Muriel Mercier-Bonin

Muriel Mercier-Bonin is INRAE Research Director at Toxalim (Toulouse, France), the INRAE French Research Centre in Food Toxicology. Following her PhD in 1997 in Microbiology-Biotechnology at the “Institut National des Sciences Appliquées" of Toulouse, she carried out her research activities at the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (1998-2012) on the interaction mechanisms between microorganisms and surfaces. She then joined the Micalis Institute (Jouy-en-Josas, France) to work between 2012 and 2014 on the structural and functional role of mucus, a key player in intestinal homeostasis. Since 2014, she leads at Toxalim, in the Neuro-Gastroenterology and Nutrition team, a research theme on the food contaminants/microbiota/mucus/host interrelationships in the digestive tract under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. She is currently working on the impact of micro- and nano-plastics on human health, with a focus on the digestive sphere.

To illustrate her work in this fast evolving research landscape, she will present recent findings obtained within her multidisciplinary consortium, including experts in life, chemical and physical sciences, for (i) unravelling fate, uptake and impact of microplastics using physiologically relevant in vitro gut models, and (ii) achieving a breakthrough in such biological knowledge through innovative methodologies for microplastic detection.