Flavie Coquel, for women and science

Beating cancer. That, in a nutshell, is the new goal Flavie Coquel set herself a few months ago. At the time, the Artois-born PhD student was working at theIGH on DNA replication, the process by which two identical DNA molecules are obtained from a single cell. Under the supervision of Philippe Pasero and Yea-Lih Lin, Flavie discovered that DNA has the ability to extract itself from the nucleus of a cell and - more importantly - that such a process triggers the immune system's automatic reaction. " As the 2018 winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine have demonstrated, the immune system can play a role in the treatment of cancerous tumors", explains Flavie, whose discovery was quickly hailed by the scientific community - precisely for its therapeutic potential - and was the subject of a remarkable publication in Nature in April.

L'Oréal-Unesco Fellowship

In early October, Flavie Coquel was awarded the prestigious L'Oréal-Unesco - "For Women in Science" 2018 prize (see box) alongside Camille Scalliet, a PhD student from Montpellier at the Charles Coulomb Laboratory, and 18 other French women researchers. 15,000 euros, thanks to which Flavie hopes to contribute, through her future research, to the improvement of immunotherapy techniques, i.e. the treatment of cancer and other autoimmune diseases through the forced activation of the immune system.

Born in Metz-en-Couture (62), the daughter of a medical secretary and a farmer, Flavie Coquel graduated with honors from a prestigious engineering school. "It was only later, around the age of 17 or 18, that I became attracted to the sciences and felt the need to pursue a profession with a strong practical purpose", explains the young woman who is currently putting the finishing touches to a thesis in biology at theIGH, where the scarcity of women, as in other spheres of scientific research, is of particular concern to her. With a happy event expected in the spring and a post-doc in Switzerland starting in September for this bubbly young woman, Flavie Coquel is very proud of the prize she has been awarded by the L'Oréal Foundation. A prize which, far more than a sum of money, has above all given her self-confidence.

The l'Oréal-Unesco Prize

The L'Oréal-Unesco "For Women in Science" award promotes the role of women in scientific research. Created in 1998, it is awarded each year by the L'Oréal Foundation to young women researchers who have contributed to the advancement of science through the excellence of their research work.

In 2018, 30 French winners were awarded research grants ranging from 15 to 20,000 euros by a jury made up of members of the FrenchAcademy of Sciences and high-ranking scientific experts.

[1] James Allison and Tasuku Hon