Louis-Stéphane IV Clercq

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT LOUIS-STÉPHANE IV CLERCQ

Louis S. Le Clercq is a Molecular Biologist, who completed a Bachelors of Science (B.Sc.) degree at the University of Pretoria. This afforded him theoretical and practical training in diverse fields such as Cellular biology, Histological techniques, Genetics, Biochemistry and Immunology. Upon graduation he completed a B.Sc. Honors degree, based on intensified theoretical and practical training, alongside a mini research project which largely focused on cell culture in vitro experimentation to analyze nuclear transcription factors in cultured cells using Flow-Cytometry and Western Blots. He then elected to continue training with a research and dissertation based Masters of Science (M.Sc) degree as further, post-graduate specialization. During this period he worked mostly on the evolution of the full genome of blood borne DNA viruses, with full genome PCR\'s, cloning, and novel Illumina Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). After graduation, Le Clercq opted to do an internship/stage, by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and National Research Foundation (NRF), where he was placed within the Molecular Genetics research facilities of the Pretoria Zoo, part of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). This lead to the completion of a Ph.D. degree in Genetics from the University of the Free State. His thesis focused on biological clocks including genetic polymorphisms in clock genes and epigenetics, such as methylation analysis via bisulfite sequencing, and its complex correlates to behavior, ecology, evolution and biological aging. At present he is registered with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professionals (SACNASP) and pursuing a Postdoctoral Fellowship within the Epigenetics and Cell Fate research unit (UMR7216) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, France.