Hervé Seitz, PhD
Group Leader, Institute of Human Genetics
Former RTI Lab: Zamore Lab
Training Period: 2001 - 2005
Prior Academic Degree Institution: Ecole Normale Superieure
Press: BIOLOGY WITHOUT TERMINALS, THE HUNDRED TERMINAL RACE
Hervé Seitz graduated from the École normale supérieure (Paris, France) in chemistry and biology (1997-2001). During his PhD studies in Toulouse under the supervision of Dr. Jérôme Cavaillé, he studied the expression of small non-coding RNAs (microRNAs and snoRNAs) subjected to an epigenetic control called "genomic imprinting". After graduating in 2004, he joined Prof. Phillip Zamore at the UMass Chan Medical School (2005-2009) for his postdoc. Using biochemistry and bio-informatics, he studied the biogenesis and mode of action of several classes of small non-coding RNAs; he contributed to the discovery of
piRNAs in 2006 and Drosophila endogenous siRNAs in 2008. Holding a tenured CNRS position in France since 2009, he moved on to the study the phenotypic consequences of small RNA-mediated regulation, with an emphasis on systems biology and bio-informatics. A group leader at the CNRS "Institute of Human Genetics" in Montpellier since 2011, he made several contributions to the analysis of small RNAs in various eukaryotic systems.
Besides his scientific work, Hervé Seitz is also a marathon and ultra-marathon runner with international credentials (bronze medal at the 2012 French national championship of 100 km road running; winner and new record holder of the Taipingshan mountain marathon in 2014 in Taiwan; winner of the Millau 100 km road race in 2015; winner of the Belvès 100 km road race in 2016). He serves as a referee for various scientific journals and grant agencies, and contributes occasionally to major French media (Le Monde (2015), www.atlantico.fr (2015 and 2016), ...).​