Marion Leclerc PhD

Marion Leclerc is currently working as a Principal Scientist at Pendulum therapeutics, San Francisco. Recently left academia and she is excited about this new amazing opportunity to improve people’s lives. From anaerobic culture and bacterial physiology to molecular approaches, She has been interested since my doctorate in the functions of microorganisms involved in anaerobic metabolisms. In 1995, She had the chance to follow the Microbial Ecology course at Woods Hole, whose intense program of courses and field experiments seduced me and confirmed her desire to take an interest in microbial ecology. Stemming from the work of Carl Woese, phylogenetic analyzes based on the sequence of the gene coding for 16S rDNA began to be applied there and she witnessed strong methodological confrontations between the two directors, A. Salyers, a pioneer in genetics at Bacteroides and E. Leadbetter for culture. Beyond this anecdote, it appeared to me very early on that the different approaches and techniques for studying bacterial functions were not to be scientifically opposed but to be mastered, because they were complementary. Having been recruited after my thesis, in 1997, She was able to choose mobility in France and abroad which allowed me to keep this common thread to build my career development.