Organoid-Based Models of Brain Development and Glioblastoma

Dr. M. Studer, PhD, is a well-established scientist in neurobiology with extensive expertise in mouse developmental biology and, more recently, in human brain development. She received her training in leading laboratories in London, UK, including as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and as a Junior Group Leader at King’s College London. At King’s, she was awarded an MRC Career Development Award to establish her own laboratory. In 2000, she broadened her expertise as a visiting scientist at UCSF, USA. Subsequently, she was recruited as a Principal Investigator at the Telethon Institute of Molecular Medicine (TIGEM) in Italy. In 2009, she moved to France as an Inserm Research Director and Group Leader, receiving an ANR Chaire d’Excellence award to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying brain organization in physiological and pathological conditions.

Dr. Studer’s research focuses on uncovering the mechanisms that govern the specification of neuronal subtypes during eye and brain development in both normal and pathological contexts. Central to this process are transcription factors uniquely expressed in specific prospective regions and neuronal subtypes, which play essential roles in defining neuronal identity, establishing connectivity, and integrating functional circuits. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for elucidating how brain activity and circuitry are organized to support proper behavior. Her current work examines the role of the morphogen FGF8 in driving brain diversity in human cells (1) and investigates the physiopathological mechanisms of a rare monogenic neurodevelopmental disorder caused by haploinsufficiency of NR2F1, a key transcriptional regulator in brain development (2). Employing a multidisciplinary approach that combines structural bioinformatics (3), animal models (2), and 3D cerebral organoids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), her team seeks to elucidate the impact of NR2F1 mutations on protein stability, cellular function, and genotype-phenotype correlations associated with the disorder.

Dr. M. Bertacchi, PhD, is a permanent researcher in developmental neurobiology at Inserm and a member of Dr. Michèle Studer’s team at the Institute of Biology Valrose (iBV) in Nice, France. He earned his PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, under the mentorship of Dr. Federico Cremisi, focusing on the role of morphogens in directing retinal versus cortical fate in mouse embryonic stem cells. Supported by a geographic mobility fellowship, Dr. Bertacchi moved to Nice, France, to explore the role of the NR2F1 gene in retinal and cortical differentiation using loss-of-function mouse models. Further advancing his expertise, he received an EMBO short-term fellowship to work in Dr. Silvia Cappello’s lab, where he specialized in human brain organoids to study early fetal brain development. Currently, he is recognized as the reference expert for brain organoid technology at iBV. His primary research focuses on NR2F1, a transcriptional regulator with critical roles in brain and eye development, whose deletion is implicated in neurodevelopmental diseases in humans. His work also investigates genetic factors influencing glioblastoma, with a focus on understanding the mechanisms that drive the tumor aggressiveness and invasiveness.