Cécile FORMOSA-DAGUE

When Cécile talks about her journey before becoming a researcher, she eventually opens up : “I’ve studied a bit of everything. I spent a lot of time trying to work out what I wanted to do. And in the end, what I wanted to do was to keep searching.” Agricultural college, university foundation course, followed by a bachelor’s degree in fundamental microbiology, and finally a master’s degree in Biotechnology Applied to Health, during which she undertook a six-month work placement at ITAV¹, during which she will be introduced to a technology that was then still a closely guarded secret in the life sciences: atomic force microscopy, or AFM.

AFM is a very high-resolution imaging technique that enables the topography and biophysical properties of a surface to be mapped at the nanometre scale, including on living organisms. A scientific revelation that would stay with her forever… and which, over time, would also become a more personal story, as it was whilst working with an AFM that she met the man who would become her husband.

She then secured a grant from the DGA² to undertake a PhD on multi-drug-resistant bacteria as part of the fight against bioterrorism, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Belgium, working with a team that was then a world leader in AFM. Returning to Toulouse in 2017 thanks to Marie Curie funding, she joined the TIM team through Pascal Guiraud, who supported her efforts to secure a permanent position. She passed the CNRS competitive examination in 2019 and has since continued her career at TBI.

From this series of encounters, Cécile has come away with one certainty: the kindness she did not always receive, she now wants to pass on in turn — particularly to the young female researchers she mentors today, and whose support, she says, remains what fulfils her most in her profession. On the scientific front, she is now applying her rare expertise to a very practical question: how to harvest microalgae for the production of biofuels, by understanding what happens at the molecular level when the cells clump together. To this end, she heads up TBI’s AFM platform, a state-of-the-art microscope installed in 2022.

In her office, a huge Lego model – a present she received for her PhD – serves as an excuse for anyone who wants to pop in for a chat. It’s one way, among others, of reminding us that rigour need not preclude a light-hearted approach. Cécile is one of those young researchers who manage to balance a demanding career — with rare expertise, recognised by her peers — and a genuine work-life balance: as a mother of young children, she also makes time for herself, between regular gym sessions and family road trips.