Lab
Meet the team
Director
Clinical collaborators
Researchers
Postdoctoral researchers
M2 students
Interns
Roman Hossein Khonsari
Head of the lab · PU-PH
Maxillofacial surgeon at Necker - Enfants malades Hospital, professor and hospital practitioner (PU-PH) at Université Paris Cité. Heads the Craniofacial Growth and Form lab at Institut Imagine.
Full CV
Current positions
- Professor of Universities – Hospital Practitioner, pediatric maxillofacial and plastic surgery — Necker - Enfants Malades Hospital, AP-HP; Faculty of Medicine, Université Paris Cité (since 2021)
- Head of the Craniofacial Growth and Form lab, Institut Imagine (since 2023)
- Medical and scientific director of PRIM3D, the AP-HP's central 3D-printing platform (since 2024)
- Visiting professor of craniofacial surgery, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam (since 2026)
- Honorary professor, Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv (since 2026)
Academic and hospital career
- Associate Professor – Hospital Practitioner — Necker - Enfants Malades Hospital, AP-HP; Université Paris Cité (2017-2021)
- Habilitation to Direct Research (HDR), Université Paris-Descartes (2017)
- Chief Resident — Necker - Enfants Malades Hospital / Université Paris Cité (2015-2017); Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital / Sorbonne Université (2013-2015)
- Medical director, Health Data Hub (2021-2025)
- Visiting professor, UCL Mechanical Engineering, London (2020-2024)
- Craniofacial surgery fellowships — Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels (2013); Great Ormond Street Hospital, London (2012-2013); N. N. Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute, Moscow (2006-2007)
- Surgical residency, Nantes University Hospital (2004-2013) — DES in general surgery (2008), qualification in maxillofacial surgery (2013)
- PhD, King's College London (2008-2013)
- Master's (DEA) in Cognitive Science, Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris VI, under the supervision of Alain Berthoz and Charles Pierrot-Deseilligny (2004)
- Alumnus of the École Normale Supérieure (Paris)
Research
- Statistical and biomechanical modelling of growth processes, shape analysis, and theoretical morphogenesis.
- 245 publications indexed on PubMed, h-index = 30 (see on PubMed)
- Author of 4 books (see Publications)
Clinical activities
- Care of complex craniofacial malformations within the national reference centers CRMR MAFACE and CRMR CRANIOST (Filière Maladies Rares TeteCou)
- International collaborations to set up craniofacial surgery units (Kyiv, Ukraine; Yerevan, Armenia; Tbilisi, Georgia; Bangalore, India)
Teaching
- Coordinator of the Inter-University Diploma "Health Data Reuse" (DIU REDS), with the universities of Bordeaux and Aix-Marseille
- Coordinator of the University Diploma "Surgical Planning and 3D Printing", Université Paris Cité
- Director of the regional training program in maxillofacial surgery
- Regional coordinator of the oral surgery residency program (DES)
Titles, learned societies and responsibilities
- Member of the College of the National Academy of Medicine (since 2025)
- Council member, International Society for Craniofacial Surgery (ISCFS) (since 2025)
- Member of the craniofacial and cleft section, SORG (since 2025)
- Chair of the Scientific Committee, ERN CRANIO (since 2022)
- Fellow of the European Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (EBOMFS) (since 2022)
- Associate editor, Journal of Stomatology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (Elsevier)
- Member of the AP-HP Health Data Warehouse's Scientific and Ethics Committee (EDS)
- Scientific director of AIDY (Artificial Intelligence in Dysmorphology), with Institut Imagine and AP-HP
- Principal investigator of the Face4Kids project (multimodal database of craniofacial malformations), with Institut Imagine, INSERM and AP-HP
Patents
- BB-Rhino, nasal conformer for cleft rhinoplasty, co-owned with AP-HP (2020)
- 3D-printed otoscopy simulator, co-owned with AP-HP and Université Paris Cité, marketed by MEDPRINT (2023)
Funding and awards
- Fondation Les Gueules Cassées — €300,000 (2020), founding the lab and its research equipment
- City of Paris, "Émergence" grant — €200,000 (2021), recruiting a postdoctoral researcher
- Université Paris Cité / National University of Singapore grant — €30,000 (2021), recruiting a Master's student
- Université Paris Cité / King's College London grant — €30,000 (2023), recruiting a Master's student
- INSERM "Chirurgie Impulsion" program — €150,000 (2024), funding a PhD student
- PEPR Maths Vives – Imocep — €200,000 (2024), recruiting a postdoctoral researcher
- Fondation Princesse Grace — €100,000 per year for 5 years, Craniofacial Growth and Form lab (Institut Imagine)
Ludovic Bénichou
Head of maxillofacial surgery, Saint-Joseph Hospital
PhD student on the contribution of synthetic images to craniofacial dysmorphology, with Jean-Christophe Pesquet and Roman Hossein Khonsari, within the AIDY team.
Maxime Donzel
M2 student (5th year, health major), EPF
Works on the BounTI algorithm for AI-based automatic segmentation of skull bones, with Khosrow Rajabizadeh, Maxime Taverne, and Moé Moisson. Holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Université Paris-Saclay.
Victoria Franchetti-Romero
PhD candidate (2026-2029) · MSc biomécanique
PhD thesis "(Meta-)Modeling of the functional growth of the skull: towards an integrative digital twin for decision-making assistance" (Institut Imagine / University of Rennes): formalizes current skull growth theories using ontologies and machine learning. Supervised by John Baxter and Roman Hossein Khonsari, with the guidance of Pierre Jannin and Maxime Taverne.
Emma Jourdain
PhD student (2026-2029)
Works on an atlas of synchondrosis maturation in achondroplasia, supervised by Nicolas Kogane.
Nicolas Kogane
PhD student (2023-2027) · PhD, doctorant (2023-2027)
PhD candidate working on the role of the synchondroses of the skull base in craniofacial growth, supervised by Maxime Taverne, Sébastien Laporte, and Emilie Dambroise.
Hanna Lif
Postdoctoral researcher, Uppsala University Hospital
Works on normal and pathological growth of the sphenoid bone.
Moé Moisson
M2 student, ESME Sudria
Development of the Bounti algorithm for AI-based automatic segmentation of skull bones, supervised by Khosrow Rajabizadeh.
Giovanna Paternoster
Pediatric neurosurgeon at Necker - Enfants malades Hospital, head of CRMR CRANIOST, clinical collaborator
Arnaud Picard
Head of maxillofacial and plastic surgery at Necker - Enfants malades Hospital, head of CRMR MAFACE, clinical collaborator
Khosrow Rajabizadeh
Senior researcher
Analysis of MRI tractography data in collaboration with IMAG2 (Imagine-associated lab), and AI-based automatic segmentation of skull bones (BounTI).
Adèle Rohée-Traoré
Maxillofacial surgeon, CHU Angers
PhD thesis at the lab, co-supervised by Roman Hossein Khonsari and Laurent Gajny, on a growth model of the prenatal facial envelope using fetal MRI data, in collaboration with the Fondation Lumière.
Maxime Taverne
Senior researcher
Works at the interface between geometric morphometrics, statistical shape modelling, biomechanics, and developmental biology to study craniofacial growth.
History
Former members
Hind Aissaoui
Orthodontist, M2 student
Developed a cleft lip and palate surgery simulator with PRIM3D and Nicolas Kogane.
Lyza Ben Bouazza
M2 student
Morphological description of skulls in patients with Crouzon syndrome, as part of Ombline Delassus's PhD thesis.
Sofia Benhamouche
M2 student, bioinformatics
Worked on a benchmark aiming at challenging existing shape modelling methods, with Jean Feydy and Maxime Taverne.
Emma Blanc-Tailleur
Medical illustrator, École Estienne
Illustrated the book Le crâne toulousain and the book Emergency Medical 3D Printing, as well as a series of illustrations for the PRIM3D platform's communications.
Kevin Bloch
M2 student
Worked on craniofacial growth in metopic craniosynostoses, supervised by Roman Hossein Khonsari.
Thi Nhat Phuong Bui
M2 BME student, Arts et Métiers
Automatic landmarking on 2D photographs of unilateral cleft lip, supervised by Nicolas Kogane.
Ezgi Cetin
Erasmus MC / Rotterdam exchange
Worked on normal and pathological mandibular growth, supervised by Hugo Dutel.
Marine Cheval
M2 student
Worked on normal external-ear growth using synchrotron data (ESRF), supervised by Roman Hossein Khonsari.
Lucas Chollet
Data Analyst / Data Engineer (M2)
Worked on brain morphometry in FGFR mutations, processing MRI images in Python and R, as part of Ombline Delassus's PhD thesis.
Ombline Delassus
Former PhD student
Developmental relationships between brain anatomy, skull morphology, and cognitive impairments in FGFR-related craniosynostoses, supervised by David Germanaud and Jean-François Mangin.
Manon Descoubes
Medical illustrator, École Estienne
Illustration project on Le Fort III facial osteotomy for faciocraniosynostoses.
Leila Galiay
Former M2 student
Worked on the Toulouse skulls project, with Roman Hossein Khonsari. Also compared different surgical techniques for the treatment of scaphocephaly, with Mehran Moazen (publication →).
Eline Groenenboom
Worked on endocast growth in syndromic craniosynostoses, a model directed by Maxime Taverne.
Sidra Hafeez
M2 BME student, Arts et Métiers
Automatic landmarking on 2D photographs of unilateral cleft lip, supervised by Nicolas Kogane.
Hadil Herzallah
M2 student
Worked on photography and 3D-photography-based facial phenotyping, as well as oral health in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).
Ellika Irajpour
Student, Uppsala University
Project Virchow's law in asymmetric craniosynostoses: assessment by vectorial analysis, supervised by Hanna Lif.
Laura Laliève
Worked on the normal growth of the craniocervical junction, supervised by Maxime Taverne.
Matthieu Landart
Worked on fronto-orbital bone consolidation after monobloc fronto-facial advancement osteotomy in FGFR-related craniosynostoses.
Lara van de Lande
Maxillofacial surgeon, Erasmus MC, collaborator
Coordinated numerous lab projects in connection with Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Aurélie Loyer
Scientific illustrator (École Estienne)
Illustrated cranial and postcranial anatomy for the lab, including binturong muscular anatomy, in collaboration with the comparative anatomy lab of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (French National Museum of Natural History).
Tatia Mamucharashvili
M2 BME student, Arts et Métiers
Automatic landmarking on 2D photographs of unilateral cleft lip, supervised by Nicolas Kogane.
Anne Morice
PhD thesis at the lab, co-directed by Laurence Legeai-Mallet, on bone consolidation in mouse models of Crouzon syndrome.
Barbara Ndambidi Yungi
Pharmacy intern
Worked on brain morphometry in FGFR mutations, as part of Ombline Delassus's PhD thesis.
Margaux Ntirubuza
Maxillofacial resident (Geneva)
MD thesis on the long-term follow up of FGFR patients with non-invasive ventilation (OSAS), supervised by Sonia Khirani and Maxime Taverne.
Honor Paine
MD candidate (Columbia University Irving Medical Center)
Role of synchondroses in skull base growth, supervised by Nicolas Kogane.
Juliette Raoul-Duval
Worked on a model of normal growth of the craniospinal junction, supervised by Maxime Taverne.
Lorine Rodrigues
Dual track in Medicine and a Master's in biology-health, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Paris Ouest)
Aloïs Roussel
M2 student
Worked on CPAP mask pressure measurements, supervised by Margaux Ntirubuza and Maxime Taverne.
Feline Steup
Erasmus MC / Rotterdam exchange
Worked on endocast growth in syndromic craniosynostoses, a model directed by Maxime Taverne.
Cassandra Vion
Medical illustrator, École Estienne
Illustration project on the different steps of fronto-facial monobloc advancement with internal distraction for syndromic craniosynostoses, used in the book Frontofacial Monobloc Advancement with Internal Distraction, as well as in the book on the management of Apert syndrome.
Laurien Westra
Student, Erasmus MC Rotterdam
Deep phenotyping of syndromic craniosynostoses, ERN CRANIO project, supervised by Irene Mathijssen.
Yehong Zhong
Surgeon, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Worked on the craniofacial growth under non-invasive ventilation project, supervised by Sonia Khirani and Maxime Taverne.
Network
Scientific and clinical collaborators
Antoine Balzeau
Research Director, Musée de l'Homme — paleoanthropology
Audrey Desgranges
Collaborator, Institut Imagine
Marius Didziokas
Collaborator, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London (UCL)
Sarah Ghafoor
Professor of Oral Biology, University of Health Sciences Lahore (Pakistan)
Sébastien Laporte
Professor, Deputy Director, Institut de Biomécanique Humaine Georges Charpak (ENSAM)
Laurence Legeai-Mallet
Inserm Research Director, Institut Imagine — FGFR3 and achondroplasia
Irene Mathijssen
European Reference Network ERN CRANIO, Erasmus Medical Center
Philipp Mitteröcker
Professor, evolutionary biology, University of Vienna
