Claire de March

Claire de March is a CNRS Researcher at the Institute of Natural Substance Chemistry (ICSN) of Paris-Saclay University, working within the Structural and Analytical Chemistry and Biology Department and the NMR, Structural Biology and Chemistry team. Her research focuses on computational modeling and structural analysis of olfactory receptors to decode odor perception mechanisms.

Education:

• Technical baccalaureate in chemistry (2005, Arsonval High School)
• BTS and chemistry degree (University of Versailles - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines)
• Professional master's degree (2008, work-study at Bel Group)
• Master's in molecular chemistry (2011, Sorbonne University)
• PhD in computational chemistry (2012-2015, University of Nice)

Research Focus: Dr. de March pioneered computational approaches to model olfactory receptor dynamics, overcoming experimental limitations through molecular dynamics simulations at femtosecond resolution. Her groundbreaking work established consensus receptor engineering techniques, culminating in the first experimental structure of human olfactory receptor OR51E2 via cryo-EM in 2023. She investigates combinatorial odor coding mechanisms where 400 receptor types generate complex perceptual patterns analogous to a piano's keys.

Scientific Recognition:

• Irène Joliot-Curie Young Woman Scientist Prize (2023) for scientific excellence and role modeling

Research Support and Collaborations: Awarded the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) in 2020, she led international collaborations with Duke University (2016-2022), City of Hope National Medical Center, and University of California, San Francisco. These partnerships combined computational chemistry with cellular biology techniques to solve receptor expression and stability challenges.

Current Research Environment: At ICSN, she directs structural studies on olfactory receptor-odorant interactions, exploring receptor conservation, stability mechanisms, and potential sociological implications of odor perception in future work.