Team

About the team

Are you looking for the team of your life? Don’t search any longer, here we are!

Our team is composed of 20 skillful and brilliant students from many fields. In our team you can find biology students from AgroParisTech, from École Normale Supérieur and from Paris Sud University. We also have computer scientists, physicians and for the first time we have a couple of lovely law students.

Our iGEM family would never have seen the light of the day without the support of our talented advisors: the PhD fellows and researchers from the Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC).

Like at the beginning of every love story we didn’t really knew each other well, but we spent the best year (and summer) of our lives. Our expertise in many fields is our strength and it helped us to build our I’JAIME project with all our heart and make the dream come true. Even while the team was divided in different groups to focus on certain part of the project, we all had the chance to experience and learn something new and rewarding. Being part of this team was like a family. It asked commitment, organization and listening to each other. Every problem had a solution because we were together and we never stop believing in our project. Together for the good and the worst, forever.

Our mascot

Crispy is a E. coli matchmaker. He will not rest until he has matched every lonely DNA molecule to another.

Team members

... Match it ;)!

More seriously...

Alice L’Huillier

Age: 20

University: École Normale Supérieure of Paris (ENS Paris)

Degree: BSc student (3rd year) on Biology

Biography: "I'm a Bsc student on Biology and Health and I'm quite interested by the research career. The iGEM gives us a great opportunity to discover the possible applications in the biology field and allows us to see concretely what can we actually work with. A good example inside the context is the possibility to improve an organism with the features that we have chosen. I also look forward for the experience that I will gain with new technics through the iGEM internship during summer."

Carla Faria

Age: 22

University: Paris Sud - Paris Saclay

Degree: MSc student (1st year) on Biology and Health.

Biography: "I did the first two years of the Biology undergraduation course at Paris Diderot University, and after that I've decided to come to Paris Saclay University. There I joined the third year of the Biology and Health undergraduation course, choosing also the option Magistère. I'd like to start a career into the cancer field. The iGEM project first interested me because of its interdisciplinary and human aspect. Also the perspective of going to Boston to present the project seems very attractive, specially a competition created by the MIT. Last but not least, been able to participate in a project from A to Z from a scientific and financing point of view is very interesting and that kind of opportunity doesn't come frequently to a lot of students."

Caroline Correia

Age: 22

University: Paris Sud – Paris Saclay

Degree: MSc student (2nd year) on Biology and Health.

Biography: "I'm at the fifth year of Biology at Paris Saclay University, soon entering my second year of Msc studies. I'm also part of the option Magistère for the Biologie Santé graduation course. These options gives me the possibility of a double degree with a focus on management and marketing, also including english classes and extra internships. For my second year of master, I wish to go into the neuroscience field, followed by a PhD after. The iGEM project will allow me to have a first experience in the world of scientific research and also my future career, in all its steps."

Charlène Valadon

Age: 22

University: Paris Sud – Paris Saclay

Degree: MSc student (2nd year) Biology and Health

Biography: "I've attended Paris Saclay University since the beginning of my studies. I've decided to enter the Magistère course, which opens a door into the corporate world and gives you the prestige of a selective course. I want to pursue my studies and do a PhD in the private sector. I joined the iGEM team because it's an opportunity to learn more about Synthetic Biology and be challenged with: creating a project, managing the finances and also participating on a international scientific conference."

Claire Schaffhauser

Age: 26

University: Faculté Jean Monnet - Paris-Saclay

Degree: MSc student (2nd year) on Innovation Law and Industrial Property.

Biography: "I started my superior studies with a degree in Modern Foreign Languages (English-Spanish) in Strasbourg (France), before Law School. I made my third year of law in Ireland thanks to the Erasmus exchange program. I am currently in my fifth year of law studies, specializing on Innovation Law and Industrial Property.. Being part of the iGEM project with the Paris Saclay University is a new challenge and I am proud to be part of this multidisciplinary team! My main job is to answer any legal questions that will arise as well as helping with any other need that will lead to the success of our project. I am interesting in Biotechnology because it is an innovative field which raises several issues concerning Intellectual Property, such as patents."

Coline Sivelle

Age: 24

University: École AgroParisTech – Paris Saclay

Degree: PhD fellow (1st year) on Therapeutic Innovation - CEA/Paris Saclay

Biography: "Originally from the Alpes, I first arrived in Paris 3 years ago to study Biotechnology and I'm particularly interested in proteins engineering. The iGEM competition is for me an adventure that gives us the freedom to conceive, to organize a project of our own choice and to be able to do so with a real interdisciplinary research team."

Etienne Kukielczynski

Age: 23

University: Paris Sud - Paris Saclay

Degree: BSc student (3rd year) on Applied Physics

Biography: "I've already been engaged in scientific projects during my studies and also in personal projects. I love the iGEM approach and because I'm interested in Sciences in a general sense, I wanted to participate and gain a wider sense of different biology fields of research."

Gaëtan Cousin

Age: 23

University: Paris Sud - Paris Saclay

Degree: BSc student (3rd year) on Informatics

Biography: "I'm currently at the third year of a BSc Informatics degree. I'm interested particularly on new technologies and app development. I've decided to participate on the iGEM competition to discover new fields and to do new extra curricular activities. I'm a curious person and sciences have always interested me a lot, therefore I saw this project as a perfect match for my profile."

Laetitia Perrin

Age: 21

University: Institut Villebon - Université Paris Saclay

Degree: BSc student (3rd year) on Sciences and Technologies.

Biography: "I'm currently in the third year of the Sciences and Technologies undergraduation course. The course is held at the Villebon Institut, which is part of the Paris Saclay University. I'm driven by Sciences since a long time, specially biology and biotechnology. In the future this is the sector I'd like to work on. I find that some known biotechnological applications could be improved and this is what motivates me to pursue my studies. I see iGEM as an opportunity to have fun while constructing useful biosynthetics technologies."

Léa Talbot

Age: 22

University: Evry University - Paris-Saclay

Degree: MSc student (2nd year) on Systems and Synthetic Biology.

Biography: "After getting my high school degree with scientific emphasis in 2012, I've joined the Bsc biology program with emphasis on biology, physics and chemistry, at the Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne. I got my Bsc degree in 2015 and came to the Université Paris Saclay to join an interdisciplinary Master on Biochemistry and Biotechnology as well as the Magistère option. I'm now pursuing a master degree in synthetic biology. Later on, I'd like to work in the biotechnology field or in the synthetic biology area, so it was only natural that I would apply for the iGEM team. The iGEM will provide me the concrete experience of a biology project, because it offers much more than the experience of a simple competition. Our goal is also to experiment a new work environment, learn how to manage a project and to add all this professional and personal growth to our background."

Mahnaz Sabeti Azad

Age: 27

University: Paris Saclay

Degree: PhD fellow (1st year) on Structure and Dynamics of Living Systems

Biography: "I've got my Bachelor's degree on Biology at Tehran (Iran) and after I applied for a master on Biology and Health in France. I'm at the second year of the master program, specializing on “Fundamental Microbiology” and I truly believe that the Synthetic Biology is the field of the FUTURE. Due to Synthetic Biology we will reach the technologies that right now, we are not even able to imagine them! And all start here at iGEM!"

Marin Brenac

Age: 21

University: Faculté Jean Monnet - Paris Saclay

Degree: MSc student (2nd year) on Fundamental Intellectual Property

Biography: "After a Law and Political Sciences degree, I'm at the second year of Fundamental Intellectual Property Master. I discovered Synthetic Biology by curiosity and than I decided to join the iGEM team to create a concrete project around the subject. I'm very pleased to be part of this interdisciplinary team and to share the ambition about this very young discipline, which raises a lot of new challenges in the field of Intellectual Property."

Mathilde Falieres

Age: 21

University: Paris Sud – Paris Saclay

Degree: MSc student (1st year) on Biology and Health.

Biography: "I did a double Bsc degree to be able to open myself to new domains rather than Biology, like management and marketing, but nevertheless focusing in Biology and Health. Science by itself can be not that interesting, so the iGEM concept is quite attractive and dynamic. I'm part of it because I love the idea of a multidisciplinary team which is able to think together about all the aspects of a single project, but that also carries many specific challenges. In synthetic biology all crazy concepts seems possible to imagine!"

Maxence Pfeiffer

Age: 23

University: École AgroParisTech – Paris Saclay

Degree: MSc degree on Biotechnology

Biography: "After finishing high school I've done two years of a special class called "classe préparatoire" BCPST (biology, chemistry, physics and earth sciences) at the Jean Rostand High School in Strasbourg, which allowed me to be accepted at the School of Agronomic Engineering of Rennes, in 2013. During my two years in Rennes I did an internship in Australia and now I have graduated from the School of Agronomic Engineering of Paris, AgroParisTech, and specialized on Biotechnology."

Naiane Ribeiro Rios

Age: 26

University: Paris Sud – Paris Saclay

Degree: BSc (4th year) on Biology and Health

Biography: "I started my BSc degree on Biology in Brazil before coming to France and now I'm enrolled at Université Paris Saclay and currently attending the 3rd year of the Biologie Santé undergraduation course. At this stage I've done 3 internships in different labs and this year I was looking for something different when I joined the iGEM team. During my years in Brazil I fell in love with microbiology, specially applied for a greater good but now I'm eager to do science in a more interdisciplinary way. I believe that knowledge is created to be spread and not be blocked inside academic formalities and that matches exactly with the iGEM purpose. So I'm more than happy to be part of this amazing iGEM family."

Terrence Tran

Age: 20

University: Institut Villebon - Université Paris Saclay

Degree: BSc student (3rd year) on Sciences and Technologies.

Biography: "I'm attending the third year of Licence and I'm very curious about the possibilities that synthetic biology can offer. I'm eager to participate in a great scale project like this one. I love of sciences and I'd like to be able to learn a bit about all of them."

Victor Billon

Age: 22

University: École Normale Supérieure of Cachan (ENS Cachan) – Paris Saclay

Degree: BSc student (4th year) on Biology and Health

Biography: "I'm currently at the fourth year of the BSc program on Biology and Health, after spending 3 years at the “classe préparatoire” in Biology, a special class we have in France after High School. My “thing” is to find new ideas, ask questions, find solutions and go into adventures. I love to go everywhere, far away - alone or in a group - participate in all sort of activities and put myself into unknown situations. Meaningless to say all this brings me to iGEM. For the moment I'm more interested in virology, genetics...well microbiology in a general sense. But I love several other topics! If you bring it up photography or philosophy you'll see!"

Yacine Kabeche

Age: 21

University: École AgroParisTech – Paris Saclay

Degree: MSc student (4th year) on ...

Biography: "I'm currently a student in the fourth year of undergraduation, both in Biology and Health. These courses allows me to gain knowledge and skills both in biology and management strategy. I wanted to participate at the iGEM competition because I believe that synthetic biology is in its rising moment, which could allow in a near future to solve several obstacles. What do I love? To overcome challenges and for me iGEM is one of them."

Marion Sevin

Age: 22

University: Paris Saclay

Degree: MSc student (2nd year) on Bioinformatics and Biostatistics

Biography: "I'm currently attending the second year on the Bioinformatics and Biostatistics master program. AT first I did my Biology undergraduation at the Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris 6) because I was always attracted by the living world and sciences in a general sense. I applied to the iGEM team because I'm really interested on synthetic biology and I love the idea of been part of this adventure. To develop a project with a whole team and to discover new perspectives is absolutely great!"