Leïla Chrétien, PhD, CRCH, is a Senior Scientist at INSERM and Principal Investigator of the Mastocytosis Program within the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Hematological Disorders and Therapeutic Implications. She also serves as Scientific Referent within CEREMAST.



Her current research focuses on mastocytosis, a rare and heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by the abnormal accumulation of neoplastic mast cells. Although the activating KIT D816V mutation is present in approximately 85% of cases, it does not fully explain clinical heterogeneity or resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In close collaboration with CEREMAST and clinicians at Necker Hospital, her group aims to identify additional genetic factors cooperating with KIT in disease initiation and progression. Her research strategy integrates the functional validation of newly identified molecular targets with the development of combinatorial therapeutic approaches targeting deregulated signaling pathways, with a strong emphasis on translational research and the development of innovative therapeutic strategies, including clinical trial perspectives.



She has extensive experience in normal hematopoiesis and hematologic malignancies, and her work has led to the identification of several novel driver genes involved in hematopoietic tumorigenesis and disease progression. She has published in leading international peer-reviewed journals (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5747-9719) and was awarded an interface contract with Harvard Medical School, where she developed strong expertise in pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based models for disease modeling and the exploration of personalized cell therapy strategies.

She is a board member of the French Society for Cellular and Gene Therapy (SFTCG) and the French Society for Stem Cell Research (FSSCR), and serves as a member of the CSS2 scientific committee at INSERM.





Among her publications:

• Julie Bruneau, Sophie Georgin-Lavialle, Sophia Ladraa, Zakia Belaid, Isabelle Plo, Sébastien Letard, Erinn Soucie, Irena Draskovic, Nicolas Goudin, Marie Bouillié, Yves Lepelletier, Julien Rossignol, Laura Polivka, Laurent Frenzel, Olivier Lortholary, Sylvie Fraitag, Christine Bodemer, Patrick Revy, Michel Arock, Thierry-Jo Molina, Arturo Londono-Vallejo, Patrice Dubreuil, Leila Maouche-Chretien*&, Olivier Hermine*& : Telomere occupancy by TRF2 is altered by KIT mutations and correlates with mastocytosis regression. Blood Cancer J 2025 Nov 5; PMID: 41193460.



• Kitsada Kangboonruang; Philippe Drabent; Fatlinda Maksut; Maxime Heintzé; Yves Lepelletier; Ludovick Lhermitte; Mélanie Feroul; Sébastien Letard; Caroline Kaboré; Fabienne Brenet ; Cécile Méni, Nicolas Cagnard, Vincent Bondet, Guillaume Lefèvre, Julie Bruneau, Michael Dussiot, Héloïse Halse, Amélie Bigorgne, Anne-Florence Collange, Hassiba Bouktit, Frédérique Rétornaz, Jérome Megret, Stéphane Barete, Nathalie Droin, Cristina Bulai Livideanu, Angélique Lebouvier, Darragh Duffy, Eric Solary, Michel Arock, Damaj Gandhi, Christine Bodemer, Julien Rossignol, Laura Polivka, Thierry Molina, Olivier Hermine, Leila Maouche-Chretien✉. AXL mediates mast cell survival and resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors in mastocytosis. doi: 10.1101/2025.11.03.686205.



• Eleanor Luce; Clara Steichen; Soumeya Abed; Anne Weber; Philippe Leboulch; Leila Maouche-Chrétien*; Anne Dubart-Kupperschmitt* : Successful Derivation of Hepatoblasts, Cholangiocytes and Hepatocytes from Simian Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. International Journal of Molecular Sciences . 2022-09-17. DOI: 10.3390/ijms231810861



• Aurelie Mouka, Brahim Arkoun...Gérard Tachdjian,
 Leïla Maouche‐Chrétien*+ and Lucie Tosca* : iPSCs derived from infertile men carrying complex genetic abnormalities can generate primordial germ-like cells. Scientific Reports , August 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17337-2



• L. Polivka, V. Parietti, E. Soucie, E. Bayard, R. Rignault, D. Canioni, S. Fraitag, L. Lhermitte, M. Feroul, M. Tissandier, J. Rossignol, L. Frenzel, N. Cagnard, C. Meni, H. Bouktit, AF. Collange, C. Gougoula, M. Parisot, B. Bader-Meunier, M. Arock, S. Hadj-Rabia, U. Rüther, P. Dubreuil, C. Bodemer, O Hermine, L Maouche-Chretien* + : The association of Greig syndrome and mastocytosis reveals the involvement of the hedgehog pathway in advanced mastocytosis. Blood. 2021 Dec. PMID: 34424959 .



• Abed S, Tubsuwan A, Chaichompoo P, Park IH, Benyoucef A, Tosca L, Fucharoen S, Daley GQ, Payen E, Chrétien S, Leboulch P, Maouche-Chretien L.: Transplantation of Macaca cynomolgus iPS-derived hematopoietic cells in NSG immunodeficient mice. Haematologica. 2015 . PMID: 26088930



• Tubsuwan A., Abed S., Deichmann A., Bartholomä C, Kadri Z., Fucharoen S., von Kalle C.,Schmidt M., Eaves C.J., Leboulch P, Maouche-ChrétienL+ : Parallel assessment of globin lentiviral transfer in iPS and somatic hematopoietic stem cells from the same transplanted human β-thalassemia patient. Stem cells, 2013. PMID: 23712774