FURLA Paola

Paola FURLA is Professor of Animal Biology at the Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (member of the Université Côté d’Azur). After studying at the University of Milan (Italy), she obtained a PhD in Science at the Université de Aix Marseille II on the mechanisms of inorganic carbon absorption within a Cnidarian-Dinoflagellate symbiosis. She took up her first teaching and research positions at the Université Nice Sophia Antipolis in 2001. Since 2008, she has been leading a research team belonging to UMR 7138 Evolution Paris Seine interested in the adaptation and acclimatisation processes of Cnidarians to life in symbiosis. Through multiple approaches ranging from biochemistry and physiology to evolutionary biology, she deciphers the mechanisms responsible for both maintaining and breaking the symbiotic association. She is co-author of about forty publications in international peer-reviewed journals and has supervised eight PhD theses. At her University, she also co-directs a master's degree in marine biology and is involved in many other collective teaching responsibilities. Since 2010, she has been a member of the Conseil National des Universités in Section 68.