05/12/2024
Anaïs Françon, currently a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Francine Béhar-Cohen, defended her doctoral thesis on May 16, 2023.
Her work on analyzing the phototoxicity of LED light has just been rewarded with two prizes: the Prix solennel de thèse de la Chancellerie des universités de Paris 2024, in the field of ophthalmology (awarded on December 3), and the Prix de thèse Sciences de la santé publique et environnement 2024 de l’Académie nationale de Pharmacie (awarded on January 8).
Having joined the laboratory in January 2019 for a Master 2 internship, Anaïs went on to complete her thesis, under the supervision of Dr Alicia Torriglia, and has been a post-doc since May 2023.
She focused on studying the toxicity, for the eye and retina, of new domestic lighting technologies, namely light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
Anaïs has shown that current phototoxicity thresholds, defined in the same way in rodents and primates, from which lighting standards are derived, are too high. As a result, doses below the current thresholds cause significant damage to the retina. It has also shown that the different parts of the white light spectrum have different impacts on the retina, whereas today only the toxicity of blue light is taken into account. Green light, for example, is also toxic, while red light, which is rarely found in white LEDs, is protective.
Her work therefore calls into question the validity of current phototoxicity thresholds, and highlights the need to re-evaluate domestic lighting standards and take better account of the spectral composition of light sources.
Anaïs will continue her scientific career with a post-doc in Canada, in Dr. Sapieha’s laboratory in Montreal, starting in February 2025.
See on Université Paris Cité website
© Photo thumbnail of home page: Chancellerie des universités de Paris – Sylvain Lhermie