Bénédicte Merle is a dietician and epidemiologist focused on the relationship between nutrition and eye health. She is interested in the impact of nutrition and lifestyle on eye health.
On 17 September, she will present her HDR thesis, which is titled ‘Lifestyle determinants, nutrition and eye health’

With a degree in dietetics and a master’s degree in epidemiology, Bénédicte Merle joined the LEHA team at Bordeaux Population Health U1219 as a doctoral student in 2009. In 2012, she obtaines her PhD for her thesis, which was entitled ‘Nutrition and age-related macular degeneration: an epidemiological approach to the role of lipids’.

She then completed two postdoctoral fellowships in the ophthalmology department at the Créteil Intercommunal Hospital Centre and Tufts Medical Centre in Boston.

In 2018, following her success at the Inserm CRCN, she was recruited as a research fellow within the BPH’s LEHA team for her scientific contributions on the relationship between the eye and nutrition, particularly in relation to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Involved in several projects, her research focuses on two main areas:

• the first aims to identify and describe people with AMD in the French population;
• the second focuses on gaining a better understanding of the relationship between lifestyle factors (particularly nutrition) and eye diseases, notably AMD and glaucoma.

On 17 September, Bénédicte will defend her HDR thesis on ‘The determinants of lifestyle, nutrition and eye health’. This new stage in her career will enable her to explore new avenues for development.

Link to follow the defence via video:

https://u-bordeaux-fr.zoom.us/j/8450238196?pwd=Rt83FveWG13U4lOOKDaQTqwAy6pva7.1&omn=84817315991