Adeline LACROIX (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada)
2026-05-06 11:30 - 12:30 (Europe/Paris) | GIN – Amphi Serge Kampf, Grenoble Institut des Neurosciences (GIN) Bât. Edmond J. Safra, Chemin Fortune Ferrini CHU, La Tronche, 38700, France
Towards an Understanding of Sex Differences in Socio-Emotional Processing in Autism
Résumé :
Autism is characterized by persistent difficulties in social interaction and social cognition. These difficulties are partly related to atypical processing of socio-emotional signals, including emotional facial expressions. Although core autistic characteristics are observed in both males and females, increasing evidence suggests that autistic females often show a more subtle socio-emotional profile, marked by greater attention to social stimuli and more typical-appearing social behavior. However, this profile remains insufficiently characterized, and the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are still poorly understood.

Given the central role of face processing in social cognition, we conducted a series of behavioral and EEG studies to investigate sex differences in autism during face processing at different stages of attentional processing. Our results reveal sex-related differences in autism from early stages of face processing, with autistic females showing an intermediate profile between autistic males and non-autistic females. Together, these findings indicate that aggregating males and females may obscure meaningful neurocognitive differences in socio-emotional processing and highlight the need for sex-informed experimental designs and theoretical frameworks in autism research. They further suggest that early differences in socio-emotional processing may contribute to the subtler phenotypic presentation of autism in females.
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Contact : michael.pereira@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Pierre GARCIA (LCB, Marseille)
2026-05-07 13:00 - 14:00 | IMAG – Salle de Réunion, 150 place du Torrent, St Martin d’Hères, 38400, France
When life plays LEGOs : Ancient evolution and extreme diversity of homologous oxidoreductases involved in energy production
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Contact : lucie.lamothe@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Amaury PATIN (Expert in Organic Chemistry, Nestlé Institute of Food Safety & Analytical Sciences (NIFSAS), Lausanne, Suisse)
2026-05-07 14:00 - 15:00 | DCM – Salle C209, DCM - Bât Chimie Recherche 301 rue de la Chimie, St Martin d'Hères, 38400, France
The Journey of an Organic Chemist : What Organic Chemistry trains you for— From Drug Discovery toFood (Safety)
Résumé :
Organic chemistry plays a central but often under-recognized role in addressing complex industrial challenges that extend well beyond molecule synthesis. In this seminar, I will describe how training in organic chemistry can be leveraged across multiple industrial domains, based on my career spanning academia, biotech, and industrial research within a multinational food company.
The talk presents a personal career journey illustrating the diversity of opportunities available to organic chemists. Starting from doctoral and postdoctoral research in organic chemistry, I moved into medicinal chemistry within a biotech startup before joining Nestlé Research, where organic chemistry became a central tool for addressing challenges in ingredient innovation and food safety.
Through selected case studies, I will show how the same fundamental chemical concepts — reactivity, molecular structure, metabolism — can be applied in very different contexts, from drug discovery to food safety. The seminar will also address the evolution from hands-on scientist to project manager and group leader, highlighting the importance of soft skills such as communication, interdisciplinarity, and leadership.
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Contact : sandrine.py@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Chloé GRAZON (Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO), Université de Bordeaux / CNRS / Bordeaux INP, Pessac)
2026-05-21 10:00 - 11:00 | DCM – Salle C209, DCM - Bât Chimie Recherche 301 rue de la Chimie, St Martin d'Hères, 38400, France
Luminescent nanoparticles as bright nanotools for biosensing & bioimaging
Résumé : à venir
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Contact : galina.dubacheva@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Soutenance de Thèse de Furhan ABDUL-REZAK (DCM (équipe I2BM) - IAB)
2026-05-21 13:30 - 16:30 | IAB – Salle de séminaire, IAB Site Santé - Allée des Alpes, La Tronche, 38700, France
Selective Conjugation of Gold Nanoclusters with Macromolecules: From Functionalization to Assembly
Résumé : à venir
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Contact : nathalie.camerino@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Mark GLOVER (Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada)
2026-05-26 11:00 - 12:00 | IBS – Salle des séminaires, IBS 71 avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble, 38042, France
Mechanism of sRNA recognition and regulation by FinO RNA chaperones
Résumé :
The FinO family of RNA chaperones regulate sRNA function throughout gram negative bacteria. Many of the best characterized family members bind to rho-independent transcription termination structures at the 3’ ends of sRNAs and mediate pairing of the sRNA with their mRNA targets. The crystal structure of the FinO domain of the Legionella pneumophila chaperone RocC bound to its sRNA target reveals a novel interaction that recognizes both the stem and the 3’ end of the terminator structure. The structure suggests a mechanism by which different FinO proteins can selectively bind RNAs with different 3’ tail lengths, which is likely conserved throughout the FinO family. Biochemical and in vivo studies indicate that intrinsically disordered regions adjacent to the FinO domain are also essential for sRNA regulation, by remodeling RNA structure to facilitate RNA-RNA association.
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Hôte : Dr Nicolas Coquelle (IBS/Groupe Dynamique et Cinétique des processus moléculaires)
Rappel : L’accès au campus EPN nécessite un avis de rendez-vous. A cet effet merci d’adresser votre demande à ibs.seminaires@ibs.fr (au moins 48h à l’avance).

Charles McCRORY (Chemistry and Macromolecular Science and Engineering - University of Michigan, USA)
2026-05-28 14:00 - 15:00 | DCM – Salle C209, DCM - Bât Chimie Recherche 301 rue de la Chimie, St Martin d'Hères, 38400, France
Breaking Scaling Relationships in Molecular Electrocatalysts for the CO2 Reduction Reaction
Professeur invité UGA du 15/05 au 15/06/2026
Résumé :
For molecular electrocatalysts, beneficial decreases in effective overpotential are typically correlated with detrimental decrease in catalytic activity. This scaling relationship arises when both effective overpotential and kinetic reactivity scale with metal site nucleophilicity. Our research strategy is to break typical molecular scaling relationships by designing molecular electrocatalysts with redox-active ligands where the catalytic reaction is initiated by redox activation of the ligand. These systems decouple metal site nucleophilicity from effective overpotential, thus allowing us to break the correlation between catalyst reactivity and effective overpotential.
In this talk, we will discuss how incorporating electronic substituents onto the redox-active ligand structure of Co(pyridyldiimine) complexes facilitates ligand reduction and leads to an inverse molecular scaling relationship for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. We will explore the strategy of incorporating cationic charges into the complex as a means of breaking and inverting scaling relationships both through the incorporation of charged substituents into the ligand scaffold and through construction of homo- and heterobimetallic Co-Co and Co-Zn complexes. We will also discuss whether the activity enhancement from these cationic substituents is best described as
through-space electrostatic stabilization of reactive intermediates, or through-bond inductive effects related to the stabilization of the catalytic intermediates. Finally, we will explore how these complexes operate for CO2 reduction and other electrocatalytic reductions when incorporated into larger coordination polymers and macromolecular scaffolds.
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Contact : cyrille.costentin@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr
