معرفی
Maria Carla Saleh is a Full Professor and Head of the Viruses and RNAi Unit at the Department of Virology, Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. She has held progressively senior positions at Institut Pasteur since 2008, advancing from Assistant Professor to her current role as Full Professor since 2020. She also serves as Co-director of the Pasteur-UCSF QBI Center of Excellence in Emerging Infectious Diseases and Co-director of the LabEx 'Integrative Biology of Emerging Infectious Diseases'.
Her research focuses on understanding the virus-insect relationship, particularly why insects can tolerate viral infections that are deadly to humans. Using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism, her lab investigates RNA interference pathways, viral persistence mechanisms, and innate immunity in insects with the goal of developing novel vector control strategies to prevent transmission of arboviruses like Dengue Fever to humans.
Dr. Saleh's publications demonstrate strong focus on RNAi pathways in antiviral defense, viral persistence mechanisms in invertebrate hosts, and the ecological determinants of vector-borne disease emergence. Her work bridges fundamental molecular virology with translational applications for public health.
- Elected International Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)
- EMBO Member
- Recipient of ERC Consolidator and Starting Grants
- Langevin Award from the French Academy of Sciences
- Pasteur Vallery-Radot Award
- Lucien Tartois Award from the Medical Research Foundation
As an educator, Dr. Saleh has lectured in multiple MOOCs on Medical Entomology and Emerging Viruses, and regularly teaches at prestigious institutions including École Normale Supérieure, University of Strasbourg, and University of Buenos Aires. She serves on PhD committees and has been instrumental in promoting gender equality in science through various initiatives at Institut Pasteur.
