In this first lesson, I retraced my medical and scientific career. How, starting out in medicine and infectious diseases, I was able, thanks to the flair and extraordinary support of great Pasteurians such as Agnès Ullmann, Yves Chabert, Léon Le Minor and Jacques Monod, to embark on the study of microbial genetics and, following my postdoctoral training in Samuel Formal's laboratory at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, became one of the pioneers in the study of the molecular and cellular basis of the pathogenicity of invasive bacteria, such as Shigella, which soon became my hobbyhorse. I have retraced the key stages of the research carried out with my group and numerous collaborators. They enabled us to decipher the main studies of cell and tissue invasion by this bacterium, and to identify most of the genes and molecular effectors responsible. On this basis, we have developed several candidate vaccines. I also presented our transition, ten years ago, towards the study of the molecular and cellular dialogue between the intestinal microbiota and the host, thus developing a three-way relationship : pathogen-commensal-host. Together, this work represented a cellular microbiology model deciphering the pathogenicity/symbiosis balance.
16:00 - 17:30
