Maria Kavallaris, Non-Executive Board Director at National Breast Cancer Foundation, shared Eddy Pasquier’s, Research Director at CNRS, post on LinkedIn, adding:
“Congratulations Eddy on an incredible career. Looking forward to seeing what you achieve in the next 20 years!
Your passion and commitment to medical research was clearly evident when I first met you as a PhD student in Marseille all those years ago. You had already selected me to be your mentor. Not sure if it was because you wanted to visit Australia for the surfing, my research reputation or the science. Either way it was a pleasure to mentor you as a postdoc.
You were driven then to make a difference to the lives of children with cancer. So wonderful seeing you achieve your dream and now mentoring the next generation of medical researchers.”
Quoting Eddy Pasquier’s post:
“20 years a doctor.
I defended my PhD at Aix-Marseille University on October 9th 2006. Twenty years ago.
Even writing it down feels weird. Time flies when you’re having fun.
Right after my PhD defence, I joined Maria Kavallaris at Children’s Cancer Institute as a post-doctoral researcher. Originally, I was only supposed to stay a couple of years but I loved it so much that I ended up working almost 8 years for this incredible mentor, team and Centre, entirely dedicated to Childhood Cancer research.
Then I headed back to Marseille, thanks to a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship, and I was recruited by CNRS as a permanent researcher in 2016. That’s when I joined Xavier Morelli and Yves Collette at Cancer Research Center of Marseille (CRCM). I spent another 7 years in their Integrative Structural and Chemical Biology team, before creating our own team withNicolas Andre, Manon Carré, Marion Le Grand and Véronique Bourgarel.
Interestingly, our Reverse Molecular Pharmacology for Pediatric Oncology (REMAP4Kids) team was officially created on January 1st 2024 – on the exact same day as South-ROCK, the Lyon-Marseille Center of Excellence in Pediatric Oncology Research, labeled by the Institut national du cancer.
It’s been a long journey, made of substantial Highs and a few inevitable Lows, but it sure didn’t feel like two decades. It’s probably why I struggle so much when our younger team members remind me that I’m officially an old man and a research veteran.
I’m so proud of what we’ve built together with our incredible team, colleagues and collaborators: Marie Castets, Laura Broutier, Pierre Leblond, Celio Pouponnot, Vanessa Ribes, Olivier Saulnier, Erika Brunet, Thomas Daubon, Vincent Picco, Francois Devred, Samuel Meignan, Natacha Entz-Werle, David Castel, Benjamin Ory, Daniela Lötsch-Gojo, Matt Dun and many more.
Big shout out to my former and current PhD students Jérémy Ariey-Bonnet, Baptiste Mouysset, Mélanie Matteudi and Julie Lafont for their hard work and dedication. I wouldn’t be able to write this post without their contribution.
Last but not least, thanks to all the funders who believed in us and supported our research throughout the years, starting with not-for-profit organizations Association Wonder Augustine, Association Cassandra ACCL, Ligue contre le cancer, Fondation ARC pour la recherche sur le cancer, Enfants Cancers Santé and Institut national du cancer.
I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us for the next twenty years.”
Other articles featuring Maria Kavallaris on OncoDaily.