After receiving a MSc in Bioengineering (SupAgro, 2007) and a MRes in Biomedical Research (Imperial College, 2007), Mattéa completed her DPhil in neurosciences at the University of Oxford (2010) in Prof Dame Kay Davies' group.

She did her first postdoc at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York (2011-2013) in Dr Jenny Zou's laboratory where she investigated axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury. For her second postdoc (2013-2018) in Prof Peter Oliver's group at the University of Oxford, she studied a novel family of neuroprotective proteins implicated in the oxidative stress response. She then joined Prof Kevin Talbot's and Prof Martin Turner's groups (University of Oxford, 2018-2019) as a visiting researcher where she gained further expertise in stem cell technology and novel proteomic approaches.Mattéa joined the University of Nottingham as an Anne McLaren Fellow in January 2020. She was promoted to an Assistant Professor position in January 2023.