When people learn that I'm French, they often ask me about wine. My little secret: I know nothing about wine! I'll still give you recommendations though.

After my PhD (studying genetics in cancer), I talked to Prof. Jeannette Lechner-Scott. She had this amazing study going (Ausimmune: see msaustralia.org.au/ausimmune), where I could use the same methods but applied to a different disease. I was immediately convinced that it was an important project.

I think the most important breakthrough in research lately has been pairing the ever-expending multi-omics datasets with machine learning. Multi-Omics are datasets where for each individual we combine 2 or more of: genomics (all the DNA sequence), epigenomics (all epigenetic modification), transcriptomics (all the RNA expressed), proteomics(all the proteins) or metabolomics (all blood or urine metabolites). It allows researchers to get a very wide picture for each individual and to identified patterns that humans would miss.

My current project focuses on methylation, a particular epigenetic mechanisms that change the expression of genes without changing the DNA itself. We are studying how methylation changes in MS patients can inform us on the onset, progression and severity of the disease. Methylation is an interesting layer to study because it is influenced both by genetics, lifestyle and environment, which is also the case for MS.

My research is important because methylation changes can inform us about which specific genes are affected in MS patients. Epigenetic studies can be used to identify the biological pathways modified in MS (and a potentially therapeutic targets), which subset of white blood cells are most affected or even how fast MS patients are aging. It helps understand MS better.

I divide my time between the lab and my desk, as I also do a lot of bioinformatics and statistical analysis. I love the lab because it feels relaxing to me. I love bioinformatics too, because it allows me to be creative when I analyse the data. My main challenge in research is staying on top of the literature. There are so many quality articles published every day that it's sometimes hard to keep up with what everyone is doing!