Pascale Lesage
Marianne Grunberg-Manago award winner 2024
Profile
Pascale Lesage is a CNRS Research Director and co-leads the Genome Instability Biology team at the Saint Louis Research Institute (IRSL) in Paris, alongside Dr. Emmanuelle Fabre. Pascale Lesage is a molecular biologist who, after completing her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Mathias Springer at the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC) in Paris on translational control in the bacterium E. coli, pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Marian Carlson at Columbia University in New York (USA). There, she studied the regulation of sugar metabolism in the yeast S. cerevisiae.
After being recruited as a researcher at the CNRS, she dedicated her research to the activity of mobile genetic elements, using the LTR retrotransposon Ty1 of the yeast S. cerevisiae as an experimental model. She began by constructing a collection of transgenic strains to individually measure the transcriptional activity of each of the 31 Ty1 copies present in the yeast genome. This powerful experimental system enabled her and her collaborators to obtain original results regarding the heterogeneous levels of transcription among the elements, despite the high homology of their promoter sequences. They then explored the relationship between the expression levels of these elements and their genomic location, as well as the influence of transcription factors and chromatin structure on the expression of each element, both under normal growth conditions and in stress situations. Among her major discoveries for our understanding of the control of transposable elements in eukaryotic genomes are the regulation of Ty1 sense and antisense transcription by the same transcription factor and the role of the nuclear pore in limiting its transcription. Another significant breakthrough was the identification of a specific interaction between the Ty1 integrase and a subunit of RNA polymerase III, which explains the preference for Ty1 integration upstream of genes transcribed by RNA polymerase III. As part of an international collaboration, she recently combined molecular, genomic, and structural approaches to elucidate, at the atomic level, the interaction between Ty1 integrase and RNA polymerase III. This research was conducted partly at the IBPC in the team of Dr. Mathias Springer as a junior researcher, and later at the IRSL, where she established her team in 2008.
Her research work has earned her national and international recognition, reflected in regular invitations to international conferences, the receipt of several scientific awards, and her role as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Mobile DNA. Since 2021, Pascale Lesage has been directing the CNRS Research Group (GDR) on Mobile Genetic Elements, alongside Dr. Gael Cristofari. This year, the GDR organized the International Congress on Transposable Elements (ICTE 2024) in Saint-Malo, one of the most significant international meetings in the field of transposable elements. In addition to her research work, Pascale Lesage is actively involved in promoting science among teenagers as a member of the board of directors of the association L’Arbre des Connaissances.
The latest winners
Léa Prochasson and Makram Mghezzi-Habellah
Curie Institute and Sorbonne University, Paris
Maëliss Germain
Rennes University, BRM Lab. (Bacterial RNAs in Medicine)
Olga Kolosova
IGBMC, Strasbourg
Mélisse Hamidi
Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry, Lyon
Zhao Jiangfeng
EMBL, Grenoble
Robine Maffo Woulefack
Sciences and Technologies Faculty,Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy
Alexia Godet
Université d’Aarthus, Danemark
Veronica Nuccetteli et Makram Mghezzi
Biology et Cell Modelisation Lab., ENS, Lyon and IBCP, Lyon
Akandé Eyitayo
IBGC, CNRS, Bordeaux University
Markel Martinez-Carranza
Pasteur Institute, Paris
Nour Ayoub
Institut Pasteur Paris, UPCité and INSERM UMRS-1124, Paris
Léa Prochasson and Makram Mghezzi-Habellah
Curie Institute and Sorbonne University, Paris
“Article of the month”award December 2025
Maëliss Germain
Rennes University, BRM Lab. (Bacterial RNAs in Medicine)
“Article of the Month” November 2025
Olga Kolosova
IGBMC, Strasbourg
“Article of the Month” award October 2025
Mélisse Hamidi
Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry, Lyon
“Article of the Month” award September 2025
Zhao Jiangfeng
EMBL, Grenoble
“Article of the Month” award July and August 2025
Robine Maffo Woulefack
Sciences and Technologies Faculty,Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy
“Article of the Month” award June 2025
Alexia Godet
Université d’Aarthus, Danemark
“Article of the month” May 2025
Veronica Nuccetteli et Makram Mghezzi
Biology et Cell Modelisation Lab., ENS, Lyon and IBCP, Lyon
“Article of the Month” award April 2025
Akandé Eyitayo
IBGC, CNRS, Bordeaux University
“Article of the month” March 2025
Markel Martinez-Carranza
Pasteur Institute, Paris
“Article of the Month” award February 2025
“Article of the Year” award 2025
Nour Ayoub
Institut Pasteur Paris, UPCité and INSERM UMRS-1124, Paris
“Article of the Month” award January 2025
Mickaël Guérin
CNRS, UMR7025, Enzymatic and Cellular Engineering
Aria Gheeraeart
INSERM, Paris
Pauline Herviou
Institut Beatson, Glasgow
Charbel Alfeghali
Laboratoire d’Ingénierie Moléculaire et Physiopathologie Articulaire (IMoPA), Nancy
Yoann Santin
Institut de Duve, Bruxelles
Florent Waltz
Université de Strasbourg
Juliette Fédry
Institut Pasteur, Paris
Clément Charenton
École Polytechnique, Palaiseau
Thomas Eychenne
CEA, Saclay
Mickaël Guérin
CNRS, UMR7025, Enzymatic and Cellular Engineering
Dina Surdin award 2025
Aria Gheeraeart
INSERM, Paris
Dina Surdin award 2024
Pauline Herviou
Institut Beatson, Glasgow
Dina Surdin award 2023
Charbel Alfeghali
Laboratoire d’Ingénierie Moléculaire et Physiopathologie Articulaire (IMoPA), Nancy
Dina Surdin award 2022
Yoann Santin
Institut de Duve, Bruxelles
Dina Surdin award 2021
Florent Waltz
Université de Strasbourg
Dina Surdin award 2020
Juliette Fédry
Institut Pasteur, Paris
Dina Surdin award 2019
Clément Charenton
École Polytechnique, Palaiseau
Dina Surdin award 2018
Thomas Eychenne
CEA, Saclay
Dina Surdin award 2017
Apply for the Dina Surdin Award
Applications must be submitted in March. The exact deadline is announced each year by email.
Documents to be submitted:
Downloadable application guidelines document below, a copy of the thesis manuscript.
Pascale Romby
CNRS, UPR 9002, ARN “RNA Architecture and Reactivity”, IBMC, Strasbourg
Pascale Lesage
CNRS et équipe de Biologie de l’instabilité des génomes, Paris
Carine Tisné
IBPC, Paris
Pascale Romby
CNRS, UPR 9002, ARN “RNA Architecture and Reactivity”, IBMC, Strasbourg
Marianne Grunberg-Manago award 2025
Pascale Lesage
CNRS et équipe de Biologie de l’instabilité des génomes, Paris
Marianne Grunberg-Manago award 2024
Carine Tisné
IBPC, Paris
Marianne Grunberg-Manago award 2023
Apply for the Marianne Grunberg-Manago Award
Applications must be submitted by email to martin.picard@ibpc.fr. The exact deadline will be announced annually via email.
Required Documents:
Updated CV, including a summary of the candidate’s work and publications, formatted according to the downloadable guide below.
Any application received after the specified deadline will not be considered.
Laure-Emmanuelle Zaragosi
Inserm, IPMC, Sophia-Antipolis
Maxime Wery
Institut Curie, Paris
Tamara Basta-Le-Berre
CNRS, UMR9198, Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette
Ludovic Pelosi
Laboratoire UGA (Groupe Quinones Respiratoires), Grenoble
Cyril Bourgeois
ENS, Lyon
Célia Plisson-Chastang
CNRS, UMR 5099, Toulouse
Odil Porrua
CNRS, UMR7592 (Institut Jacques Monod), Paris
Hervé Seitz
CNRS, UMR 9002 (Institut de génétique humaine), Montpellier
Michaël Ryckelynck
Biologie Digitale de l’ARN, UPR 9002, Architecture et réactivité de l’ARN, IBMC, Strasbourg.
Martin PICARD
CNRS UMR 7099, Laboratoire de Biologie Physico-chimique des protéines membranaires, IBPC
Laure-Emmanuelle Zaragosi
Inserm, IPMC, Sophia-Antipolis
Maurice Nicloux Award 2025
Maxime Wery
Institut Curie, Paris
Maurice Nicloux award 2024
Tamara Basta-Le-Berre
CNRS, UMR9198, Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette
Maurice Nicloux award 2023
Ludovic Pelosi
Laboratoire UGA (Groupe Quinones Respiratoires), Grenoble
Maurice Nicloux award 2022
Cyril Bourgeois
ENS, Lyon
Maurice Nicloux award 2021
Célia Plisson-Chastang
CNRS, UMR 5099, Toulouse
Maurice Nicloux award 2020
Odil Porrua
CNRS, UMR7592 (Institut Jacques Monod), Paris
Maurice Nicloux award 2019
Hervé Seitz
CNRS, UMR 9002 (Institut de génétique humaine), Montpellier
Maurice Nicloux award 2018
Michaël Ryckelynck
Biologie Digitale de l’ARN, UPR 9002, Architecture et réactivité de l’ARN, IBMC, Strasbourg.
Maurice Nicloux award 2017
Martin PICARD
CNRS UMR 7099, Laboratoire de Biologie Physico-chimique des protéines membranaires, IBPC
Maurice Nicloux award 2016
Apply for the Maurice Nicloux Award
Applications must be submitted by March of each year. The exact deadline will be announced annually via email.
Required Documents:
Updated CV, including a summary of the candidate’s work and publications, formatted according to the downloadable guide below.
Any application received after the specified deadline will not be considered.
Our scientific awards
“Article of the Month” award
Honors a young researcher for a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Dina Surdin award
Rewards a young researcher for an outstanding PhD thesis in biochemistry or molecular biology.
Marianne Grunberg-Manago Award
Honors a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to public research, recognized for the significance of her work and her impact in her scientific field.
Maurice Nicloux award
Honors an established researcher for their overall contribution to the scientific community and to research in biochemistry or molecular biology.
