The 2019 Bettencourt Young Researcher Prize was awarded to Céline Philippe, a post-doctoral fellow in oncology, for her research on the role of cellular stress in cancers.

Detecting and managing cellular stress to stop cancer

I’m interested in the role of cellular stress in cancers. When cancer cells divide, they face stress from the extremely rapid synthesis of the proteins they need to proliferate. My goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms by which cancer cells adapt to stress in order to prevent them from surviving.

Hematopoiesis is the process by which blood cells are constantly renewed from hematopoietic stem cells. Over their lifespan, these stem cells can acquire mutations leading to excessive proliferation. "Abnormal" hematopoiesis can then evolve into liquid cancers like acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer cells must deal with major stressors due to their very fast metabolism and engage cellular mechanisms to respond. In leukemia patients, not all these mechanisms are activated in the same way. Why and what are the consequences?

Céline Philippe is trying to answer these questions by developing tools to detect stress in patients' cells and reveal the proteins activated during cellular stress. Managing stress could be the key to stopping cancer.

Céline Philippe in a few words

2018: Doctoral dissertation: "Endoplasmic reticulum stress in acute myeloid leukemias: the role of the XBP1 transcription factor", under the supervision of Dr. Christian Touriol, Toulouse Cancer Research Centre, Paul Sabatier University Toulouse III, Biology, Health and Biotechnology Graduate School - Specialization in Cancer Biology

Post-doctorate under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Rouault-Pierre at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London

Bettencourt Prize for Young Researchers

Created in 1990, the Bettencourt Prize for Young Researchers is one of the first initiatives of the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller. Until 2021, this prize was awarded each year to 14 young doctors of science or doctors of medicine, to enable them to carry out their post-doctoral stay in the best foreign laboratories. 349 young researchers were distinguished. The prize endowment was €25,000.

All the award-winners