Winner of the Grant Program in collaboration with Vizgen : Dr. Léo Laoubi
Huningue, FR. November 6th, 2023 – Firalis Molecular Precision, CAP-accredited global CRO and provider of multi-omics solutions for biomarker discovery and drug development, announces today the winner of its first ever MERSCOPE® Platform Grant Program, in collaboration with Vizgen, the life science company dedicated to improving human health by visualizing single-cell spatial genomics information.
The grant was open to researchers in Europe and was awarded to the researcher whose cancer research project displayed scientific excellence and innovation.
The selection process involved a thorough evaluation by our expert decision committee, comprised of Dr. Thierry Massfelder, PhD, HDR, Research Director at Inserm, Deputy Director at the Inserm/Université de Strasbourg Joint Research Unit (UMR) 1260 ‘Regenerative NanoMedicine’, and Dr. Marco Antonio Mendoza Parra, PhD, CR1 – CNRS, Team Leader of SysFate (https://www.sysfate.org/) at Genoscope – Centre National de Séquençage/UMR8030/LISSB.
The grant winners is Dr. Léo LAOUBI, a seasoned immunologist with 8 years’ experience in private and academic research groups. Dr. Laoubi co-authored several peer-reviewed original articles and reviews in immunology. Dr. Laoubi’s current research centers on unraveling the immune response associated to cancer treatments. His primary focus lies in predicting treatment responses and deciphering resistance mechanisms to develop targeted interventions.
In this context, Dr. LAOUBI notably investigates the spatial immune cell organization in tumors of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients before a PD-1/CTLA-4 blockade adjuvant immunotherapy. The goal is to identify predictive biomarkers of the immunotherapy such as unique cell clusters or gene signatures.
“This project concerns the triple negative breast cancer, a public health issue, and specifically the identification of predictive biomarkers of the immune checkpoint inhibitors response and resistance,” said Dr. Thierry Massfelder, expert decision committee member. “The hypothesis, the objectives, and the experimental design on human samples with the MERSCOPE platform, with a validation at the proteomic level, are all very well presented. The project clearly has all the assets to succeed.”
For his work, Dr. Léo Laoubi has been selected as the winner of the Firalis Molecular Precision x Vizgen Grant Program and will leverage Vizgen’s cutting-edge MERSCOPE technology and the expertise of Firalis Molecular Precision to advance his research project.
About Firalis Molecular Precision
Firalis Molecular Precision (FMP) is an emerging multiomics-powered CRO (Contract Research Organization) based in Huningue, France and in Cambridge, USA. FMP uses the latest cutting-edge technologies and a range of services (biobanking, multiomics-powered bioanalysis, bioinformatics, assay development and kit manufacturing) to provide support along the entire drug development process, from the discovery phase to the approval phase. FMP also provides expertise and support to biotech and pharma companies for their biomarker discovery and monitoring endeavours. For more information, go to http://www.firalismolecularprecision.com. or contact our experts. Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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