François Paquet-Durand
Prof. Dr. rer. nat.
Group Leader "Cell Death Mechanisms Group"
Business address
Institute for Ophthalmic Research
University of Tübingen
Elfriede-Aulhorn-Strasse 7
D-72076 Tübingen,
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)7071 29-87430
Fax: +49 (0)7071 29-5777
E-mail: francois.paquet-durand@klinikum.uni-tuebingen.de
Academic Education
| 2004 - 2012 | German Habilitation (DSc) completed 27. Nov. 2012: "Development and application of in situ activity assays for the visualization of neurodegenerative processes", Neuropathlogy, University of Tuebingen |
| 1998 - 2003 | Doctoral thesis at the University of Hannover (Germany), completed in November 2003: “The human NT-2 cell line as in vitro model system for the excitotoxic cascade during stroke“, Neuroscience, University of Hannover |
| June 1998 | Completed biochemistry studies with the master thesis on: “Effects of Salt Stress on enzyme activities in Zea mays“, Biochemistry, University of Hannover |
| 1989 - 1998 | Biochemistry studies at the University of Hannover (Germany) and INSERM laboratories in Paris (France); Studies of tropical and marine biology at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma (UNA) in Heredia (Costa Rica)., Biochemistry, University of Hannover |
Professional Experience
| 04/2017 - present | Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), Biotech industry, Mireca Medicines GmbH, Tübingen |
| 02/2016 – present | Assistant Professor, Neuronal pathophysiology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tübingen |
| 09/2012 – 08/2016 | Coordinator and Project leader, EU-FP7 DRUGSFORD (HEALTH-F2-2012-304963; www.drugsford.eu), Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tübingen |
| 10/2009 – present | Group leader, Neuronal pathophysiology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tübingen |
| 08/2008 – 02/2013 | Project leader, DFG Clinical Research group (KFO134): Inherited Retinal Diseases: Clinics, genetics, and animal models, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tübingen |
| 10/2007 – 09/2009 | Post-doctoral research fellow, Neuronal pathophysiology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tübingen, Germany |
| 08/2004 – 09/2007 | Post-doctoral research fellow, Neuronal pathophysiology, Ophthalmology Dept. University of Lund, Sweden |
| 12/2003 – 07/2004 | Post-doctoral research fellow, Neuronal pathophysiology, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany |
Additional information
Languages:
- French, Spanish, German, and English; fluent written and spoken (academic level)
- Basic knowledge of Swedish
Memberships
- Association for research in vision and ophthalmology (ARVO)
- Society for Neuroscience (SFN)
- European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER)
- German Neuroscience Society (NWG)
Professional Activities and Functions
Invited Presentations (selection)
| 10/2019 | Targeting cGMP-signaling to protect photoreceptors in hereditary retinal degeneration. EVER conference, Nice, France |
| 05/2019 | Mireca: Using cGMP-signalling for the development of new treatments for hereditary retinal degeneration. Inherited retinal dystrophies meeting at Jules Stein Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA |
| 09/2018 | Hereditary retinal degeneration: A cGMP analogue combined with liposomal drug delivery system protects photoreceptors morphologically and functionally. RD meeting, Kilarney, Ireland |
| 04/2017 | Targeting cGMP-signaling in inherited retinal degeneration: From basic research to clinical translation, ProRetina Meeting, Potsdam, Germany |
| 05/2015 | Retinitis Pigmentosa: Excessive cGMP signalling in Pde6a and Pde6b mouse mutants drives retinal degeneration. ARVO conference, Denver, USA |
| 06/2014 | Developing New Drugs and Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Inherited Retinal Degeneration: The DRUGSFORD Project, International Symposium on Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ISOPT), Reykjavik, Iceland |
| 10/2013 | Mécanismes de mort cellulaire et caractéristiques temporelles dans la rétinite pigmentaire. Société de Génétique Ophtalmologique francophone (SGOF) conférence, Montpellier, France |
| 05/2013 | How long does a photoreceptor take to die? Temporal characteristics of neuronal cell death in the retina. ARVO conference, Seattle, USA |
Organization of Academic Events
| 2010-2020 | Co-Organizer of the Vision Camp conference for young researchers in vision science (www.vision-camp.eu), Castle Wildenstein, Germany. |
| 06/2012 | Symposium on retinal degeneration mechanisms at the 2012 International Society for Eye Research (ISER) meeting, Berlin, Germany |
| 04/2011 | Symposium on photoreceptor cell biology at the 2011 German Neuroscience Society Meeting (together with Uwe Wolfrum, Mainz University), Göttingen, Germany |
Academic Awards
| 08/2017 | Science2Start award, BioRegio STERN, Stuttgart, Germany (www.science2start.de) |
| 03/2017 | Innovation award of the German Bioregions, BioDeutschland, Berlin, Germany (https://www.biodeutschland.org/de/innovationspreis.html) |
| 05/2013 | Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator Award (www.myalcon.com/research-development/alcon-research-institute/young-investigator.shtml) Alcon Research Institute, Fort Worth, TX, USA |
| 09/2011 | ARVO ISOCB Conference-Travel Grant, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Rockville, MD, USA |
| 08/2004 | Fifth Place in the Nikon Small World Photography Contest: (www.nikonsmallworld.com/people/image/francois-paquet-durand/1) |
| 03/2004 | Runner-up in the Brain Research scientific artwork competition: Paquet-Durand F: Differentiated human NT-2 neurons after 5 days in culture. Brain Res. 1000, xxix. |
Academic Teaching and Services
| 10/2018 - present | Mentorship, SPIRiT mentoring program for medical students, Tübingen Medical faculty |
| 06/2012 - present | How to study Cell Death: Methods and Techniques, Tübingen Medical Faculty |
| 05/2012 - present | Tutorial: Journal club series (Tuebingen Graduate School for Cellular and Molecular Neurosciences) |
| 10/2009 - present | Lecture and Tutorial: The Visual System (Tuebingen Graduate School for Cellular and Molecular Neurosciences) |
| 10/2010 - present | Lecture: Genetic diseases of the visual system (Tuebingen Medical Faculty School for Molecular Medicine) |
Past and Current Funding
| 2019 - 2022 | Developing nanocapsules for the targeted drug delivery to the neuroretina, DFG (PA1751/10-1) |
| 2018 - 2021 | Developing novel cyclic GMP analogues for the treatment of hereditary retinal degeneration, Baden Württemberg Stiftung WSF-006 |
| 2017 - 2021 | Educating the next generation of scientists in translational medicine: Focus on eye diseases, transMed (www.transMed-itn.eu; H2020-MSCA-ETN-765441 |
| 2018 - 2020 | Targeting CNG-Ca2+ channels: Evaluation of pharmacological and genetic knock-down approaches in retinitis pigmentosa, DFG (PA1751/8-1) |
| 2015 - 2018 | The role of Ca2+ during cone photoreceptor cell death, DFG (PA1751/7-1) |
| 2014 - 2017 | Bringing Gene Supplementation Therapy for Inherited PDE6A- and CNGA3-associated Retinopathies into Clinical Practice, RD-Cure (www.rd-cure.de), Kerstan Foundation |
| 2012 - 2016 | Preclinical development of drugs and drug delivery technology for the treatment of inherited photoreceptor degeneration, DRUGSFORD (www.drugsford.eu; HEALTH-F2-2012-304963) |
| 2011 - 2014 | The role of protein kinase G (PKG) during photoreceptor degeneration, DFG (PA1751/4-1) |
| 2008 - 2013 | Comparative analysis on Cell Death Mechanisms in rd1 and cpfl1 photoreceptors, DFG (PA1751/1-1) |
Selected Publications
- Power M, Das S, Schütze K, Marigo V, Ekström P, Paquet-Durand F. Cellular mechanisms of hereditary photoreceptor degeneration - Focus on cGMP. Prog Retin Eye Res. 100772. doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2019.07.005. [Epub ahead of print] 2019.
- Paquet-Durand F, Beck SC, Das S, Huber G, Le Chang, Schubert T, Tanimoto N, Garcia-Garrido M, Mühlfriedel R, Bolz S, Hoffmann W, Schraermeyer U, Mordmüller B, Seeliger MW. A retinal model of cerebral malaria. Sci Rep. 9:3470, 2019.
- Vighi E, Trifunović D, Veiga-Crespo P, Rentsch A, Hoffmann D, Sahaboglu A, Strasser T, Kulkarni M, Bertolotti E, van den Heuvel A, Peters T, Reijerkerk A, Euler T, Ueffing M, Schwede F, Genieser HG, Gaillard P, Marigo V, Ekström P, Paquet-Durand F. Combination of cGMP analogue and drug delivery system provides functional protection in hereditary retinal degeneration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 115:E2997-E3006, 2018.
- Arango-Gonzalez B*, Trifunović D*, Sahaboglu A, Kranz K, Michalakis S, Farinelli P, Koch S, Koch F, Cottet S, Janssen-Bienhold U, Dedek K, Biel M, Zrenner E, Euler T, Ekström P, Ueffing M, Paquet-Durand F. Identification of a common non-apoptotic cell death mechanism in hereditary retinal degeneration. PLoS One, 9:e112142, 2014.
- Sahaboglu A, Paquet-Durand O, Dietter J, Dengler K, Bernhard-Kurz S, Ekström P, Hitzmann B, Ueffing M, Paquet-Durand F: Retinitis Pigmentosa: Rapid neurodegeneration is governed by slow cell death mechanisms. Cell Death Dis, 4, e488, 2013.
- Jaumann M, Dettling J, Gubelt M, Zimmermann U, Gerling A, Paquet-Durand F, Feil S, Wolpert S, Franz C, Varakina K, Xiong H, Brandt N, Kuhn S, Geisler HS, Rohbock K, Ruth P, Schlossmann J, Hütter J, Sandner P, Feil R, Engel J, Knipper M, Rüttiger L: cGMP-Prkg1 signaling and Pde5 inhibition shelter cochlear hair cells and hearing function. Nature Med, 18:252-9, 2012.
- Paquet-Durand F, Beck S, Michalakis S, Goldmann T, Huber G, Mühlfriedel R, Trifunovic D, Fischer MD, Fahl E, Duetsch G, Becirovic E, Wolfrum U, van Veen T, Biel M, Tanimoto N, Seeliger MW: A key role for cyclic–nucleotide gated (CNG) channels in cGMP-related retinitis pigmentosa. Hum Mol Gen, 20:941-7, 2011.
- Paquet-Durand F, Hauck SM, van Veen T, Ueffing M, Ekström P: PKG activity causes photoreceptor cell death in two Retinitis Pigmentosa models. J Neurochem, 108:796-810, 2009.
- Paquet-Durand F*,Silva J*, Talukdar T, Johnson L, Azadi S, Hauck S, Ueffing M, van Veen T, Ekström P: Excessive activation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) contributes to inherited photoreceptor degeneration in the rd1 mouse. J Neurosci, 27:10311-10319, 2007.
- Paquet-Durand F, Azadi S, Hauck SM, Ueffing M, van Veen T, Ekström P: Calpain is activated in degenerating photoreceptors in the rd1 mouse. J Neurochem, 96:802-814, 2006.