Virginie Marcel is a Research Director at INSERM and will lead the “Epitranscriptomics of Ribosome and Cancer” team starting in January 2027 at the Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL).

Virginie Marcel is a molecular biologist who completed her PhD thesis in the team led by Prof. Pierre Hainaut. Following a first postdoctoral fellowship in Scotland, she joined the Centre Léon Bérard in Lyon as a postdoctoral researcher to pursue her work on tumor biology and cancer molecular genetics.

After being recruited by INSERM, she dedicated her research to understanding the role of ribosome biogenesis alterations and translational regulation in tumor progression and treatment resistance. Her work notably demonstrated that there is not a single type of ribosome, but rather a heterogeneity of ribosomes whose composition – particularly the 2′-O-methylation of ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) – is altered in cancer cells. This conceptual and experimental framework enabled her to show how these epitranscriptomic modifications and distinct ribosomes control the translation of specific mRNAs involved in cell plasticity, particularly during the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Among her major contributions are highlighting the role of rRNA methylation in the tumor cell phenotype, characterizing the impact of chemotherapies and targeted therapies on ribosome biogenesis and function, and discovering the key role of these ribosomal alterations in metastasis emergence and drug resistance. These advances pave the way for using ribosome composition as a prognostic biomarker and developing novel therapeutic strategies specifically targeting these altered ribosomes.

Her research has earned her national and international recognition, reflected in numerous publications in prestigious scientific journals and the co-organization of excellence research programs, particularly within the framework of the SIRIC LYRICAN+ initiative, where she co-leads focus areas dedicated to the molecular characterizations of tumors and their roles in tumor progression. In addition to her fundamental and translational research activities, Virginie Marcel is actively involved in scientific outreach and raising public awareness about the challenges of oncology research.