International scientists at Irset talk about their experience...

I am a 26 year-old Lebanese PhD student. My thesis work is being carried out in joint supervision between the Lebanese University (UL) and University of Rennes. I got a Bachelor degree in Biochemistry from the UL Faculty of Sciences (UL), and my Master degree in Applied Biotechnology from the UL Faculty of Health. Irset is a highly qualified research institute that responds to my ambitions and objectives: to study biological processes and environmental factors that influence and may affect human health and that help to orientate the public to assess what may menace their health, based on scientific research. I’m honored to be a member of Irset team for three years. There I’ve been acquiring a very significant scientific experience due to the state-of-the-arte laboratories, the availability of cutting-edge equipment and analysis instruments, and especially the scientific spirit of the team, that helps me accomplish a successful thesis. And the most important thing I have experienced at Irset is the sense of humanity and cooperation that exists between all teams’ members.

My name is Kenji Shoji, I come from Bolivia and I worked at Irset from 2013 to 2016. After completing my PhD in Physiological Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, I joined Irset for a post-doctoral position. Irset is a high-level research center that benefits from distinguished scholars. During my stay, I had the opportunity to develop my ideas working with the latest research tools and technologies. Living in Rennes has also given me the chance to learn a new language and make lots of friends. Brittany is one of the most beautiful places in France and everybody there is extremely helpful and supportive. My time at Irset helped me consolidate myself as a scientist and gave me the tools to explore for future opportunities in Europe. Today I work as a research scientist in one of the best biotech companies in Europe. My experience at Irset was a turning point in my career that nobody should miss out on.

I am 35 years old with Pakistani nationality. I joined Irset in Rennes in September 2008 as Masters leading to PhD fellow, funded by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, in the team of Michel Samson. Before joining Irset I hold degrees of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and Masters in Veterinary Microbiology from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), Pakistan and I was serving as Lecturer of Microbiology at UAF, Pakistan. I was fascinated by the thematic and quality of research at Irset and It was my immense desire to work in such a dynamic group of researchers. Luckily, Dr Michel Samson accepted me for the scientific mentorship and to decipher the role of immune mediators in liver diseases. My stay at Irset from 2008 to 2012 resulted in many intellectual and scientific outcomes in terms of research publications, capacity building, training and future collaboration. I learned team work, critical scientific thinking and most importantly the French cultural norms that shaped up my personality entirely. After completion of my doctoral studies in Rennes, I re-joined my post at the Institute of Microbiology, UAF, Pakistan where I’ve been serving as Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) of Microbiology since 2013. Currently, I am leading a research group with five on-going research projects on hepatitis (diagnostics and therapeutics) as Principal Investigator, including one of the research project (PERIDOT-France) jointly with Michel Samson. I look forward to continue this research collaboration and happy to work with Irset again. 

My name is Raquel de Lima Leite Soares Alvarenga. I am a 49-year-old Brazilian Clinical Embryologyst. I’ve been working on human in vitro fertilisation for almost 28 years. I am from Belo Horizonte, a city in the South-East region of Brazil. 

My former professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Dr Luiz Renato de França, offered me this great opportunity to join Nathalie Dejucq-Rainsford’s team at Irset in Rennes. My work there was to develop human testicular cell cultures to investigate the infection by HIV in vitro. I was involved in the process of procurement of donated testicular tissue, primary culture, characterization of the cells, confocal microscopy, tissue freezing, cell sorting, PCR, among others.

Everyone at Irset, and especially Nathalie’s team, did everything to help me, teach me, and make me feel at home.

I stayed in Rennes with my husband Rodrigo and my two sons, Renato (11) and Pedro (9). We loved living in Rennes and discovering Brittany!

I am deeply thankful for this opportunity to learn new techniques and work in such a high-standard institute, and I hope to be able to give back, here in Brazil, all the knowledge I have acquired there.