I am a microbiologist specialized in bacteriophages and their interactions with bacteria and microbial communities, with a particular focus on the gut microbiota.
I completed my PhD at Université Paris-Saclay (2014–2018), where I studied bacteriophages associated with the gut microbiota, particularly those infecting Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Roseburia intestinalis. This work allowed me to develop strong expertise in microbiology, genomics, and phage–host interactions.
I then pursued postdoctoral training at Université Laval, Canada (2019–2021), in Sylvain Moineau’s lab, where I further investigated phage–bacterium interactions, developed CRISPR-based genetic approaches to control prophage activity, and worked on the development of gnotobiotic zebrafish larvae. I subsequently joined Ilana Brito’s lab at Cornell University (2021–2024) for a second postdoctoral position, broadening my expertise to the study of interactions between bacteria and the human host in the gut ecosystem.
My research focuses on a few key questions: how do phages and prophages influence the dynamics, evolution, and stability of bacterial populations, particularly within the gut microbiota? What are the mechanisms leading to prophage induction or repression? Are there undescribed latent phage infection cycles in the gut environment? My work combines experimental microbiology, bacterial genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics, together with gnotobiotic in vivo systems, to investigate phage–host interactions in complex environments.
Grant : Explor’AE 2026 – Exploration Panel
jeffrey-cornuault
