Laure Bally-Cuif

Laure Bally-Cuif is a leading researcher at the Institut Pasteur, Paris, where she heads a team in the Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology. She is a Principal Investigator on multiple prestigious projects, including the ERC Synergy Grant PEPS and the ERC Advanced Grant Systematics, focusing on neural stem cell regulation in vertebrates.

Her research centers on the molecular mechanisms controlling adult neurogenesis, particularly the role of the Notch signaling pathway in neural stem cell quiescence and stemness. Using the zebrafish model, her team combines large-scale transcriptomics, gene expression knockdown, lineage tracing, and real-time in vivo imaging to dissect the cellular hierarchies and signaling partners involved in maintaining the 'stem state' of neural progenitors and stem cells.

The recent publications highlight a strong trend in single-cell transcriptomics, live imaging, and functional analysis of neural stem cell dynamics. Her work reveals molecular distinctions between quiescence and stemness, identifies key regulators like Hey1 and Prosaposin, and explores heterogeneity in quiescent states across brain regions and developmental stages. Themes include stem cell fate decisions, lineage hierarchies, and the impact of apical domain size and Delta-Notch signaling on neural progenitor behavior.

• ERC Synergy Grant 2022
• ERC Advanced Grant (ERC-2012-AdG Systematics)
• ERC-2023-Synergy: PEPS, Perpetuating Stemness

Laure Bally-Cuif actively mentors a team of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, including Marielle Piber, David Morizet, and Laure Mancini. Her group is a key participant in collaborative platforms such as LabEx Revive and the Zebrafish Projects Hub (Zorgl’hub) at Institut Pasteur, which supports functional studies in zebrafish models. Her research is supported by major European grants, reflecting her leadership in the field of regenerative neurobiology.