Dr. Soizic Garaud is joining the LBAI-UMR1227 as a Postdoctoral Fellow after her project "Immunological variables associated to immune checkpoint inhibitor toxicity in cancer patients" was selected in the framework of the BIENVENÜE programme. This programme funded by the MSCA-COFUND and the Région Bretagne aims at welcoming talented researchers to help supporting the implementation of Breton RIS3 – Regional Research and Innovation Strategy – and therefore contributing to the territorial development.

Soizic Garaud is actually back in the group (previously called "Immunology and Pathology") after she joined in 2006 as a PhD Student to carry out her thesis project called "Contribution of CD5 variant, CD5-E1B, to B cells autoreactivity ". In 2010, she joined the Molecular Immunology Laboratory of the Jules Bordet Institute (integrated centre for cancer) in Brussels as a Postdoctoral Researcher to conduct research on immune response. More specifically, her research aimed at reaching a better understanding of the FOXP1 function, a transcription factor, in normal and pathologic CD4+ T cells, and of the breast cancer-infiltrating B cells contribution in antitumor response. She stayed until today at the Institute and carried out various research projects in immunology.

Recently, the use of immunotherapies in the medical oncology field has profoundly changed the management of solid cancer patients. She naturally started to focus her work on a better understanding of immune mechanisms associated to response, as well as immunotherapy induced-toxicities.

Today she starts leading this BIENVENÜE project which aims at deciphering the peripheral and tissular immune response during ICI treatment, and at identifying immune biomarkers that predict irAE onset and severity in treated patients. Collaboration with the Jules Bordet Institute will allow the establishment of two cohorts of cancer patients to obtain data, together with the University Hospital of Brest (CHRU de Brest). The LBAI's Hyperion platform, thanks to its state-of-the-art Imaging Mass Cytometry technology, will be a major asset for the identification of predictive biomarkers.

Beyond the scientific advances expected from the project and from a career perspective, Soizic Garaud's arrival at the UMR1227 Inserm Unit also represents an opportunity for her to apply for a permanent Researcher position at INSERM.