TEAM LEADER :
Mail : hafid.ait.oufella@inserm.fr
PHONE :+33 1
After a PhD training in the Collège de France (Paris) and a post-doc at the Montreal Heart Institute focused on the study of HIF2alpha and its role in angiogenesis, I have been recruited by Inserm in 2007. I now lead a research team at the Paris-Cardiovascular Research Centre of the Georges Pompidou Hospital (HEGP) in Paris dedicated to the study of the genetics and biology of rare cancers, and in particular pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas. our research activity mainly focuses on inherited forms caused by mutations in genes encoding the mitochondrial enzyme sucinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and their role in pseudo-hypoxia, epithelial-to mesenchymal transition and epigenetic modifications.
Our team develops a basic, translational and clinical research project dedicated to pheochromocytoma/ paraganglioma (PPGL), rare neuroendocrine tumors that cause secondary hypertension. These tumors have a very strong genetic component and around 70% of all cases are now explained by a germline or a somatic mutation in one of the 13 susceptibility genes identified so far.
Our research is particularly focused on deciphering the mechanisms associated with mutations in genes encoding a mitochondrial enzyme, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), with the aim of improving the understanding of PPGL as a model to decipher the mechanisms linking cell metabolism, angiogenesis, epigenetic reprogramming and carcinogenesis.
Our research is of interest for both medical and scientific actors in charge of the patients affected by the disease or implicated in the research on fundamental aspects of angiogenesis, metabolism and oncology .
