Researcher from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and Inserm will discuss how bacteria cross host barriers and evade the immune system
The Institut Pasteur of São Paulo (IPSP) will host, on April 17, another edition of the Les vendredis de l’Institut Pasteur de São Paulo series, an initiative aimed at fostering scientific exchange and dialogue with internationally renowned researchers, with the support of the University of São Paulo (USP). The guest for this edition is microbiologist and infectious disease physician Marc Lecuit, who will present the seminar “Invasion and evasion, the stealth of Listeria.”
The event will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Inova Auditorium (Block B, 1st floor), located at Av. Prof. Lucio Martins Rodrigues, 370, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo. Registration is available at: https://forms.gle/vcdacrrETpv6tYvG8
Invasion and dissemination – Lecuit’s research focuses on systemic infections, which result from the invasion of the host by microbial pathogens. One of his main areas of investigation is understanding how these microorganisms are able to cross human biological barriers, disseminate within the body, and reach protected tissues.
As head of the Biology of Infection Unit, based at the Institut Pasteur and affiliated with Inserm and Université Paris Cité, the researcher studies host–pathogen interactions that enable microbes to cross mucosal barriers, the blood–brain barrier, and the placental barrier, as well as their systemic and tissue dissemination.
The group also examines the consequences of these interactions in the development and resolution of infectious processes, as well as intraspecies heterogeneity in both microbial virulence and host susceptibility to infection.
Scientific trajectory – In addition to leading his research unit, Lecuit directs the National Reference Center for Listeria and a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center. He is also a professor at Université Paris Cité and deputy head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at Necker–Enfants Malades University Hospital.
He is a member of EMBO and the Academia Europaea, a fellow of the European Academy of Microbiology and ESCMID, and a member of the Institut Universitaire de France.