Following the scientific symposium, IHU Infiny and the NGERE laboratory held two days of training and discussion focused on the dialogue between the gut and the brain, at the crossroads of biology, clinical research, and the social sciences.
Researchers, clinicians, PhD students and professionals gathered to better understand how stress, emotions, nutrition, and the gut microbiota interact in chronic diseases, and how this knowledge can inspire new therapeutic and preventive approaches.
Day 1 – From Stress to Mental Health: The Gut–Brain Axis
The first day highlighted the biological, psychological and social mechanisms that connect the gut and the brain.
Francisca Joly (Hôpital Beaujon AP-HP – Université Paris Cité) opened the School with a lecture on intestinal adaptation and short bowel syndrome, illustrating the nutritional strategies designed to restore digestive balance.
Pascal Derkinderen (CHU Nantes, TENS, Inserm) then presented his work on Parkinson’s disease as a disorder of the gut–brain axis, showing how dysbiosis and alterations of the enteric nervous system may precede neurological symptoms and open new diagnostic and therapeutic perspectives.
Charles Bernstein (University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada) provided an international clinical perspective on psychiatric comorbidities in IBD. His work from the Manitoba IBD Cohort highlights that anxiety and depression—often underdiagnosed—can directly influence disease progression, supporting a more integrated approach to mental and digestive health.
Eleni Siopi (Inserm – Université Paris Cité) presented her experimental studies on microbiota and anxiety, showing that a microbiota altered by stress can activate the vagus nerve and induce depressive-like behavior in mice, paving the way for new therapies based on microbiota modulation or vagal stimulation.
Eleni Siopi (Inserm – Université Paris Cité) presented her experimental studies on microbiota and anxiety, showing that a microbiota altered by stress can activate the vagus nerve and induce depressive-like behavior in mice, paving the way for new therapies based on microbiota modulation or vagal stimulation.
The day concluded with a culinary demonstration led by the Nancy-based company COOKAL, in partnership with IHU Infiny.
Laurent Probst, CEO of COOKAL, presented his innovative cooking techniques, followed by the introduction of an aromatized spray called “Les Macarons de Clara”, currently being tested at the Hospices Civils de Lyon in the presence of their representatives.
This device aims to restore the pleasure of taste for patients suffering from oral or swallowing disorders, or difficulties with eating.
Born from a collaboration between research, healthcare, and gastronomy, this initiative illustrates how science can also serve pleasure and quality of life.
Day 2 – From Research to Innovation
The second day, more focused on methodology and innovation, explored the tools and frameworks that help translate research into real-world impact.
Didier Quilliot (CHRU Nancy) presented the physiopathological mechanisms underlying eating disorders, linking dysbiosis, hormonal signaling, and brain regulation of satiety.
Cédric Baumann (CHRU Nancy, Inserm INSPIIRE) emphasized that chronic stress is a major determinant of health, capable of disrupting immunity, metabolism, and the microbiota. He presented clinical and mind–body approaches that help restore physiological regulation and enhance patient resilience.
Two workshops then offered participants a look behind the scenes of translational research:
- The workshop “Clinical Data and Building a Research Project”, led by Yoann Bernard, Sophie Zevaco and Emeline Cirou (DRCI, CHRU Nancy), presented the key stages of protocol design, regulatory and ethical requirements, data management under GDPR, and best practices to ensure scientific quality and participant safety.
- The workshop “Valorizing Public Research”, led by Pauline Mosca (IHU Infiny), provided a practical introduction to research valorization in the public sector. Using a hands-on toolbox, it helped young researchers develop the right reflexes early in a project’s design — how to protect exchanges, identify partnership types, anticipate intellectual property issues, and promote results without compromising publication.
Continuing the scientific thread from the first day, Michel Neunlist (TENS, Inserm – Université de Nantes) presented the enteric nervous system as an autonomous “second brain” whose development and aging are modulated by the gut microbiota, playing a key role in digestive and neurological health.
Tunay Köktén (NGERE, Inserm – Université de Lorraine) closed the 2025 edition by revisiting the origins of the gut–brain axis concept and the experimental models that demonstrate its biological reality.
Pedagical validation NGERE U1256 : Natacha Dreumont; Djésia Arnone
