Three awards for the Institute at the 2025 SFM Annual Meeting

Three contributors from the Institute of Myology were honoured at the 22nd Conference of the French Society of Myology (JSFM), held from 19 to 21 November 2025 in Aix-les-Bains.

In addition, Dimitrios Kourtzas, winner of the 2024 Master’s Prize, presented the progress of his research work.

Marion Benoist is a PhD student in the Muscle Cell Organisation and Therapy of Dominant Centronuclear Myopathy team led by Stéphane Vassilopoulos. She is the winner of the Fundamental Research Poster Award. Her thesis focuses on studying the regulation of two mechanosensitive transcription factors (YAP and TAZ) by plasma membrane proteins (Clathrin, Dynamin 2).
The part presented at the JSFM focused on the defect in their regulation in autosomal dominant centronuclear myopathy. The results are currently being published.

 

Poster  Marion Benoist: Dynamin 2 and clathrin plaques as central nodes in YAP/TAZ-mediated mechanotransduction

 

Dr BĂ©atrice Labella, a neurologist, is an expert in muscle pathology and works with Dr Teresinha Evangelista in the Morphological Unit. She received the Clinical Research Poster Award for her work on pain perception during and after open muscle biopsy, as well as possible complications. The results of her observational study show that muscle biopsy is a very well-tolerated procedure with no serious complications. For the first time, the impact of preoperative anxiety and other factors such as the doctor-patient relationship are explored, which emerged as very important and predictive factors in patients’ perception of pain.

 

Poster Béatrice Labella: Psychosocial determinants of pain in muscle biopsy: a patient view

 

Pierre Klein is postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Research in Myology in the Repeat Expansions & Myotonic Dystrophy (REDs) team led by Denis Furling. He was awarded the Impulsion Prize for his project ‘Role of the epitranscriptome in the pathophysiology of skeletal muscle: involvement of m6A RNA methylation in stem cell plasticity’.

This prize supports postdoctoral researchers wishing to apply for research fellow positions.

➱ Read his interview