Océane Tournière awarded France 2025 L'Oréal-UNESCO Young Talent Prize for Women in Science

  • Award
  • Research
Published on November 17, 2025 – Updated on November 17, 2025
Dates

on the October 28, 2025

O Tournière
O Tournière - crédit : Fondation L’Oréal.

Océane Tournière, a post-doctoral researcher in embryology and developmental biology at the Institut de Biologie Valrose (iBV), is one of 34 young female researchers to win the France 2025 L'Oréal-UNESCO Young Talent Award for Women in Science. Created in 2007, this program aims to encourage the participation of women in scientific careers by supporting outstanding PhD and post-doctoral students each year.

For this 19ᵉ edition, the L'Oréal Foundation, in partnership with the French Academy of Sciences and the French National Commission for UNESCO, is rewarding promising young scientists for the excellence of their work and their essential contribution to scientific advances. The awards ceremony was held in Paris on October 8, 2025.

Océane Tournière's research, as part of Bruno Hudry's team, focuses on how the presence of one or two X chromosomes influences cell function and organ development. Although the X chromosome is present in everyone, differences between individuals with one or two copies lead to complex regulations that are still poorly understood.

She is seeking to understand how this chromosome "balances" in cells, a mechanism essential to the survival and proper development of the organism. Her work reveals that this balance is not necessary everywhere, but becomes vital in certain cell types and at specific moments in development.

By exploring these mechanisms, her research is contributing to a better understanding of biological differences between the sexes, paving the way for more precise diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases that affect women and men differently.

Created in 2007, the Jeunes Talents France L'Oréal-UNESCO Pour les Femmes et la Science program aims to encourage the participation of women in scientific careers by supporting excellent doctoral and post-doctoral students every year.

"Originally from the Côte d'Azur, I did my undergraduate degree at Université Côte d'Azur. It's a great source of pride for me to be able to take home this prize, and to contribute in this way to promoting research in Nice. I hope that this distinction will inspire and encourage students at the University, as the place of women in science is a subject particularly close to my heart: we are still very much in the minority, with only 29% of female researchers in France, a figure below the European average. "

Océane Tournière, postdoctoral researcher at the Institut de Biologie Valrose (Université Côte d'Azur - CNRS - Inserm)


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