iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

📢 Save the date! Join us on July 2, 2026, at IAB (#Grenoble) for: 🔬 Parasite Life Cycles Unveiled: Sex, Regulation and Host Adaptation 4 leading scientists will discuss parasite development and host–parasite interactions. 🥙 Free attendance + Lebanese lunch Register: forms.gle/a5fdoVPqgNq3...

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

few days in Turino felt like walking through an open-air museum. between royal palaces, hidden courtyards and incredible archaeological pieces, every street had its own story to tell (great italian food too 😋). this town has this rare atmosphere: elegant, historic and alive at the same time. ☺️

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

What an exceptional week! At the Collège de France, surrounded by my family 🥰 and part of my Dream Team, I was honored with the 2025 Inserm Research Prize! Truly proud. 🙏 INSERM This award goes to an outstanding team and to my loved ones who have carried me through this scientific journey.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

What a day at the Académie des Sciences! 🎉 Honored to receive the Allianz Prize / Institut de France. Huge shoutout to my dream team — none of this happens without you. 🙏🏽💥 @ugrenoblealpes.bsky.social @inserm.fr @cnrs.fr

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

A fantastic week in Grenoble hosting my friend Amit Sharma for our @inserm.fr IRP project. With Christopher Swale on board, they pulled off a cryo-EM structure in just a few days! A great reminder that science thrives on teamwork — and friendship. Grateful to @inserm.fr for the support!

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Christopher Swale just nailed his HDR — the top academic milestone in France 🎓He can now supervise PhD students on his own. Stellar talk, razor-sharp answers, the jury was impressed. Proud of you, Chris. 👏

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Winter’s first snow over Grenoble, straight from the office view.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Four years, one PhD, many smiles… and a standout CV. Bravo Dr. @belenpachano.bsky.social Enjoy Munich with @siegel-lab.bsky.social and his dream team!

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

On Friday, I had the privilege of speaking with a remarkable line-up of Artur Scherf alumni at a symposium devoted to his stellar contributions to parasitology in general and malaria specifically. It was wonderful to pay tribute to a friend and visionary whose legacy continues to inspire.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

So proud of my PhD student Martina Shahinas 🌟 She gave a stellar talk and shared her latest results—still chasing the sexual stages of Toxoplasma. embo.org Conference / parafrap.bsky.social was a success with an amazing speaker lineup on the ☀️Île des Embiez, Côte d’Azur.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Oh how fantastic evolution is… every day it drops a new plot twist. 🤯🧬 Nature, who coded you?! 🤩 t.co/yXmctCX6PA

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

Congrats Dr. Silvia DIAZ MARTIN on a brilliant PhD defense. 🙏to jury Maryse, Thierry, Matthew, Ludovic & Diego for their sharp eval. Shout-out to Alexandre and Christopher for their steady mentorship. You made us proud Silvia and I saw the whole galaxy of family pride reflected in your dad’s eyes.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Zeus had his Hydra ⚔️, now Toxoplasma has its own. Meet Hydra: not a monster, but a brand-new protein domain. It multimerizes like crazy & rewrites the chromatin landscape 🧬 in Toxoplasma. Our team and colleagues from @embl.org #Grenoble just dropped the preprint 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Thrilled to see our work featured on the cover of @embomolmed.org 🎉We identify new biomarkers to track chronic toxoplasmosis—paving the way for improved diagnosis and patient care. doi.org/10.1038/s443... It’s time to bring such tools to the clinic—let’s encourage biotech to take it from here.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Huge congrats @belenpachano.bsky.social on your PhD! Honored to have shared the journey. Your brilliance shines through your articles — past and future. You’ll be missed, but my lab will always be your home. Come back anytime. You’ve earned every success!

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Massive shoutout to my dream team! 💥 Gladys & Christopher (co–first authors) et al. A squad of brilliant scientists but also clinicians. Nor forgetting our fantastic coll. Special thanks to our funders, especially @inserm.fr Transfert and MSD Avenir, for believing in this project from the start. 🙏

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Under the hood (mechanistically), it’s not just one switch running the show: 🧬 MORC and HDAC3 team up to control BFD1—the dormancy boss. But surprise: BSM plays by its own rules, skipping BFD1 entirely. 👉 There’s more than one road to parasite sleep mode.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

In this study we identify two biomarkers for chronic infection: ✅ BSM (Bradyzoite Serological Marker) ✅ BCLA (Cyst-associated antigen) 🧪 These markers nail cyst detection in mice and human. High sensitivity. High specificity. Zero ambiguity. 🧪💥

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Current clinical tests can spot Toxoplasma infection but struggle to identify the dormant 😴 parasites. That’s bad news if your immune system takes a break—because this parasite loves to reactivate and “rumble in the jungle”. Think: 🧠 Neurological disorders

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Meet Toxoplasma —the microscopic zombie-maker. 🧟‍♂️ This neurotropic parasite infects ~1/3 of us, then goes quiet... While acute infections are usually mild, the chronic stage, marked by dormant bradyzoites in tissue cysts 🧠, is much harder to detect—and potentially dangerous.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

🙏Massive shoutout to our funders

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

And here's the twist: MORC binding drops when TgSNF2h is gone. The ISWI complex (via TgSNF2h) acts as a gatekeeper, deciding what genes stay on or off at each stage of the parasite’s life. In short: ISWI controls parasite identity.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

We used auxin-inducible degradation to knock down TgSNF2h and TgRFTS. The result? Massive changes in chromatin structure and gene expression. Chromatin closed. Parasite development stalled.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Toxoplasma evolved two ISWI proteins: TgSNF2h and TgSNF2L. Despite looking similar structurally, these two have very different roles. TgSNF2h forms an ISWI complex with the transcription factor AP2VIII-2 and the scaffold protein TgRFTS. Spoiler: TgSNF2L will step soon into the spotlight.

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Exciting news! 🇫🇷 network ParaFrap is now on Bluesky! Calling all parasitologists (and beyond) to join us at 👉 @parafrap.bsky.social Let’s connect and share! 🦠 #Parasitology

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

From my office window, a stunning sight: blue sky and snow-dusted mountains, the first of the season. #Grenoble

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Toxoplasma did it again 👇🏽

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Mohamed-Ali HAKIMI @hakimi.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Post a non-religious photo you think as holy

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