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Four Young Researchers from Pasteur Network members participate in the 2025 PhD Graduation Ceremony
Four young graduates from the Pasteur Network were honored at the Institut Pasteur’s PhD Graduation Ceremony on December 12th 2025. This celebration marked the end of a chapter for this new generation of researchers.
Since 2013, this annual event —organized by the Education Department of Institut Pasteur—has showcased the achievements of young researchers, marking its 13th edition in 2025. The ceremony featured a keynote address by Pr. Myriam Merad, Director of the Institute for Precision Immunology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Renowned for his groundbreaking work in the chemical biology of nucleic acids, Sir Shankar shared an inspiring message to young graduates encouraging them to pursue exploration over linear career pathways and take all the competencies learned during PhDs also outside of the laboratories.
Following his speech, Rebecca Grais, Executive Director of the Pasteur Network, formally introduced the PN graduates, emphasizing their contributions to a wide range of research fields. Each laureate also presented the highlights of their PhDs. Doctoral students from the Network had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of topics reinforcing the strength and reach of the Pasteur Network’s global research community.
Click on each name to learn more.
Thesis: Investigation of the role of microglia in remyelination and repair of the CNS, to enhance their beneficial function as new therapeutic strategies for Multiple Sclerosis
Athena Boutou studied Biology at the University of Athens and received an Erasmus+ scholarship to attend Université Paris Diderot in France (2017). She completed an international MSc in Neurosciences, graduating as valedictorian (2019), with her thesis conducted at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute and the Netherlands Institute of Neurosciences. She recently completed her PhD in Neuroimmunology (2025) at the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of the Hellenic Pasteur Institute and the Medical School of Athens. Her research focuses on therapeutic strategies targeting microglia to enhance remyelination and CNS repair in demyelinating neurodegenerative diseases, with key findings published in Cell Reports (Boutou et al., 2024). She has received multiple awards in international conferences, including EMBO Microglia 2024, FENS 2024, the Hellenic Academy of Neuroimmunology 2024, the Hellenic Society of Neurosciences 2023, Glia 2023, and ESNI 2019. Athena values international networking, recently leading the organizing committee of the 8th Hellenic & Paris Pasteur Institute Young Scientists Conference 2025, fostering connections among young researchers across the Pasteur Network.
Thesis: Development of a technological platform for metagenomic surveillance of viruses circulating in mosquitoes
Luisa is a biomedical scientist with a BSc in Biomedicine from UFPE and both an MSc and a PhD in Biosciences and Biotechnology in Health from FIOCRUZ. Her academic trajectory focused on molecular biology, arbovirus surveillance, and vector–pathogen interactions, with experience ranging from Wolbachia detection to viromics and dengue virus molecular analyses. She designed and executed assays involving RT-qPCR, sequencing, genomic surveillance, and bioinformatic workflows, contributing to peer-reviewed publications and international collaborations. She currently works as a Researcher at FIOCRUZ, where she conduct experimental and analytical studies on dengue vaccine replication dynamics in mosquito and murine models. Her technical background includes training in genomic surveillance, data visualization in R, and public-health field methodologies, along with strong skills in scientific writing, data interpretation, and documentation according to institutional standards.
Thesis: Phenotypic and molecular characterization of multi-resistant enterobacteriaceae in fecal carriage among children residing in Bangui (Central African Republic)
Hugues Sanke-Waïgana obtained a PhD in Life, Health and Environmental Sciences at the Cheikh Anta Diop University Dakar, Senegal, on the theme: « Phenotypic and molecular characterization of multi-antibiotic-resistant enterobacteriaceae in fecal carriage among children residing in Bangui (Central African Republic) ». Thesis defended on July 30, 2025 with a very honourable mention with congratulations from the jury. The thesis work was carried out jointly at the Pole of Microbiology, at the Institut Pasteur in Dakar and the laboratory of medical and experimental bacteriology, at the Institut Pasteur in Bangui. He has been working in the laboratory of medical and experimental bacteriology at the Institut Pasteur in Bangui, Central African Republic since 2015. He participates in the steering of scientific projects, including the CHART project which evaluated enterobacterial resistance to third-generation cephalosporins in neonatology in the pediatric complex of Bangui, the AFRIBIOTA 1 and 2 project which studied the development mechanisms of pediatric environmental enteropathy in children with moderate, severe and severe normonutritional malnutrition in Bangui and Antananarivo (Madagascar), the SARA project which carries out a surveillance of antibiotic resistance in Africa and the PRETERM project, which conducts a pragmatic study of therapies aimed at improving respiratory management of premature infants in Africa. Mr. Sanke-Waïgana actively participates in the writing of research projects and the publication of scientific works in international journals. He has strong expertise in the detection of genetic elements to antimicrobials, infectious diseases, molecular epidemiology and bacteriology.
Thesis: Multidisciplinary approaches for studying cutaneous leishmaniasis in Morocco: bioinformatics pipeline, development of predictive modeling and Artificial Intelligence-aided mobile diagnostic application.
Hasnaa Talimi is a computer scientist and bioinformatician who recently completed her PhD at the Institut Pasteur du Maroc (IPM) in collaboration with the National School of Applied Sciences of Tangier (ENSAT). Her research combines genomic analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand and control cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Morocco.
She optimized whole-genome sequencing pipelines to study Leishmania tropica genome instability and population diversity, developed machine-learning models to predict new CL cases over time, and co-created a deep-learning mobile application to support healthcare professionals in diagnosing CL, particularly in resource-limited settings.
She has also been involved in teaching and supervising Master’s students in their final projects, and she enjoys making complex concepts in AI and genomics accessible to multidisciplinary teams. Passionate about building bridges between wet-lab scientists, clinical teams, and data scientists, she aims to pursue a national and international career in which AI-based methods support research on infectious diseases and global health.