Vozenin Marie-Catherine

Prof. Marie-Catherine Vozenin

Oncology Department, HUG

Radiobiology

Initially trained as Radiation Biologist at the Commisariat à L’Energie Atomique, Fr (PhD, 1999), I had three successful experiences in creating radiobiology laboratories in France (UpresEA2710 and InsermU1030) and in Switzerland (CHUV). I was recruited by the HUG and appointed as an invited Professor at UNIGE in August 2023 to establish the first research Laboratory focused on Innovation in Radiobiology applied to Radio-Oncology (LiRR).
To perform my investigations, I have developed an extensive array of pre-clinical and clinical model systems able to recapitulate simultaneously normal tissue and tumor response to radiotherapy including FLASH. My research has been supported by a total of 34 collaborative and personal grants and an extensive network of national and international collaborations spanning academia and industry, I also hold three patents. I am willing to share my expertise with the CRTOH community and fully integrate radiotherapy in the novel treatment strategies developed in the CRTOH.

A notable achievement of mine has been the development of a groundbreaking radiation therapy technique called FLASH, which reduces normal tissue toxicity while effectively eliminating tumors in various organs and species. Now, my primary goal is to bring this transformative opportunity to clinical practice, ensuring its safe and impactful implementation for the benefit of all cancer patients. We are working on protons and VHEE FLASH in collaboration with the PSI nd the CERN and are developing a pole of expertise dedicated to X-rays to implement conformational FLASH radiotherapie. Our research focus on brain tumors and more specifically the rares pediatric tumors against which improvement is desperately needed.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

jFavaudon V, Caplier L, Monceau V, Pouzoulet F, Sayarath M, Fouillade C, Poupon MF, Brito I, Hupé P, Bourhis J, Hall,J, Fontaine JJ, Vozenin MC. Ultrahigh dose-rate FLASH irradiation increases the differential response between normal and tumor tissue in mice. Sci Transl Med. 2014 Jul 16; 6(245):245ra93.
Montay-Gruel / P., Acharya, M. M., Petersson, K., Alikhani, L., Yakkala, C., Allen, B. D., Ollivier, J., Petit, B., Jorge, P. G., Syage, A. R., Nguyen, T. A., Baddour, A. A. D., Lu, C., Singh, P., Moeckli, R., Bochud, F., Germond, J.-F., Froidevaux, P., Bailat, C., Limoli, C. L., Vozenin MC (2019). Long-term neurocognitive benefits of FLASH radiotherapy driven by reduced reactive oxygen species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 166(22), 10943–10951.
Montay-Gruel / P, Acharya MM, Gonçalves Jorge P, Petit B, Petridis IG, Fuchs P, Leavitt R, Petersson K, Gondre M, Ollivier J, Moeckli R, Bochud F, Bailat C, Bourhis J, Germond JF, Limoli CL and Vozenin MC. Hypo-fractionated FLASH-RT as an effective treatment against glioblastoma that reduces neurocognitive side effects in mice, Clin Canc Res, Feb 1;27(3):775-784doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-0894. . DOI.
Rohrer Bley C , Wolf F, Gonçalves Jorge P, Grilj V, Petridis I, Petit B, Böhlen TT, Moeckli R, Limoli C, Bourhis J, Meier V, Vozenin MC. Dose and volume limiting late toxicity of FLASH radiotherapy in cats with squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal planum and in mini-pigs. Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Apr 14:clincanres.0262.2022. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-0262. PMID: 35421221. DOI.
Almeida A, Godfroid C, Leavitt RJ, Montay-Gruel P, Petit B, Romero J, Ollivier J, Meziani L, Sprengers K, Paisley R, Grilj V, Limoli CL, Romero P, Vozenin MC. (2024). Antitumor Effect by Either FLASH or Conventional Dose Rate Irradiation Involves Equivalent Immune Responses. Mar 15;118(4):1110-1122.

Link to full publication list HERE

Researchers