Cédric Blanpain

Cédric Blanpain's research centres on the stem cell hierarchies that build and maintain epithelial tissues, and on how those hierarchies go awry in cancer. His early first-author work on self-renewal and multipotency within the hair follicle bulge established that an epithelial stem cell niche harbours two functionally distinct cell populations, while his later senior-author studies identified distinct tumour transition states occurring during EMT, a framework he and colleagues also consolidated into guidance for the field. Related work on cancer stem cell potential and its therapeutic implications extends this line of inquiry from normal tissue turnover to tumour initiation. Earlier contributions include middle-author roles in defining the epithelial stem cell niche in skin and in establishing guidelines and definitions for EMT research, alongside work on chemerin as a processed ligand recruiting antigen-presenting cells, reflecting a broader interest in chemokine signalling. These studies, together with his sustained focus on stem cell identity and tumour heterogeneity, trace a coherent trajectory from developmental biology toward the cellular mechanisms of cancer progression.