With a background in soft matter physics, electrophoresis and colloids, I have since more than twenty years focused my interests on biophysics, bioanalytical sciences and microfluidics, which are now my main research fields. My « philosophy » is to get inspiration in fundamental physical phenomena to propose new concept and innovative instrumentation, for applications in biology and medicine. These applications are in general developed in collaboration with biologists and clinicians. My current research interests concern:
1. cell culture and cell sorting in microfluidic systems (organs-on-chips, droplets), for applications in fundamental biology and diagnosis, particularly in cancer
2. The use of magnetism and magnetic manipulation in microfluidics
3. Non-conventional microfabrication methods, notably textile microfluidics
4. Environmental question, notably plant biology and « ecosystems-on-chip » (currently at prospective level)
1971 : Entry at ENS St Cloud (now Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon)
1976: DEA (equivalent Master) Spectroscopy and Structures (Paris VI)
1979 : Entry at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
1983: « Doctorat d’état » (equivalent to PhD- Habilitation) Paris VI Sorbonne University
1985-86. Sabbatical, Dept. Chemical Engineering, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
1988: Visiting Scientist, Xerox Research Center, Mississauga, Canada
1989: Visiting Scientist, Kodak Corporate Research, Rochester, NY, USA
1995 : Founder and leader of group “Macromolecules and Microsystems in Biology and Medicine” (MMBM) at Curie Institute
2005 : Cofounder of the startup « Fluigent »
2007: Cofounder of the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS)
2011: Co-Founder of “Institut Pierre Gilles de Gennes for Microfluidics”,
2016 : Cofounder of the startup « Inorevia »
2018-current : Research Director Emeritus, CNRS-Institut Curie-IPGG
Selection of articles
*Parent, C., Raj Melayil, K., Zhou, Y., Aubert, V., Surdez, D., Delattre, O., … & Viovy, J. L. (2023). Simple droplet microfluidics platform for drug screening on cancer spheroids. bioRxiv, 2023-05.
* Gérémie, L., Ilker, E., Bernheim-Dennery, M., Cavaniol, C., Viovy, J. L., Vignjevic, D. M., … & Descroix, S. (2022). Evolution of a confluent gut epithelium under on-chip cyclic stretching. Physical Review Research, 4(2), 023032.
*Cognart, H. A., Viovy, J. L., & Villard, C. (2020). Fluid shear stress coupled with narrow constrictions induce cell type-dependent morphological and molecular changes in SK-BR-3 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Scientific reports, 10(1), 6386.
*de Freitas Nader, G. P., Agüera-Gonzalez, S., Routet, F., Gratia, M., Maurin, M., Cancila, V., …Viovy J L … & Piel, M. (2021). Compromised nuclear envelope integrity drives TREX1-dependent DNA damage and tumor cell invasion. Cell, 184(20), 5230-5246.
*Jusková, P., Matthys, L., Viovy, J. L., & Malaquin, L. (2020). 3D deterministic lateral displacement (3D-DLD) cartridge system for high throughput particle sorting. Chemical Communications, 56(38), 5190-5193.
* Cavaniol, C., Cesar, W., Descroix, S., & Viovy, J. L. (2022). Flowmetering for microfluidics. Lab on a Chip, 22(19), 3603-3617.
Ferraro, D., Serra, M., Filippi, D., Zago, L., Guglielmin, E., Pierno, M., … Viovy JL & Mistura, G. (2019). Controlling the distance of highly confined droplets in a capillary by interfacial tension for merging on-demand. Lab on a Chip, 19(1), 136-146.
* Verhulsel, M., Vignes, M., Descroix, S., Malaquin, L., Vignjevic, D. M., & Viovy, J. L. (2014). A review of microfabrication and hydrogel engineering for micro-organs on chips. Biomaterials, 35(6), 1816-1832.
* Autebert, J., Coudert, B., Bidard, F. C., Pierga, J. Y., Descroix, S., Malaquin, L., & Viovy, J. L. (2012). Microfluidic: an innovative tool for efficient cell sorting. Methods, 57(3), 297-307.
* Ali‐Cherif, A., Begolo, S., Descroix, S., Viovy, J. L., & Malaquin, L. (2012). Programmable Magnetic Tweezers and Droplet Microfluidic Device for High‐Throughput Nanoliter Multi‐Step Assays. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 51(43), 10765-10769.
* Peyrin, J. M., Deleglise, B., Saias, L., Vignes, M., Gougis, P., Magnifico, S., … & Brugg, B. (2011). Axon diodes for the reconstruction of oriented neuronal networks in microfluidic chambers. Lab on a Chip, 11(21), 3663-3673.
* Saliba, A. E., Saias, L., Psychari, E., Minc, N., Simon, D., Bidard, F. C., … & Viovy, J. L. (2010). Microfluidic sorting and multimodal typing of cancer cells in self-assembled magnetic arrays. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(33), 14524-14529.
* Chabert, M., & Viovy, J. L. (2008). Microfluidic high-throughput encapsulation and hydrodynamic self-sorting of single cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(9), 3191-3196.
*Bancaud, A., Conde e Silva, N., Barbi, M., Wagner, G., Allemand, J. F., Mozziconacci, J., … & Viovy, J. L. (2006). Structural plasticity of single chromatin fibers revealed by torsional manipulation. Nature structural & molecular biology, 13(5), 444-450.
* Chabert, M., Dorfman, K. D., & Viovy, J. L. (2005). Droplet fusion by alternating current (AC) field electrocoalescence in microchannels. Electrophoresis, 26(19), 3706-3715.
* Doyle, P. S., Bibette, J., Bancaud, A., & Viovy, J. L. (2002). Self-assembled magnetic matrices for DNA separation chips. Science, 295(5563), 2237-2237.
* Viovy, J. L. (2000). Electrophoresis of DNA and other polyelectrolytes: Physical mechanisms. Reviews of Modern Physics, 72(3), 813.
* Cluzel, P., Lebrun, A., Heller, C., Lavery, R., Viovy, J. L., Chatenay, D., & Caron, F. (1996). DNA: an extensible molecule. Science, 271(5250), 792-794.
* Adjari, A., Brochard-Wyart, F., de Gennes, P. G., Leibler, L., Viovy, J. L., & Rubinstein, M. (1994). Slippage of an entangled polymer melt on a grafted surface. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 204(1-4), 17-39.
Bronze Medal of CNRS (1983)
Polymer Prize of the French Chemical Society (1996)
Philip Morris Prize for Science (1996) (joint with F. Caron, D. Chatenay and R. Lavery)
OSEO award for Innovation, (Category “emergence”) (2004) (Category “creation”) (2005)
ERC (European Research Council) Advanced Grant 2013-2018.
Lifetime Achievement Award, American Electrophoresis Society, 2016
ERC (European Research Council) Proof of Concept Grant 2020-2022
