Organization
Purdue University
Sophie A. Lelièvre
Profile
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BiographyDr. Lelièvre is a native of France who obtained her undergraduate degree as engineer in Veterinary Sciences from the University of Louvain (Belgium) and her D.V.M. degree from the University of Liège (Belgium) in 1990. She worked as a veterinarian in the emergency room in Paris area (France) from 1990 to 1995, while pursuing M.S. and Ph.D. graduate studies in Cancer Pharmacology at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute and University of Paris VI (Pierre & Marie Curie). Dr. Lelièvre is the 1995 recipient of (i) the National Prize for Fundamental Cancer Research/young investigator from the French Society of Cancer and National Federation of Cancer Institutes and (ii) the National Alexandre Joel Prize for young investigator from the Association for Cancer Research. During her postdoctoral training in Mina Bissell’s laboratory at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA) from 1995 to 2000, she studied the role of the organization of the cell nucleus in normal and cancerous breast epithelial cell behaviours using three-dimensional models of cell culture that recapitulate tissue organization.
Dr. Lelièvre joined the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at Purdue, as a faculty member and Walther Cancer Institute Scholar, in October 2000. Her research program has been externally funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense-Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) among other agencies. It focuses on the role of the organization of the cell nucleus in gene expression and genome stability and the relationship between tissue polarity and nuclear functions, notably epigenetics. Translational projects are targeted towards early detection and prevention of breast cancer. She was one of the three featured breast cancer researchers of the CDMRP in 2008 in recognition for her contributions to breast cancer research since her early career development funding by CDMRP in 1997. Her research accomplishments include notably, (i) the development of methods to analyse and detect phenotypes based on cell nucleus organization at the single cell level, (ii) the design of preclinical three-dimensional cell culture models including organs-on-a-chip to be used for screening protective agents against breast cancer development, for the design of nanomedical tools and for screening therapies, and (iii) the identification of early breast tissue alterations necessary for cancer development and related new potential targets for breast cancer prevention and treatment.
To better integrate public health related disciplines to her research projects, Dr. Lelièvre completed a Master’s degree in Law, Health and Ethics from a EuroPubhealth and Erasmus Mundus international program in 2008 at the University of Rennes (France). She initiated an international program on breast cancer prevention, epigenomics and nutrition (IBCN project) in 2009 that has received logistic support from the World Health Organization. Dr. Lelièvre was selected as a Purdue Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy Fellow in 2009 and Scholar in 2010 and as the 2012 Discovery Learning Research Center Faculty Research Fellow to pursue aspects of this international program. For her work on cancer prevention, she was selected for an Indiana Women of Achievement Award in 2015. She is also a Purdue University Faculty Scholar and an appointed member of the NIH, NCI-I study section for K awards supporting the training of scientists toward independence in research.
Dr. Lelièvre teaches Applied Pharmacology in the Purdue DVM and IU Lafayette Medical School programs. She is developing a course on International Primary Prevention Research for chronic disease at Purdue University and has been a recurring invited lecturer on cancer prevention in the international Master of Public Health of the School of Public Health in France.