Nicolas Leventoux, PhD

After studying at Paris-Saclay University, Nicolas joined the team of Professor Hugues Duffau, Chairman of the Neurosurgery Department in the Montpellier University Medical Center and Head of the Team "Brain plasticity, stem cells and diffuse low-grade gliomas" at the Institute of Functional Genomics of Montpellier (France). There, he worked on the human spinal cord stem cells and brain tumors, especially on the transition between diffuse low-grade glioma to high-grade glioma in adults. Remarkably, Nicolas found that the dysregulation of a barely described enzyme never reported in the brain is linked to tumor progression. He published as first author his results highly relevant to neuro oncology and graduated in 2018 from the University of Montpellier. Two months after, Nicolas became laureate of the highly regarded Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellowship and joined Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, prior to be awarded with a second JSPS fellowship. He developed an original model to turn stem cells into astrocytes, a brain cellular sub-population, and published several articles during his four years at Keio University, mainly as first author, but also as co-author for his contributions to collaborative research. He perfected his time there with a high-impact factor publication reporting the contribution of mitochondria-related gene dysregulation to the progression of a peculiar neurodegenerative disease.

In April 2024, Nicolas started working as a research scientist at RIKEN where he is currently working on projects related to senescence and aging using human induced pluripotent stem cell technology and other cutting-edge tools. Nicolas has been selected to give presentations at international conferences, including the ones in Japan and Thailand.

At the Biomedical Science Camp (BSC) by CELUVI Academy Japan, Nicolas will introduce the concept of rigor in scientific research and safety in the laboratory to the students. He will be, in practice, coaching the students on how to culture stem cells and will also provide them with his experience in writing and submitting scientific results to international peer-reviewed journals. His international experience in academic research and publishing high-impact factor articles will be precious support to students in shaping their future careers as scientists.