Ouerdia Maskri, Ph.D.

I was born and grew up in Algeria. Always interested in science, I fulfilled an engineering degree in biotechnology before moving to France. I pursued a Master's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Pierre and Marie Curie (Sorbonne University). There, I developed a real interest in Biochemistry and the Structure of Nucleic acids. In 2013, I started my Ph.D. thesis on the characterization of molecular mechanisms of the first strand transfer in HIV-1, under the supervision of Dr. Philippe Fossé, at ENS Paris-Saclay. After that, I wanted to acquire experience in Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies; then, I pursued two years of Post-doctoral research at Institut de Recherche en Infectiologie de Montpellier (IRIM), with Dr. Konstantin Brodolin.

 

My research project aimed to characterize the transcriptomic profile of the RbpA transcription factor, in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, during the resistance to Rifampicin. The research field always interested me, but my versatility quest pushed me to learn new things in applied sciences. I thus decided to switch from academia to industry, and I started a new chapter of my career. In 2019, I integrated a French startup in Paris, a spin-off from Curie Institute, developing instruments for miniaturization and automation of Molecular Biology protocols.

 

Now I am an application scientist working to develop new tools to make the lab experience easier for scientists. I’m also very committed to encouraging women to pursue a career in science, and for the record, my two little sisters followed my path performing PhDs in Chemistry and Physics.