Starting Grants 2025

Meryem Baghdadi's research focuses on stem cells and their environment: the “niche.” She obtained her PhD in 2017 at the Pasteur Institute, where she conducted research on muscle stem cells. After her thesis, she continued her research in Toronto, Canada, at SickKids, this time focusing on intestinal stem cells and their regeneration. Since 2022, she has been a research fellow at the CNRS at the Institut Curie, where she is exploring the role of the mechanical niche in the regulation of intestinal stem cells. She recently joined the Necker Enfants Malade Institute to create her own research team, the “StemNest lab,” where she is developing her projects thanks to ATIP-Avenir funding and the ATIP prize from the Bettencourt-Schuller Foundation. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2024 Young Researcher Prize from the French Federation of Cell Biology, the L'Oréal-UNESCO France Young Talents Award for Women in Science in 2022, and the Pasteur Institute's Scientific Excellence Award in 2018. She also appears in Le Point magazine's “2025 List of France's 100 Innovators.” Her future projects aim to deepen our understanding of pediatric intestinal diseases, focusing on the link between the mechanical properties of the niche and the biochemical signaling of stem cells.

Mechanical regulation of the intestinal stem cell niche in development and disease - mEchaNics in niChe develOpment and DiseasE (ENCODE)

Tissue renewal and regeneration are orchestrated by stem cells, which both differentiate and self-renew. The balance between self-renewal, proliferation, and commitment depends on the stem cell's microenvironment, or “niche.” Stem cells are not simply passive responders to their niches; on the contrary, they play an essential role in building and communicating with their immediate microenvironment.  To date, numerous studies have described the molecular and cellular composition of the niche. However, there are still some gray areas regarding the mechanical properties of the microenvironment, particularly their possible role in regulating the emergence and maintenance of stem cells, as well as the mechanisms involved.

This research project investigates the complex dynamics between mechanical signals, the stromal niche, and stem cell behavior in the context of intestinal development, pathologies, and tumorigenesis. Using multidisciplinary methodologies, this study aims to uncover how the microenvironment influences the emergence of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) during development, focusing on mechanical properties such as substrate stiffness, tension, compression, and topography. In addition, the research examines the role of the stromal niche in necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious inflammatory disorder in premature infants, seeking to elucidate the altered interactions between the stroma and ISCs that may contribute to the pathophysiology of the disease. 

Credit original photograph © Fondation l’Oréal