FABIEN SINDIKUBWABO

Dr. Fabien Sindikubwabo is a CNRS Research Scientist (Chargé de recherche classe normale) at the Institut Pasteur, Paris, in the Cell Polarity, Migration & Cancer Laboratory led by Dr. Sandrine Étienne-Manneville (CNRS Research Director). He obtained his Ph.D. in Physiology, Physiopathologies and Pharmacology from Université Grenoble Alpes in 2017 under the supervision of Dr. Mohamed-Ali Hakimi (Inserm Research Director). During his Ph.D., he investigated the role of the histone deacetylase HDAC3 in the differentiation and pathogenesis of Toxoplasma gondii, focusing on the transition from the proliferative tachyzoite stage to the encysted bradyzoite stage. He subsequently joined Dr. Raphaël Rodriguez’s laboratory at Institut Curie, Paris, as a postdoctoral researcher, where he studied metal signalling pathways involved in cancer cell plasticity. He was recruited by the CNRS in 2021 as a permanent research scientist, continuing to develop his expertise in the regulation of cancer cell fate by transition metals, particularly iron and copper. His research focused on the role of transition metals, particularly iron and copper, in inflammation, cancer cell plasticity, metastasis, and ferroptosis. By combining molecular cell biology, chemical biology, genomics, epigenomics, metabolomics, and quantitative proteomics, he investigates how metal homeostasis regulates tumour progression and therapeutic responses. He has developed recognized expertise in understanding how transition metals orchestrate the production of mitochondrial metabolites (e.g., acetyl-CoA, alpha-ketoglutarate) that drive epigenetic reprogramming through histone acetylation or demethylation, thereby linking cellular metabolism to gene regulation and cell fate decisions. His work has led to major advances published in leading international journals, including Nature (2023, 2025), Nature Chemistry (2020), Nature Communications (2026), Nature Microbiology (2020), Chemical Reviews (2025), and Elife (2017). Dr. Sindikubwabo has established a strong track record in contributing to and securing competitive research funding as a partner, including national and international collaborative grants supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR). These include the AAPG 2026 PRC-GVHEPC project (total funding: €770,324) and the Franco–Swiss ANR programme project “LiveSeq” (total funding: €1,084,227). He was also awarded the CNRS RIPEC research excellence bonus (€3,500 per year for three years). He maintains active collaborations with leading national and international research groups, including the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (MIT, USA), and has developed multidisciplinary collaborations in cancer molecular biology, chemical biology, functional genomics (RNA-seq and ChIP-seq), and quantitative proteomics. In addition to his research activities, Dr. Sindikubwabo is actively involved in teaching and mentoring. He teached in and co-coordinated the Master 1 course "Chemistry and Life Sciences" at Université PSL and teached in the Master 2 "Protection and Management of Innovation in Health" at Université Paris-Saclay. He also delivers an annual lecture in the Master's programmes in Chemistry and Cell Biology at Sorbonne Université. He currently co-supervises a Ph.D. student (Arthur Pereira, Institut Curie), has supervised several Master's students, and has served on Master's thesis examination committees. Dr. Sindikubwabo also contributes to the scientific community through peer review. He serves as an invited reviewer for leading international journals, including Nature Methods, Nature Communications, Molecular Biomedicine, and Traffic. In 2026, he was invited to review two Ph.D. dissertations and to serve on Ph.D. thesis examination committees in September and October. Beyond his academic activities, Dr. Sindikubwabo is committed to science communication and public engagement. He contributes to the dissemination of biomedical research through public outreach initiatives and media appearances, including Octobre Rose 2025, an interview in Science & Vie on breast cancer research, features in Paris Match 2025, the Time4 podcast with Daphni 2026, and an interview with Golden Bees for Le Figaro 2020 and French Embassy in United Kingdom (Alumni Day in London) 2023. Dr. Sindikubwabo also contributes to the development of international scientific collaborations. In June 2026, he participated in establishing a strategic partnership in oncology between Institut Curie and Rwanda. As a member of the Institut Curie delegation, together with Dr. Alexis Burnod and Angela Corjos, he went in Rwanda and contributed to implementing this collaboration under the auspices of the French Ministry of Health (DGOS, Direction générale de l'offre de soins). The partnership aims to strengthen cooperation in oncology through training, fundamental and clinical research, and higher education. In April 2026, Dr. Sindikubwabo joined the laboratory of Dr. Sandrine Étienne-Manneville at the Institut Pasteur through a CNRS mobility programme to broaden his scientific expertise, prepare his Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR), and develop an independent research programme aligned with the scientific vision of the Sandrine Étienne-Manneville laboratory. His current research investigates how intermediate filaments, particularly vimentin and GFAP, interact with metabolic and epigenetic pathways to regulate glioblastoma invasion and migration, as well as astrocyte reactivity in neurodegenerative diseases. His long-term research goal is to uncover the molecular mechanisms linking the intermediate filaments, metabolism, and epigenetic regulation, with the aim of identifying novel therapeutic strategies for brain cancer and neurological disorders.