University of Bergen (Norway), where he identified genes involved in cancer progression, particularly leukemia and breast cancer. He was later awarded a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant to establish his independent research program in France. He obtained a permanent Inserm position in 2009, his accreditation to supervise research (HDR) in 2012 and was promoted to senior rank (CR1) in 2013.
Over the past twenty years, Dr. Pendino’s research has focused on improving the understanding of molecular and epigenetic mechanisms underlying cancer development. He is the author of 26 peer-reviewed international publications in the field of cancer research and leukemia and a co-inventor of five patents. He has received two scientific Prizes (Valérie Meillet Prize in 2009 and the Elsevier/Cochin Innovation Prize in 2025).
Scientific summary
Over the past two decades, the team has made significant contributions to the understanding of molecular and epigenetic mechanisms underlying cancer development. Of note, its work led to the identification and functional characterization of the CXXC5 gene (also known as RINF, Retinoid-Inducible Nuclear Factor), a key epigenetic regulator involved in hematopoietic differentiation, leukemic progression, and therapeutic resistance, establishing this gene as both a prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target.
More recently, the research program of Pendino's group has expanded to investigate the role of several epigenetic factors and cytokines in the tumor microenvironment and immune regulation. The group studies how their modulation influences hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell function, immune cell dynamics, and anti-tumor responses. This work has opened new avenues in immunotherapy, notably by demonstrating how targeting specific gene targets or factors can enhance CAR-T cell efficacy in solid tumor models.
The team has authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals (including Blood, Leukemia, PNAS, and Molecular Therapy) and is co-inventor of five patents, notably in the fields of Cancer or Immuno-Oncology.
