Béatrice Desvergne was trained as a MD. She initially specialized in Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, practiced medicine for a few years, and decided to move for fundamental research. She then carried out a post-doctoral stay from 1988 to 1992 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, first as visiting fellow and then visiting associate in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. In 1992, she was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Animal Biology of the UNIL. After being appointed as Associate Professor, she was promoted as full Professor in 2008. She joined the Center for Integrative Genomics in 2003.