Pascal Hersen

Pascal Hersen serves as a CNRS Research Director at the Institut Curie in Paris, holding three key leadership roles: Director of the Cell Physics and Cancer research unit (UMR168), Team Leader of the Dynamic Control of Gene Signaling and Expression group, and Site Coordinator for the institute's Research Center. This joint CNRS/Sorbonne University unit represents his primary institutional affiliation since at least 2016.

His research pioneers the interdisciplinary field of Cybergenetics—developing real-time computer interfaces to manipulate gene expression—and Synthetic Embryology, investigating tissue self-organization through embryonic stem cell models. The team integrates microfluidics, microfabrication, fluorescence microscopy, and synthetic biology to dynamically control cellular processes, emphasizing quantitative analysis of regulatory networks beyond traditional static methods like gene knockouts.

2023-2024 publications reveal a concentrated focus on optogenetic manipulation in yeast systems, exploring stress adaptation, population cooperation, and metabolic bioproduction. These studies demonstrate how computational control of microfluidic environments enables unprecedented spatiotemporal precision in cellular experiments.

Dr. Hersen's major scientific recognitions include:

• ERC Consolidator Grant (2016) for the SmartCells project, which created an intelligent microscopy system for live-cell control
• ERC Proof of Concept Grant (2023; 150,000 euros, 18 months) for CyberSco.Py, aiming to commercialize open-source software for automated microscopy parameter adjustment and adaptive cell culture

As a team leader, he actively recruits researchers skilled in instrumentation, coding, and synthetic biology to advance cybergenetics applications. His ERC-funded work targets simplifying complex experimental design for cell biologists through autonomous imaging systems that dynamically respond to cellular behavior without manual intervention.

The Dynamic Control of Gene Signaling and Expression team operates within the Cell Physics and Cancer unit at the Curie Institute, leveraging microfluidic platforms, computational modeling, and advanced microscopy to probe cellular dynamics. Their infrastructure supports real-time manipulation of temperature, optogenetics, and microfluidics for high-resolution spatial-temporal studies.