Francis Corson CNRS researcher Laboratoire de Physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure 24, rue Lhomond 75231 Paris Cedex 05 France corson at phys.ens.fr

I am a theoretician working at the interface between physics and developmental biology (patterning and morphogenesis), in close collaboration with experimentalists. My contribution includes theory and modeling (with a preference for simple/coarse-grained models, which I find most illuminating), along with the development of image/data analysis tools, to work towards a quantitative, dynamical picture of development.

Current projects include:
- neural patterning in Drosophila, with the group of François Schweisguth at the Pasteur Institute;
- early morphogenesis of the amniote embryo, with the group of Jérôme Gros, also in Pasteur.

A common thread in several projects, that is fruitfully approached through a combination of theory and experiments, is the role for self-organization in development.

Selected publications

A tensile ring drives tissue flows to shape the gastrulating amniote embryo
M. Saadaoui, D. Rocancourt, J. Roussel, F. Corson*, J. Gros*
Science, 367, 453–458 (2020) link preprint

Self-organization in pattern formation
F. Schweisguth, F. Corson, Dev Cell, 49, 659-677 (2019) link

Self-organized Notch dynamics generate stereotyped sensory organ patterns in Drosophila
F. Corson, L. Couturier, H. Rouault, K. Mazouni, F. Schweisguth
Science, 356, eaai7407 (2017) link

Gene-free methodology for cell fate dynamics during development
F. Corson, E. Siggia, eLife, 6, e30743 (2017) link pdf