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Group Leader
Biosketch
Diana Passaro started her research career as undergraduate student in Naples (Italy) at the University Federico II, where she worked on SELEX-based selection of RNA aptamers against lung cancer cells (PLoS one, 2011). She next did a PhD in hemato-oncology at the Curie Institute in Paris (France), studying the importance of signalling pathways regulating cancer stem cell activity in T-cell leukemia. She explored the intrinsic function of calcineurin/NFAT pathway in T-cell leukemia (Leukemia, 2013), as well as its role in regulating the interaction with the stroma (Cancer Cell, 2015; Oncoscience, 2015; Immunol Rev, 2016). She followed up on investigating the cross-talk between leukemic cells and the surrounding niche at the Francis Crick Institute in London (UK). She identified several abnormalities associated with the vascular microenvironment in acute myeloid leukemia (Cancer Cell, 2017) and studied the molecular adaptation of different niche components to AML in xenograft models. She contributed to develop a novel platform to bioengineer and image subcutaneous 3D bone marrow organoids (JCI, 2017; J Vis Exp. 2017). She started a translation path towards clinics by establishing a project aimed to set up clinical imaging of bone marrow vascular abnormalities in patients, a research line she currently co-leads with D. Bonnet at the Francis Crick Institute and Barts Hospital (UK).
She currently leads her laboratory at the Cochin Institute (France) as an INSERM researcher exploring the bone marrow niche dynamics in acute leukemias.
Lab members
Litchy did a Life sciences license at the university of Paris XII and a 6 months internship in the star-up “Corwave”, working on the development of a cardiac assistant pump. She next did a master degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the PSL University. During this formation she did two internships for six months. The first one was in the “Structure and Genome instability” lab of the National Museum of Natural History, where she had the opportunity to familiarize with the CRISPR-Cas9 system. The second one in “Genome Instability and Oncogenesis” lab at the Gustave Roussy Institute, on a project aiming at understanding the role of AKT1 in genome instability. She joined the team as master student and then she was awarded a PhD fellowship to explore the bone marrow microenvironment in acute leukemia.
Always fascinated by viruses biology, I decided to study fundamental virology at Pasteur Institute (Paris) within Charneau’s Lab (specialized to HIV and lentivirus) supervised by Dr Wei’s (HBV) and aiming at expand our understanding of virus biology in order to create a new therapeutic options. I have thus explored different human pathologies such as hemophilia (Kremlin Bicêtre) and cancer (Curie Institute). With Dr Chavrier, I had the opportunity to develop a passion and expertise in microscopy applied to breast cancer. Then I started an interdisciplinary project with Dr Coppey (Biophysics) and Dr Castellana (Physics) on uveal melanoma. I learned to use optogenetics to modify and follow in time and space different intracellular signalings. This rich experience motivated me to join the team and pursue my work onto miscoscopy and multidisciplinary projects.
Jorgina is biomedical bioenginner who joined the laboratory as Inserm research assistant. As undergraduate student, she worked on challenging tissue biomechanics properties under the supervision of Pr. ZIDI at the University of Creteil in France. She next studied the antiobiotic effect of CO realeasing molecules during an intership at the institute of Chemical and Biological Technology in Portugal, in Pr. ROMAO and SARAIVA teams. Before integrating the team at Cochin Institute, she also worked on the in vitro efficiency of iron nanoparticules combinated with cryotherapy on cancer cells with Dr. LI in the start-up "Nanobacterie".
Loïc Le Guennec earned a M.D. degree in neurology with a qualification in intensive care medicine, and a Ph.D degree in Cell microbiology in Bourdoulous’s team at the Cochin Institute. He worked as a physician at L’Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris in neuro-critical care unit in Dr Demeret's team where he developed a particular interest for inflammatory, infectious, paraneoplastic and tumoral meningo-encephalitis. During his Ph.D, he studied in vitro models of BBBs infected with Neisseria meningitidis, and acquired experience in the fields of brain vascular biology. He joined the team as a post-doc and aims to engineering an in vivo humanized blood-brain-barrier (BBB)-like tissue to study the central nervous system infiltration in leukemia.
Jéssica is a chemist who discovered her passion for microfluidics. She holds an MSc in Analytical and Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), and currently, she is a second-year master’s student in Microfluidics at PSL University – program associated with the Institute Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (France). She aspires to develop organ-on-a-chip systems for improved disease models. She joined Dr. Passaro’s team at Institut Cochin as an intern motivated to create a platform that closely mimics the physiological conditions of the bone marrow environment to study the interplay between vascular function and leukemia development.
Lakshmi Sandhow started her interest in science as an undergraduate in Biotechnology at Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya in Jakarta, Indonesia. To understand the translation of science, she worked as a research assistant in R&D division at a Pharmaceutical industry (PT Kalbe Farma, Tbk – Jakarta, Indonesia). The project introduced her with mesenchymal cells and motivated her to pursue a Master study in Biomedicine at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm-Sweden. She then continued with PhD study in Hong Qian Lab at Karolinska Institutet with focus on mesenchymal niche contribution to normal and malignant hematopoiesis. After earning her PhD, she joined Passaro lab as a postdoc to interrogate vascular niche and leukemic cell interactions.
Rana is a Master 2 student in Biotherapy at the University of Sorbonne Paris Nord. Passionate about the field of neuro-oncology, she choose to perform different internships in neuroscience focusing on several diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s disease) and brain cancers (melanoma brain metastasis), during her bachelor at the Laboratoire National de Santé in Luxembourg and during her first year of master at the Collège de France in Paris. She joined Passaro lab at Institut Cochin as a Master 2 intern to study brain infiltration in leukemia with an engineered humanized Blood-Brain-Barrier-organoid.
Alumni
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I am an engineering student at UTC (Technological University of Compiègne) in biological engineering and I am heading towards a specialty in biomechanics and biomaterials. Before joining UTC, I did a CPGE (classe préparatoire au grande école) focusing on mathematics and physics. As a student in biological engineering, I integrated the laboratory as part of an engineering assistant internship. So, I work in the laboratory on a bioengineering project and focus on the vascular aspects of the bone marrow.
I am currently a Post-Doctoral fellow in Bio-Engineering, and my interest lies in manipulating biological elements (cells, proteins, factors) to recreate organ-like structures that could be used as bio-mimetic models in laboratories. To support this motivation, I started as a Chemist from the Chimie ParisTech engineering school. I then had the opportunity to discover various biological models through different lab experiences, from malaria parasite (University of Houston), to the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (Cytoo – Grenoble) and brain injuries (INCIA – Bordeaux). During my PhD (Cytomorpholab – Paris), I took great interest in the bone marrow that has a complex soft and hard structure, as well as a very precise vascular organization, being able to support hematopoietic stem cells. As a post-doc, I join the team for the great challenge of learning how to recreate complex biological organizations.
During his M.D. in Clinical Hematology at the Université de Paris, Matteo Guerra developped an interest in Adolescent and Young Adults (AYAs) hemopathies, and particularly in T-cell leukaemia, which often occurs in this population. After attending to the European Genetics master 2 classes, he joined the team for his internship. He aims to developp the organoid model to study the T-cell leukaemia niche.
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