Prof. Corinne Houart has been Professor of Developmental Neurobiology at King's College London since 2008 and Vice Dean (2023-) for Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London. 

Corinne began her research career studying gene regulation in cancer at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where she obtained her PhD in 1992. During her doctoral studies, she became fascinated by neurodevelopmental biology and found the zebrafish as the most promising model to address her favourite questions. She therefore moved to the Institute of Neuroscience in Eugene, Oregon, where she learned about all aspects of zebrafish development from Chuck Kimmel and Monte Westerfield’s labs. At the 1994 first zebrafish international conference in CSH, Corinne got invited by Nigel Holder to complete her postdoctoral work in University College London, joining Steve Wilson’s team in end of 1995. She established her independent laboratory at King's College London in 2001. Today she is a leading international researcher focusing on the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive zebrafish forebrain development and the evolutionary mechanisms underlying vertebrate brain regionalisation.

Prof. Corinne Houart’s work has elucidated conserved molecular mechanisms underlying neural development, especially forebrain development. Her team’s innovative approach has expanded to identify critical similarities and divergences in forebrain regionalization between zebrafish and mouse models, offering new insights into vertebrate neurodevelopment. Her laboratory’s findings have thus not only deepened our understanding of the brain, but also revealed mechanisms underlying human brain disorders.

Prof Houart has also played a pivotal international role in nurturing the next generation of scientists and building a thriving and collaborative community. She was a Faculty of the MBL international zebrafish summer course since its start in 1998 (until 2024) and director of the course (2011-2017).  Her dedication to mentoring young researchers is reflected in the success of her mentees, many of whom have gone on to make significant leading contribtions to the field. She has also led initiatives to strengthen the next generation of zebrafish researchers through her activites as board member (2005-) and later vice president of the European Zebrafish Society (2018-2023) as well as Board member (2015-) and president of the International Zebrafish Society (2023-2024), and involvement in the organization of society conferences.

In recognition of her scientific achievements, Corinne Houart was elected to the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) in 2021. She has also received the Medical Research Council's Suffrage Science award, which honours leading female scientists for their contributions and role as mentors in science.