Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Award Winner
2025 Award Winner: Dr. Corinne Houart
Professor and Dean for Research, Dept Developmental Neurobiology
Faculty of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London
What is the research focus of your lab?
The general focus is aiming to understand what are the early embryonic cellular and molecular information needed to make a normal forebrain and what are the functionally relevant evolutionary tweaks carrying differences between vertebrates. On the way, we got 'distracted' by unexpected results that led to half of my team working on local mRNA regulation in developing and degenerating axons.
How long have you been working with zebrafish?
I started working with zebrafish as a postdoc in Eugene Oregon, 30 years ago!
How long have you had your own lab?
I started my lab 23 years ago in 2002, after a long and fruitful postdoc training in the US and UK
Getting to know you better
Where were you born/where did you grow up?
I was born and grew up in Brussels
Tell us something about yourself in one sentence.
I am interested in all aspects of life and am trying to explore it in various ways, research being one of them.
Science
Which of the current projects in your lab you are most excited about?
I am excited about everything we are doing. Conceptually, I am currently excited by i) our findings indicating an integration between cell fate decisions and control of cell metabolism; ii) our work untangling the complex local control of mRNA distribution, stability and translation and iii) our very recent identification of evolutionary traits in forebrain patterning, including human.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in science/research?
Choose a question you are passionate to answer and a nourishing environment (compatible with your personality) that would promote your scientific growth. And respond to rejection/failure by trying again with the knowledge acquired by the previous experience. The rest will follow.
Which part of the PI job you enjoy the most? Why?
Providing a rich intellectual, technical and cultural environment for junior research to grow. Training, supporting, mentoring and sponsoring the next generations of outstanding minds is the most effective way to have a lasting impact on understanding life and improving the way we live and the environment we create.
Outside of work
What do you enjoy doing outside of work/lab?
In no particular order: literature, art (love drawing and painting), theatre, dance, hiking in new landscapes, travel the planet.
What career would you have liked if you were not a scientist?
Artist, writer, architect... Anything that is explorative and creative.