Education and experience
Charlène holds a PharmD (Lille University, 2022) and a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology & Advanced Therapies (Paris-Saclay, 2022). She completed her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Strasbourg in July 2025, where she investigated the epigenetic regulation of tumor suppressor genes involved in therapy resistance. Her work focused on developing and optimizing CRISPR/dCas9-based systems for targeted demethylation and acetylation, with the aim of restoring gene activity and enhancing cancer cell sensitivity to chemotherapy. This project combined molecular biology techniques, epigenetic profiling, genome editing, and functional assays in cancer cell models. She also undertook advanced training in epigenetics (Institut Curie, 2024) and obtained a university diploma in Deeptech Entrepreneurship (Strasbourg, 2024–2025).
Research Interests
Her research interests, strengthened during her PhD, include cellular and molecular biology, epigenetics and gene regulation, cancer biology (with a focus on gastric cancer), and the development and application of CRISPR-based functional genomics tools. These skills will enable her to carry out her postdoctoral research in collaboration within the NORPOD program, focusing on understanding the gene regulatory mechanisms driving colorectal cancer.
She will aim to map and characterize cis-regulatory elements (CREs) and study how transcription factor activity shapes regulatory networks during tumor initiation and progression. Using cell lines, organoid and in vivo models, she will investigate lineage-specific chromatin changes and epigenetic plasticity, combining high-resolution DNA recording with multi-omic analyses to uncover key drivers of tumor regulation.
Awards
- 2025: NORPOD Postdoctoral fellowship ( Nordic Postdoctoral Program)
- 2024: Mature your PhD award (SATT Conectus, 2024): Aimed at promoting the valorization of academic research and facilitating the transfer of knowledge to industry or applied settings.
- 2022: Doctoral research fellowship (ITI Innovec, Strasbourg)
Collaboration
Dr. Arafath (Rafa) K.Najumudeen, Group Leader, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (EMBL-FIMM), University of Helsinki, Finland