All CNRS Physics PoC ERCs
Discover all the ERC Proof of Concept recipients at CNRS Physics.
Leïla PeriéDirectrice de recherche CNRS au laboratoire Physique des Cellules et Cancer (PCC)
Proof of concept
Starting Grant
An agricultural engineer by training and director of research at the CNRS, Leïla Perié leads a research team at the Institut Curie that seeks to quantify the dynamics of immune system cell production. Her work has been recognised and rewarded with several research awards (ERC, Paoletti Prize, CNRS Bronze Medal 2023). Her team develops and uses cutting-edge experimental tools to study cell division and track its development. Her multidisciplinary team is composed of mathematicians, philosophers, doctors and biologists, closely linking experimental, clinical and theoretical approaches.
ERC PoC 2025 : VisioWell - Un dispositif d’imagerie à haut débit pour les cellules non adhérentes
VisioWell aims to overcome a major technological obstacle: enabling real-time, large-scale observation of the behaviour of cells that move freely in a liquid, such as blood cells, immune cells, and certain cancer cells. Unlike tissue cells, these cells do not attach to each other or to a substrate: they are referred to as non-adherent cells.
Currently, there is no ready-to-use solution for this type of imaging. The available approaches remain complex to use and require advanced expertise in microfabrication and image analysis, and are therefore reserved for specialised teams.
By making this technology simpler and more accessible, VisioWell aims to fill this gap and offer scientists a tool to track the division and death of these cells one by one – an essential lever for better understanding how the immune system works, tissue regeneration, and evaluating the effectiveness of new treatments.
The device will combine simplified microfabrication and artificial intelligence to offer a turnkey solution that can be used without specific technical skills. Two test benches are planned: one to test the effect of new molecules, the other to analyse clinical samples.
Thanks to academic and industrial partnerships, VisioWell is set to be widely distributed to accelerate the adoption of this technology and open up new avenues in translational research and therapeutic development.
The project is led by Leïla Perié, conducted by Alessandro Donada and Morgane Burq, in collaboration with Hervé Isambert and Tiziana Tocci for image analysis.
ERC StG 2017 : Microsatellite Barcoding: reconstructing the family tree of hematopoietic cells (MicroBar)
Leïla Perié is interested in how immune cells and red blood cells are produced under normal conditions and during infection. To this end, she uses and develops experimental and mathematical techniques that enable her to track the differentiation of individual cells and thus trace the genealogical tree of immune cells. Her work in mice has challenged the established model of immune cell and red blood cell production. Leïla Perié is now developing similar tools to study human haematopoiesis. In the longer term, a better understanding of the production of immune cells and red blood cells could enable the stimulation or inhibition of this production in the case of diseases such as those related to immune deficiencies.