Portraits of CRC women: Delphine Garnier, teacher-researcher

14/02/2024

To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science, each day of the week CRC presents a portrait of one of its women in science.

Delphine Garnier, 42, is a lecturer at Sorbonne University. She divides her time between teaching and research in the team Drug resistance in hematological malignancies (DRIHM).

  • What is your research topic?

I’m trying to understand the role of secreted vesicles in the tumor environment, how they modify the metabolism of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells, and impact their proliferation and dissemination.

  • How would you describe your job?

My time is divided roughly equally between the laboratory, where I lead a research project on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, and the university, where I teach biology to undergraduate and graduate students. It’s a very rich job, thanks to the diversity of exchanges with students, researchers, technical staff and MD from the team. There’s never a dull moment!

  • Is there a woman scientist who has inspired you?

Not one woman in particular, but clearly several of the women scientists I’ve met along the way have inspired me, each for different reasons (courage, creativity, dedication to their profession, leadership…) and have helped me build myself as a woman scientist.

  • Is there anything you’d like to talk about as a woman in science?

Personally, I don’t feel I’ve been treated any differently from a man. But it’s clear that the place of women has evolved since the start of my career. Back then, the teams were overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, run by men. Today, at CRC, 50% of the teams are headed by women, and the center’s director is a woman.

  • A key word in the context of Women in Science Day?

I’d say “Passion”… Living one’s profession with passion often gives one the strength to overcome hardships and fight against inequalities of any kind.