Valérie Forest received her PhD in Biologic and Medical Engineering in 2005 from the Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne, France. After a 4-year post-doctoral position in the Research Centre of the Hospital Centre of the University of Montreal/Montreal Cancer Institute (Canada), she joined Mines Saint Etienne, one of the top 10 French graduate schools of engineering. She is Professor in the Center for Biomedical and Health Engineering, U1059 Inserm. She is Head of the Biological activity of inhaled particles Department and her current main research interest is the cytotoxicity of inhaled nanomaterials.