François Mesnard

PhD at Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens - France

Francois Mesnard studied chemistry in University of Picardie Jules Verne where he obtained a PhD in 1999 about NMR analysis on Solanaceae metabolism. He had a postdoc position in the University of Oxford, in the Department of Plant Sciences, in the in vivo NMR group with George Ratcliffe. He obtained a professor position in 2009 in University of Picardie Jules Verne, where he is the leader of the group “metabolism of phenylpropanoids” in the research unit BIOPI. He is specialized in plant NMR metabolism studies. He is currently working on metabolism and characterization of phenolic compounds accumulated in flaxseed. He has recently developed an analytical methodology in metabolomics and elaborated a plant metabolite database more specifically dedicated to flax, in collaboration with Bernd Schneider.

Mesnard is the vice head of the Plant Biology and Innovation research unit (BIOPI) which aims at understanding the roles of the changes in cell wall and metabolism during plant development. Specific developmental models (seed, hypocotyls, roots), as well as stress/non-stress growth conditions, are used on either a model plant (Arabidopsis) or a plant of agro-economic interest (flax). The unit has strong expertise in cell wall biochemistry, phenolic metabolism, studying in particular (neo-)lignan biosynthesis in flax, molecular cloning, gene and protein expression and plant transformation. The unit has full access to all the equipment from the University platforms (Analytical, Molecular Biology, Greenhouses), with state-of-the-art facilities. Several Mass and NMR spectrometers are available, notably a 600 MHz equipped with an autosampler, compatible with high throughput metabolomic studies.