Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Jérémie received his formal training in Genetics and Systems Biology at École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. He then joined Prof. Eric Miska’s laboratory at the University of Cambridge, UK, as a graduate student, focusing on small RNA biology in C. elegans. His graduate studies coincided with the discovery of the first natural virus in C. elegans, providing him with a unique opportunity to contribute to early research on viral infection and antiviral immunity in nematodes.

In 2017, Jérémie joined virologist Charles Rice’s group at Rockefeller University, NY, as a postdoctoral researcher. There, he worked on projects combining human genetics and functional genetic screens in cell cultures to better understand how the human innate immune system controls RNA viruses and live-attenuated vaccines.

Jérémie established his lab in December 2024 at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases. The Le Pen Lab focuses on innate immunity to RNA viruses, aiming to uncover the diverse antiviral strategies evolved by nature across humans, nematodes, and arthropods.