Research scientist Sophie de Carné named Young Leader by the Franco-British Council

Since 2017, the Franco-British Council has annually selected a cohort of Young Leaders from the worlds of science, the arts, media and academia, all of whom have ties to both France and the United Kingdom. The goal? “To build a generation of 21st-century leaders committed to nurturing and advancing Franco-British relations and shaping their future across all areas of our societies and economies.”

Sophie de Carné, head of the Inflammation and Cancer Plasticity lab (IHU-Prism, UMR 981) at Gustave Roussy, has been selected by the Franco-British Council to join the 2025 Young Leaders cohort.

The programme, born of a joint initiative by President François Hollande and Prime Minister David Cameron, aims to deepen mutual understanding and cooperation between France and the United Kingdom by creating a high-level bilateral dialogue platform. It relies on a prestigious alumni network committed to strengthening Franco-British ties. Today, the programme brings together a network of 176 influential figures holding senior positions across a wide range of fields.

A cancer biology specialist, Sophie de Carné spent nearly ten years in the UK, where she conducted cutting-edge research at the Francis Crick Institute. Her work focused on lung cancers with KRAS gene mutations, one of the most altered genes in such tumours. To better understand these cancers, she developed experimental models and used single-cell sequencing technologies to study them. She also designed a tool that can measure how active the KRAS cancer-driving programme is inside a tumour — even when no obvious RAS gene mutations are present. An innovative approach that paves the way for more personalised treatments tailored to the actual behaviour of each tumour.

Upon returning to France in autumn 2024, she joined Gustave Roussy and the IHU-Prism as a young team leader and junior professor at Université Paris-Saclay, where she holds a chair dedicated to cancer prevention.

Her current work seeks to understand why some mutated cells progress to become tumours, while others remain dormant. The central hypothesis? Cancer is not solely the result of a genetic mutation, but also of a favourable biological or environmental context, a so-called “promotion” phase. Her laboratory explores the links between obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and tumour transformation, particularly in KRAS-mutated pancreatic and lung cancers. To this end, she is developing organoid models derived from reprogrammed stem cells. She also aims to expand her research to investigate the role of pesticides in oncogenesis.

At the beginning of July, during a working seminar organised by the Franco-British Council in London, Sophie de Carné and the other Young Leaders had the opportunity to meet and exchange with the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

By joining the Young Leaders network, Sophie de Carné hopes to bring translational research and cancer prevention into the public debate. “If you want your research to truly benefit society, you need to step beyond the scientific community to share your discoveries, exchange ideas, and engage in wider conversations. The Franco-British Young Leaders programme is a unique opportunity to do this, and build bridges between science, policy, and society,” she concludes.