Raphael Rodriguez

Raphael Rodriguez is a CNRS Research Director and Team Leader of the Biomedicine team within the Chemical Biology of Cancer unit (UMR3666/U1339) at Institut Curie in Paris, serving as Deputy Director of the Research Unit. His pioneering work bridges synthetic organic chemistry and molecular biology to develop novel cancer therapeutics targeting metal ion pathways.

Education:

• Doctoral degree from University of Marseille and University of Oxford
• Postdoctoral fellowship at University of Cambridge

Rodriguez's research centers on metal ions as regulators of cell adaptation, revealing CD44-mediated copper/iron endocytosis mechanisms driving cancer progression and immune activation. His team discovered lysosomal iron as the trigger of ferroptosis and mitochondrial copper's role in inflammation, developing first-in-class compounds like ironomycin that selectively target metal-dependent processes in therapy-resistant cancers. Current work focuses on exploiting universal chemical principles to disrupt disease-state epigenetic programming.

His 2025 publications demonstrate how iron trafficking governs melanoma ferroptosis vulnerability, estrogen's protective role against kidney injury, and copper's systemic biological impact—highlighting therapeutic opportunities across oncology, nephrology, and aging research.

Scientific Awards:

• CNRS Silver Medal 2024
• Liliane Bettencourt Prize for Life Sciences 2023
• Klaus Grohe Prize 2022
• Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award
• Lacassagne Prize (Collège de France)
• Grand Prix Charles Defforey (Académie des Sciences)

Rodriguez mentors four PhD students and leads a multidisciplinary team including permanent researchers and engineers. His laboratory has secured significant funding for developing small-molecule probes that modulate metal-catalyzed processes, resulting in patented compounds targeting chromatin organization (remodelin), iron metabolism (ironomycin), and cancer stem cells. Current grants focus on translating CD44-metal pathway discoveries into clinical applications for drug-tolerant cancers.

The Biomedicine team operates within Institut Curie's Chemical Biology of Cancer unit, utilizing advanced click chemistry and multi-omics platforms to investigate metal-dependent cell adaptation. Collaborations with clinical partners drive therapeutic development, particularly for pancreatic cancer and inflammation-related pathologies, with several compounds advancing toward preclinical trials.