Chantal M. Boulanger PharmD, PhD

Chantal M. Boulanger, PharmD, Ph.D. is a senior research director (DR1) at the French National Health and Medical Research Institute (INSERM) and a mother of two. She is a co-author of 118 original research papers and over 50 reviews or book chapters.

Her lab identified circulating microvesicles as the trigger for endothelial dysfunction in patients with coronary artery and related diseases. Subsequently, she demonstrated that plasma microvesicles originating from injured endothelial cells provide a surrogate marker for endothelial dysfunction with prognostic value in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Her lab identified microvesicles isolated from human atherosclerotic plaque as potent prothrombogenic mediators capable of recruiting monocytes to the endothelium following the functional transfer of adhesion molecules. She also demonstrated the angiogenic effect of microvesicles resulting in plaque instability. Finally, her lab identified a critical role of microvesicle-bound heme in promoting endothelial injury and vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease.