A Young Scientist’s Journey of Curiosity and Opportunity

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A Young Scientist's Journey of Curiosity and Opportunity

• July 11, 2025

At the age of 26, Romain Menard accepted a position in the research group of MDI Bio Lab's Romain Madelaine, Ph.D. and moved from France to Maine. Now 30, Menard is well on his way to a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Maine, while he continues his research here on Salisbury Cove, in the Kathryn W. Davis Center for Regenerative Biology and Aging.

Earlier this year, he passed a major academic and career marker, becoming first author of a research article documenting the novel use of a compound called ML233 to regulate the production of skin pigmentation (now patented by MDI Bio Lab and Madelaine, the Principal Investigator on the project).

ML233 holds potential for treating several skin disorders such as hyperpigmentation and, with significantly more research, could be useful in treating certain types of melanomas.

In recent months, Menard has focused an entrepreneurial lens on the project, as he works with the Lab's MDI Bioscience initiative to further explore ML233's therapeutic possibilities and its commercialization as a cosmetic product.

He's also won financial support in competitions sponsored by organizations such as the Bioscience Association of Maine, and earlier this year, the National Science Foundation picked him to participate in a competitive training program in entrepreneurship, called I-Corps. Menard completed the eight-week training last month.

Below are excerpts from a conversation with Menard soon after he wrapped up that program.

Q: It seems like part of your approach to research has been about recognizing opportunity when it comes your way. Is that a fair assessment?

Romain: I never imagined that I would take an entrepreneurial course in my scientific career, but when the NSF proposed to sponsor me to get access to that, of course, I would take it, because that's such a great opportunity to learn new things and to become better on my own.

I will always be curious about what's happening right next to what I'm looking at, because it can create opportunity to find something new.

Q: The ML233 project got off the ground after you and the team noticed something odd in a completely unrelated experiment, right? You noticed that specialized zebrafish you were using for Dr. Madelaine's studies of muscle regeneration were losing their color when treated with the ML233 compound?

Romain: Yes. In science sometimes unexpected things happen, and that's why we have to be smart enough to take the opportunity to see where it will take us.

There are a lot of people that get focused and just work in their niche and that's it. But I think you miss a lot of things, because when we take look at history, most of the major discoveries come from either mistakes, or people that were looking for something else but were curious enough to expand their vision and say, 'Okay, I don't see what I was after right now, but I do see something else that is very interesting.'

Q: And now you are contributing to work by MDI Bioscience to turn the ML233 discovery into a commercial product.

Romain: And so that's bringing basic research to a totally different world, which is industry. And it's also, for me, something that is really important to see that very fundamental research can have an effect on a wider population, and in this case, worldwide, with people that might need that product in the future to treat a skin disorder like hyperpigmentation. So for my vision with MDI Bioscience, it's kind of starting from one extreme (in biomedical research and development) - a basic discovery in comparative biology - and then to go through all the spectrum to reach the other end, with a vision of a product or a therapy for humans.

Q: Do you see yourself turning from basic or academic research towards a career as an entrepreneur?

Romain: I can see myself as part of a team that translates research into new applications for health. … I still want to learn about that side. I want to be part of it, but I know where my boundaries are, and so for that, I need to be with other people that are experts with the market side and the industry side of the development of a product. And then we will collaborate together to make things happen.

Q: What makes you excited about the actual work of science?

Romain: What I like is that there is no set routine. Of course, experiments can be similar, but you can have bench work, computer work, different types of analysis… At the bench, I like to test and optimize new protocols. It's nice to try something new and make sure you make the best of it. Sometimes we have to adapt protocols, change timing or steps, and I find that very fun.

Q: Can you share an example of protocol optimization that you enjoyed?

Romain: For RNA sequencing with zebrafish larvae, we have a system called a TissueLyzer that vibrates at high frequency and uses macroscopic beads to break cell apart, making components inside the larvae such as DNA, RNA and proteins accessible, so we can study them. I spent four months optimizing the process - determining how long to put samples in, how many beads to use, what size of beads to get the most homogenized liquids containing the RNA.

Now I have a protocol I can reuse, and I'm 99% sure it will work every time, and my PI (Principal Investigator Madelaine) can be sure as well. There is maybe some time lost at the beginning to optimize the system, but after that, then you don't waste your time anymore. You've earned time.

Q: Tell us about your current research.

Romain: Right now we are focused on a hormone called apelin, which is highly conserved through evolution - you find it in zebrafish, mice, humans, and monkeys. Apelin is important for the maintenance of muscle mass as we and other vertebrates age, improving muscle regeneration and also for managing diabetes, regulating glucose levels in the bloodstream. We are studying it in the zebrafish.

Q: The zebrafish is very good at regenerating muscle over its entire lifespan - and your team has already demonstrated that apelin plays an important role in that. You helped your lab leader, Romain Madelaine, develop lines of mutant and transgenic fish that lack the usual apelin or other hormones that can affect muscle growth . Do you continue work with mutant zebrafish?

Romain: We've done a lot of work on what happens when the amount of apelin available to the fish is restricted - it loses muscle mass - but what about if there is too much? We're engineering a new line of transgenic zebrafish in which we can trigger overexpression of the hormone and study its effects.

There are some human clinical trials with apelin therapies happening, and it's important to understand not just how its absence might drive muscle decline or sarcopenia, but whether and how too much of it might also harm health. You have to look at both sides of the equation.

Q: What do you do outside of science?

Romain: I strongly believe in work-life balance. I do outdoor activities like climbing, canoeing, and skiing. Right now, I play a lot of badminton, which many here at the Lab are doing.

In my alone time, I build scale models of historical boats. I start with simple strips of wood, curve them, bend them, taper them, and create something beautiful, a reconstruction of something that existed in the past. It teaches me focus and helps me avoid the constant scrolling of social media, which I think is a pretty damaging thing for my generation. Scrolling, scrolling all the time, teaching our brains to never be focused more than two minutes. So by doing bench work and by building these boats, I can be focused for hours on end, avoid the fake life of social media, be on my own, and be happy with what I do.