Following engineering studies at the École des Mines de Paris, and several experiments in machine learning for cancer detection, plant pathology and fluid dynamics modeling, as well as a stint at the French Embassy in Berlin, Marc-Eric Perrin obtained a master's degree in mathematics applied to biology at Sorbonne University.
In 2021, he joins the Turing Center for Living Systems at Aix-Marseille University to prepare a PhD under the supervision of Thomas Lecuit and Jean-François Rupprecht.
His thesis focuses on the formation of the dendritic arborization of sensory neurons in Drosophila: he is looking for a branching model capable of reproducing the characteristic morphologies of different classes of neurons, as well as the minimal set of parameters needed to explain their variations. His work, in close collaboration with biologists,isorganized around four axes: (i)developmentof automatic algorithms for segmentation, tracking and reconstruction ofdendritictrees; (ii)modelingof dendriticdevelopmentbased on quantitative measurements of growth dynamics; (iii) experimental and quantitative analysis of microtubule- and actin-dependent processes governing short- and long-term branch dynamics; (iv) development of mathematical models describing neuronal morphology.
Marc-Eric Perrin is the winner of The Hugot Foundation of Collège de France Award 2025, proposed by Prof. Thomas Lecuit, Dynamics of Living Systems Chair.