Laura Picas

Laura Picas (PhD, HDR) is a CNRS research director DR2 and leader of the team “Membrane Traffic and Viral Infections” at the Institut de Recherche en Infectiologie de Montpellier (IRIM, CNRS UMR 9004). She has been trained in biophysics and cell biology after completing a PhD at the University of Barcelona and two postdoctoral stays at the Institut Curie (UMR 168 and UMR 144), with a focus on the mechanisms of membrane organization and remodeling. Her research focuses on understanding how membrane architecture, lipid organization, and cytoskeletal interfaces regulate the spatiotemporal organization of endocytosis in physiology and during viral infections by combining cellular and minimal reconstituted systems, biophysics, advanced microscopy, and nanotechnologies.