PhD Day

PhD DAY

PROGRAMME
PhD Day – Friday, April 25th, 2025 LifeHub – Bayer La Dargoire, Lyon

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Morning session – Presentations (10 min talk + 5 min Q&A)
09:00 – 09:30 | Welcome & Coffee / Tea
09:30 – 09:45 | Myriam Djebbi: Unraveling the sweet secrets of glucose signaling in yeasts:
Hrr25 a new kinase involved
09:45 – 10:00 | Sara Moutacharrif: Identification of a bifunctional RNA involved in the virulence
of Dickeya dadantii
10:00 – 10:15 | Clara Blonde: Interconnection between metabolism and virulence during the
molecular dialogue Arabidopsis thaliana - Dickeya dadantii
10:15 – 10:30 | Anaël Galot: Genetic, genomic, and adaptive bases of the ecological success of
a green microalga, Picocystis salinarum, in an extreme lake: Dziani Dzaha (Mayotte)
10:30 – 10:45 | Emma Bonnaud: Construction of a haloalkaliphilic archaeal strain for the
overproduction of extremozymes
10:45 – 11:00 | Break
11:00 – 11:15 | Lilian Cloarec: Current insights of Woesearchaeota community in lake Dziani
Dzaha
11:15 – 11:30 | Thomas Bacchetta: Woese News: all the latest news on the enrichment attempts
of Woesearchaeota
11:30 – 11:45 | Lear bou-daghe: Identification of thermoadaptation fingerprints from protein 3D
structures using persistent homology and machine learning
11:45 – 12:00 | Margot Saracco: How mutations expose hidden lipids and gene annotation
failures in Pyrococcus furiosus.
12:00 – 12:15 | Marnie Mallet: Metagenomic screening of dehalogenases, new tools for
organohalides decontamination
12:15 – 12:30 | Quentin Dubois: Unraveling of the ArcZ-SlyA regulatory pathway controlling
solanimycin production
12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch & networking
Afternoon – Presentations
14:00 – 14:15 | Laura Valery: Decoding Infection Cushions: Subcellular Organization and
Perturbation Factor Insights
14:15 – 14:30 | Ines Tguafaiti: Understanding the asymptomatic state of Botrytis cinerea:
pathotest development and quantification
14:30 – 14:45 | Caroline Bournaud: Cellular heterogeneity and spatial distribution of Botrytis
cinerea: towards a new understanding of plant-fungal pathosystems
Career Talks
15:00 – 16:00 | Career Talks – Session 1
Speaker 1 – Valentin Joannet
Entrepreneurship Center Lyon Saint-Étienne
Valentin supports innovative project leaders and young entrepreneurs. He will present available
resources and programs for PhD students and researchers interested in launching a startups
Speaker 2 – Carolina Sardinha Francisco
Lab Manager - Disease Control Chemical Class Phase
Carolina completed her PhD at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) and pursued a postdoc at
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Germany). With a strong international academic
background, she will share her journey from academia to industry and her current role leading a
biology lab at Bayer
Speaker 3 – Janos Adam
Laboratory Manager in Plant Production at Bayer
Janos earned his PhD in Plant Protection and Integrated Pest Management from MATE
University (Hungary). He spent several years as an assistant lecturer and researcher at
Corvinus University of Budapest and Szent István University, focusing on plant virology and
integrated pest management. After managing high-tech greenhouses in the private sector, he
joined Bayer, where he applies his academic and technical expertise in a biosafety and
greenhouse management role.
Q&A with the audience
16:00 – 17:00 | Career Talks – Session 2
Speaker 4 – Sébastien Vacher
CEO of Conidia Coniphy
Sébastien completed his PhD at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (France), focusing on the
phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum within the MAP research unit. With a passion
for fungal biology and its applications, he co-founded Conidia Coniphy in 2005, after two years
of incubation at the university. The startup supports industries in managing mold-related
challenges through cutting-edge microbiological expertise and R&D. Sébastien will share his
transition from academic research to entrepreneurship and the creation of a niche biotech
company.
Speaker 5 – Mathieu Gourgues
Plant Pathology Hub Lead at Bayer
Mathieu completed his PhD in Phytopathology in Lyon, through a collaboration between
Université Paris-Sud, the CNRS, and Bayer CropScience, focusing on fungal pathogenicity
mechanisms. He then pursued a postdoc on fertilization genetics in Arabidopsis thaliana at
École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, before becoming an associate professor at Université Nice
Sophia Antipolis, where he led research on plant–oomycete interactions and effector proteins.
In 2016, he moved to industry and joined Bayer, where he now leads the Plant Pathology Hub
within the Small Molecules division. Mathieu will share his rich experience across academic and
industrial research in plant health.
Q&A & wrap-up