Bruno Reversade

Bruno Reversade was born in 1974 into a French-American family. He was raised in Grenoble (France) and Washington, D.C. (US). Bruno Reversade studied at the University Joseph Fourier, Pierre and Marie Curie University and UCLA. ==Scientific career==

Reversade became interested in developmental biology in 1997 when studying at the University of Western Ontario (Canada) under the tutelage of Greg Kelly. He earned his master's degree at the Pasteur Institute (Paris, France), where he studied head development in the mouse embryo. He then moved to the United States to work at the HHMI laboratory of Edward M. De Robertis at the University of California, Los Angeles. There he studied the specification of the dorsal-ventral axis during vertebrate development using Xenopus embryos. In 2005, Reversade and De Robertis detailed how multiple extracellular proteins allow embryos that are cut in two to self-regulate consistently. In 2006, Reversade earned his PhD from the Pierre and Marie Curie University. In 2008, he received the A*STAR investigatorship (Singapore) award and set up his team in 2008 at the Institute of Medical Biology to carry out human embryology and genetic research. In 2015, he became a Director at A*STAR. Also in 2015, he received AAA Fellowship from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and was appointed Professor of Human Genetics at the Centre for Reproductive Medicine at the university's Academic Medical Center. Since 2016, Reversade is a Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics at Koç University (Turkey). In 2023, Reversade became a bioscience Professor at KAUST in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ==Research areas==

Mendelian genetics Reversade's team works on the genetic characterization and clinical description of inherited conditions in humans. They have identified mutations responsible for progeroid syndromes in humans, NLRP1 inflammasome-related diseases, self-healing cancers pertaining to the self-regulation of an embryonic morphogenetic field mediated by the extracellular Chordin/BMP/Sizzled pathway. Reversade also researches the genetics of dizygotic and monozygotic twinning in humans. In 2021, together with the VU Amsterdam, his group revealed that MZ twins harbor an epigenetic signature in their somatic tissue even decades after their birth. This stable DNA mark could be employed to retrospectively assess if a person is a MZ twin even if his/her co-twin vanished in utero. Hormones and Micropeptides Reversade's research has also pioneered the annotation of novel micropeptides. • ELABELA In 2013, he discovered and patented a novel hormone named Elabela (ELA). This secreted circulating peptide works as an endogenous ligand for the Apelin receptor (a G protein-coupled receptor). The genetic inactivation of ELA leads to cardiovascular defects, predisposes to preeclampsia and is needed for the self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells. Analogues of Elabela have entered clinical trials by Amgen. • BRAWNIN In 2020, he participated in the characterization of C12orf73, a protein-coding gene responsible for the making of a 71 amino-acid peptide called BRAWNIN. This small peptide is essential for respiratory chain complex III (CIII) assembly in human cells and zebrafish. • C2orf69 In 2021, together with I. Kurth and colleagues, his team identified a fatal syndrome caused by the homozygous inactivation of C2orf69. This gene codes for a 385 amino-acid peptide which can be secreted or associated with mitochondria. C2ORF69 possesses homology to esterase/lipase enzymes. ==Awards and recognition==

• Society-in-Science Branco Weiss Fellowship (2007), ETH Zurich; • Inaugural A*STAR Investigatorship award (2008), Agency for Science, Technology and Research; ==References==