Ella Toulouse
Foundation

Research Projects

The Ella Toulouse Foundation and the ARC Foundation jointly launched their first call for research proposals on cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) in October 2025. These first grants were awarded in late May 2026.

Modeling treatment-resistance mechanisms in leukemias of adolescents and young adults

Vahid ASNAFI, Institut Necker-Enfants Malades (Paris)

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a rare and aggressive blood cancer with still-limited cure rates, especially in the case of relapsing or treatment-refractory disease. Among children, adolescents experience a markedly worse outcome. The team’s preliminary data identified that TAL1-overexpressing T-ALLs are particularly resistant to first-line treatment, notably in AYA patients. The project will perform a deep analysis using multiple approaches, at single-cell resolution, to compare TAL1+ AYA and pediatric leukemia samples in order to uncover the molecular basis of this age-related resistance and identify candidate therapeutic drugs. These will be tested in preclinical models for efficacy and toxicity. The team hopes the work will both reveal resistance mechanisms that could extend to other AYA cancers and identify clinical strategies to improve survival in this specific leukemia subtype.

Targeting aberrant metabolic pathways in adolescent / young-adult high-grade gliomas by modulating inter-organelle communication

Arthur BASSOT, Centre de recherche en cancérologie de Lyon

High-grade gliomas (HGG) are aggressive brain tumors affecting adolescents and young adults (AJA), for whom treatment options remain limited to surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Because these patients are still developing, reducing the long-term toxicity of treatment is particularly important. Our research focuses on communication between mitochondria, the cell’s energy producers, and the endoplasmic reticulum, a major cellular factory. These organelles interact through specialized contact sites called MERCs, which help cells adapt to stress and regulate their metabolism. We hypothesize that MERCs support the survival, aggressiveness and treatment resistance of high-grade glioma cells in young patients. We will identify the key proteins present at these contact sites and test whether targeting them can make tumor cells more sensitive to current therapies such as temozolomide, ONC201 and radiotherapy. Our findings will be validated in 3D brain organoids and mouse models, with the long-term goal of identifying new, more precise therapeutic strategies.

Biological determinants of therapeutic resistance in synovial sarcoma in adolescents and young adults

Laura BROUTIER, Centre de recherche en cancérologie de Lyon

Synovial sarcoma is a rare cancer mainly affecting adolescents and young adults (AYAs), who — despite having the same tumors and receiving the same treatments as children — have significantly worse survival, for reasons that remain unexplained. The team has built one of the first patient-derived organoid biobanks for synovial sarcoma, spanning several ages ; these tumor “avatars” faithfully reproduce the key features of the original tumors. Using this biobank, the project will perform single-cell transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling before and after chemotherapy to identify resistant cell populations and their vulnerabilities, with the goal of designing rational combination therapies. Beyond synovial sarcoma, the work is expected to provide a broader framework for studying age-specific cancer biology and to support more personalized treatment strategies via organoid-based clinical trials.