Marianna Plozza wins First Prize at the 2026 Kerner Awards from the Fondation ARC
Marianna Plozza has been awarded First Prize at the 2026 Kerner Awards, presented by the Fondation ARC during its Young Investigator Days. The Kerner Awards honor young researchers for their ability to explain their work to a broad audience. A jury of media professionals selects the best written pieces and oral presentations.
Marianna recently defended her PhD at IPBS. She worked in the “Integrins in Immune Cells” and “Phagocyte Architecture and Dynamics” teams, supervised by Drs. Frédéric Lagarrigue and Christel Vérollet. The Fondation ARC funded her fourth year of doctoral studies.
Her thesis looked at how osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone, form and function, and what goes wrong when they cause bone loss in cancer. Using genetically modified myeloid cells and mouse models, she studied Talin1, a key activator of integrins, and its role in osteoclast fusion and bone resorption. She found that the different pathways that activate Talin1 do different jobs in osteoclasts. These pathways include the proteins Lamellipodin and RIAM, as well as the direct binding of Rap1 to Talin1.
These results help explain how osteoclast activity could be targeted more selectively in diseases with excessive bone destruction, such as bone metastases and multiple myeloma.
Congratulations to Marianna on this well-deserved recognition!