Our projects focus on two prominent families of bacterial respiratory pathogens: Mycobacterium and Bordetella.

Today, respiratory infections—many caused by pathogenic bacteria—rank among the world's most lethal threats. Tuberculosis alone is responsible for approximately 1.6 million deaths annually, and the global spread of multidrug-resistant TB poses a major therapeutic challenge. Pertussis (whooping-cough) is an endemic disease worldwide, despite high vaccination coverage. After limited circulation during the COVID-19 pandemic, pertussis is experiencing a dramatic global resurgence since 2023, with infants under 6 months of age being the group most at risk of severe disease and death.

The choice to study M. tuberculosis and B. pertussis in parallel is driven by their shared ability to infect the human respiratory tract, yet their remarkably different strategies make them compelling subjects for comparison.

The team's objectives are (i) to investigate the molecular mechanisms of pathogenicity in the B. pertussis and M. tuberculosis pathogen families, (ii) to analyze the genome evolution of M. tuberculosis, and to study the genetic regulation of both pathogens, and (iii) to apply this knowledge in developing innovative vaccines, therapeutics, and molecular diagnostics to combat these deadly diseases.

This continuum, from the ongoing acquisition of fundamental knowledge to the development of clinical applications, is driven by collaborations with key national and international academic partners, as well as expert industrial partners who play a critical role in advancing the clinical development of our discoveries.