The French-American doctoral exchange program FADEx was co-organized by PEPR PROPSY, the French Embassy in the United States, and France Science, from June 8 to 12, 2026. For one week, American PhD students were welcomed to France for an immersive experience at the heart of precision psychiatry, discovering research teams and innovation ecosystems across the country. A week full of meaningful exchanges, learning opportunities, and inspiring encounters!
Day 1️⃣ – June 8, 2026 -📍 Paris
The first day began at Inserm headquarters with an exchange session, giving PhD students and young researchers from PEPR PROPSY the opportunity to introduce themselves and share their research. These presentations highlighted the diversity of approaches, ranging from genetic and immunological biomarkers to computational neuroscience, digital phenotypes, and brain imaging.
The morning continued with presentations by Mireille Guyader and Fabien Agenes, who introduced research and innovation opportunities at Inserm, career and hosting opportunities in France, as well as international initiatives such as the International Network for Precision Psychiatry (INPP).
Finally, Marion Leboyer presented PEPR PROPSY and the major challenges facing precision psychiatry, with the goal of transforming our understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric disorders.
After a friendly lunch together, the group headed to Bordeaux, the next stop in this week of exchanges and discoveries in precision psychiatry.
Day 2️⃣ – June 9, 2026 -📍 Bordeaux
The second day of FADEx took place at the University of Bordeaux.
The morning featured presentations by Lucile Capuron, Laurent Groc, Pierre Philip, Volodymyr Bogdanov, and Andreas Frick, who shared their research and perspectives in psychiatry and neuroscience.
The FADEx fellows then had the opportunity to present their research projects in greater detail.
In the afternoon, they discovered several of the Bordeaux campus’s leading laboratories and research facilities:
- Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience (IINS)
- Neurocentre Magendie
- NutriNeuro
- SUMS-SANPSY – Hôpital Tripode
These visits highlighted the wealth of expertise and infrastructure supporting cutting-edge research.
Day 3️⃣ – June 10, 2026 -📍 Paris
The PhD students traveled to CEA Paris-Saclay to discover NeuroSpin, a leading center for brain imaging, before attending presentations on recent advances in neuroimaging and data science.
- Psychiatry and brain imaging – Edouard Duchesnay
- Brain signatures of psychiatric disorders – Océane Dufrenne
- Deep foundation models applied to neuroanatomy – Pauline Armouche
- Exploring brain networks using functional MRI – Racim Menasria
- CATI Platform – Chloé Teurquety and Mélodie Suspize
Psychiatric genomics was also highlighted, with a presentation by Jean-Francois Deleuze, followed by Colin Studholme, who shared his career journey, including his experience at The National Institutes of Health.
In the afternoon, the PhD students presented their research on neurodevelopment, heterogeneity in psychiatric disorders, neuroimaging, inflammation, and digital phenotypes.
Other innovative approaches were also explored, including metabolomics applied to mental health (Etienne Thevenot) and psychiatric cohorts and data centers (Andrii Kulakovskyi).
This day showcased the richness of multidisciplinary approaches, from brain imaging and genomics to artificial intelligence and data science.
Day 4️⃣ – June 11, 2026 -📍 Marseille
The fourth day took place at the Timone campus of Aix-Marseille University !
Following welcome remarks by Laurent Boyer, Marion Leboyer, and Olivier Manzoni, the PhD students visited the MRI center with Jean-Luc Anton, before attending a presentation of NeuroMarseille – NeuroSchool by Guillaume Masson.
The first session highlighted fundamental approaches in biological psychiatry:
- Neurodevelopmental foundations of severe mood disorders – Andréa Paysserand
- Effects of prenatal exposure to CBD and THC on the prefrontal cortex – Alba Cáceres Rodriguez
- Neurofunctional signatures of schizophrenia subtypes – Daniela Janeva
- Early vocalizations and behaviors in Reeler mutant mice – Jessica Pereira-Silva
- Transcriptomic analyses in a mouse model of social defeat – Melina Dinopoulos
The second session explored computational psychiatry, digital phenotyping, and translational approaches:
- DynaPsy: dynamic modeling of psychiatric symptoms – Damien Depannemaecker
- Dynamic characterization of emotional states using EMA – Florencia Altschuler
The PhD students also had the opportunity to present their research projects.
To wrap up the day, Romane Perrin presented the France Science program and international mobility opportunities.
Day 5️⃣ – June 12, 2026 -📍 Marseille
The final day took place at the Timone Campus of Aix-Marseille University. The PhD students discovered several cutting-edge technological platforms and research infrastructures in neuroscience and translational psychiatry:
- CRMBM : visit to the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) platform with Jean-Philippe Ranjeva, accompanied by Wafaa Zaaraoui.
- INS – Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes : discovery of the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) platform with Mireille Bonnard.
- Institute of NeuroPhysioPathology (INP) : presentation of the Neuro Cellular Imaging Support (NCIS) platform by Bertrand Vernay, followed by a visit to the PETRA platform (PrEclinical and TRAnslational research in neuro-oncology) with Chiara Bastiancich.
- INT (Institut des Neurosciences de la Timone) : presentation of an experimental drug delivery system by Mickael Degoulet and a visit to the CircuitPhotonics platform with Alberto Lombardini.
This final day marked the end of a week filled with scientific discoveries, interdisciplinary exchanges, and inspiring encounters.
📸 A look back in pictures
🎓 Awardees
To learn more about their profiles, click here.
🎤 Hear directly from the PhD students!
▶️ Vivek Anand
▶️ Maya Foster