Sophie Postel-Vinay, a Woman of Science, Dedicated to Therapeutic Innovation

Dr. Sophie Postel-Vinay,
a Woman of Science Dedicated to Therapeutic Innovation

Having one foot in clinical oncology and the other in research has always been a source of motivation for Dr. Sophie Postel-Vinay. Her scientific driving force: “to study the biological mechanisms of cancer in order to develop new treatments, while understanding the therapeutic and human challenges involved in patient care.”

A resident at Gustave Roussy and a graduate of Paris 11 University School of Medicine (Paris-Saclay University) with a specialization in medical oncology in 2010, she furthered her training in early-phase clinical trials and new drug development in London, where she defended her science dissertation at the Institute of Cancer Research on her favorite topic: DNA repair and synthetic lethality.

Returning to Gustave Roussy was a “wonderful opportunity, offering the rare chance to work at the intersection of clinical practice and research, while benefiting from direct collaboration with numerous experts; this enables a rapid transfer of knowledge from the laboratory to patients—and vice versa—accelerating patients’ access to new treatments.”

In 2018, the young researcher was awarded the prestigious ATIP-Avenir grant from Inserm, which enabled her to establish her own research team, “Chromatin Remodeling, DNA Repair, and Epigenetics,” at Gustave Roussy. In 2022, she received funding from the European Research Council, which enabled her to expand her research activities.

Her main goal is to identify new therapeutic approaches that can then be evaluated in patients through clinical trials. As the lead investigator on several trials within the Department of Therapeutic Innovation and Early-Phase Trials (DITEP)—some of which she designed and developed herself— the physician-researcher served as chair of the Gustave Roussy Early-Phase Trials Committee from 2020 to 2022. Her greatest source of pride? “The ability to have translated discoveries made by my team in the lab into therapeutic clinical trials.” These efforts were recognized with the Irène Joliot-Curie Prize from the Academy of Sciences and the Gallet-Breton Prize from the Academy of Medicine.  

At the heart of a particularly promising field—epigenetics—Sophie Postel-Vinay leads one of the Institute’s three emerging programs dedicated to this topic. She is also director of Gustave Roussy’s new Integrated Cancer Research Site (SIRIC), EpiCure (Epigenetics to Cure Cancer). “This highly dynamic field of research is paving the way for the next therapeutic revolution in oncology. The goal is to transform fundamental knowledge into concrete clinical applications, such as new types of molecular diagnostics and new targeted therapies that act on tumor cells or immune cells, for the benefit of patients.”

“Discoveries and constant innovation” are what drive her. Thus, Sophie Postel-Vinay continues to pursue her long-standing ambition: “to work on developing the cancer drugs of tomorrow, with the desire to help patients.”

An accomplished pianist and conservatory graduate, she initially wavered between a career in music and one in science, and hopes to eventually find a way to balance her two passions.