Marie-Hélène Canu

Lille University, Sport, Heath, Society Pluridisciplinary Research Unit

Prof. Marie-Hélène Canu is currently a Professor in Neuroscience at the laboratory URePSSS (Unité de recherche pluridisciplinaire Sport Santé Société) in the team “Physical Activity, Muscle & Health” at University of Lille, France. She received a PhD in neuroscience at Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris. Her research interests are in the effects of disuse on neuromuscular system. Her initial works examined how locomotor performance was influenced by a period of decrease in physical activity in rodents. Since one decade, much of her work is concentrated on the search for mechanisms of neuronal plasticity induced by disuse, and in the development of therapeutic strategies to prevent muscle atrophy and functional outcomes in patients subjected to physical hypoactivity, and in particular during development. Her laboratory combines molecular, cellular, and integrative approaches to study plasticity at all levels of the sensorimotor pathway, i.e., from cerebral cortex to muscle.

Erwan Dupont

Lille University, Sport, Heath, Society Pluridisciplinary Research Unit

Dr. Erwan Dupont is a Senior Lecturer in Neurophysiology at the University of Lille and member of the laboratory URePSSS (Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Sport Santé Société) in the team “Physical Activity, Muscle & Health”. Its research activities are focused on understanding the mechanisms of neuromuscular plasticity, and more particularly to the adaptations of the cerebral cortex and postural muscles to a situation of hypoactivity in adults (inactivity, sedentariness, ageing, motor pathologies...) using molecular, cellular, electrophysiological, and behavioral approaches. In recent years, his work has been based on the key role of the phosphorylation/O-GlcNAcylation balance and myokines on neuromuscular adaptations to sensorimotor restriction.

Orlane Dupuis

Lille University, Sport, Heath, Society Pluridisciplinary Research Unit

Orlane Dupuis obtained her B.Sc. in cellular biology and physiology at Lille University and is now completing her PhD at URePSSS (Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Sport Santé Société) in the team “Physical Activity, Muscle & Health”. During her M.Sc., she studied, in adult rodents, cellular and molecular changes induced by a period of disuse at all levels of the motor pathway, from cortex to the spinal cord and muscle. In line with this project, her PhD will lead to understand short- and long-term consequences of early hypoactivity on motor functions. The objective is to better understand plasticity mechanisms and muscle-brain relationships to develop strategies to prevent consequences of hypoactivity.