Pierrick GJ Fournier 18th International Symposium on Dendritic Cells 2026

Pierrick GJ Fournier

Pierrick Fournier is a researcher at the CICESE (Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, México), where his group studies the interactions between cancer cells and normal cells within the tumor microenvironment, particularly in bone metastases. Currently, his research focuses on testing the efficacy of dendritic cell vaccines in bone metastases and using drug repurposing to target immunosuppressive factors. He discovered the “world” of bone metastases in the laboratory of Philippe Clézardin (INSERM, Lyon), in 1999, during a summer internship, at the end of which he was offered the opportunity to become a graduate student. He started studying the anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic properties of bisphosphonates, in vitro and in vivo, and received his Ph.D. in 2005 from the Université Claude Bernard (Lyon, France). Pierrick joined the laboratory of Theresa Guise, M.D., who mentored him throughout his postdoctoral training, at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, USA), first, and then at Indiana University (Indianapolis, USA), where he became Assistant Research Professor in 2009. During this time, Pierrick's research focused on the role of TGF-ß and TGF-ß-regulated genes in the development of bone metastases. He also developed an interest in osteoimmunology and how T cells could indirectly contribute to bone metastases by inducing bone resorption. In 2014, Pierrick was recruited by the CICESE to lead his research group and pursue studying cancer and bone metastases to identify new therapeutic targets and develop new treatments. Over the years, Pierrick Fournier has directed the thesis projects of 15 students, presented more than 70 oral presentations and posters at conferences, and published 38 papers in high-quality, indexed journals (e.g., Cancer Cell, Cancer Research, J Bone Miner Res, J Nanobiotechnology). With an h-index of 26, he has more than 3,200 citations (Scopus).