Biography

Born April 9 1949, Paris (75).

Education and professional career

  • 1978 : DEA (post-graduate diploma) in biochemistry/microbiology, Université Denis-Diderot Paris-VII
  • 1979 : Doctor of Medicine thesis at Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University, Paris-VI
  • 1979 : CES in bacteriology and virology
  • 1973 : Internship at Paris hospitals
  • 1974-1979 : Internal medicine/infectious diseases
  • 1981-1983  Chef de clinique-assistant des hôpitaux de Paris : infectious diseases, Institut Pasteur hospital
  • 1983-1987 : Research fellow at Institut Pasteur : infectious diseases
  • 1985-1990 : Consultation physician, Institut Pasteur hospital
  • 1987 : Head of laboratory at Institut Pasteur
  • 1989 : Creation and management of the Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis Unit, part of Inserm Unit 199
  • 1992 : Creation and management of INSERM unit 389, now Inserm 786
  • 1992 : Clinical Research Development Delegate, Institut Pasteur Hospital
  • 1994 : Professor at Institut Pasteur
  • 1995-1996 : Wellcome Burroughs Visiting Professorship in the Microbiological Sciences
  • 1995-1996 : MacLaughlin Visiting Professorship
  • 1997 : Edwin H. Beachey Visiting Professorship at the University of Tennessee, Memphis
  • 1998 : Marvin A. Brennecke Visiting Professor at Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri
  • 2000 : Professeur de classe exceptionnelle à l'Institut Pasteur
  • 2000 : Visiting Professor of Paediatrics at Harvard Medical School
  • 2000 : Visiting Scientist at G.I. Cell Biology Laboratory (M.R. Neutra)
  • 2000 : Children's Hospital, Boston Massachussetts
  • 2001 : Pasteur-Weizmann Scientific Council visiting speaker
  • 2003 : Co-organizer of the Gordon Research Conference Molecular Mechanisms of Bacterial Adhesion, Rhode Island
  • 2003 : Division B Annual Honorary Lecture, American Society for Microbiology Stanier Public Health Honorary Lecture, Montreal, Canada
  • 2007-2020 : Professor at the Collège de France, Microbiology and infectious diseases

Scientific work

Following initial work on the transfer of antibiotic resistance plasmids, during which P. Sansonetti trained in classical and molecular genetics, his interest soon turned to the application of genetics and molecular biology to the study of bacterial pathogenicity. As early as 1979-1980, he was one of the pioneers in the genetic and molecular analysis of pathogenic bacteria, and the first to dissect the genetic basis of a bacterium's invasive power, both in vitro in cellular models and in vivo in animal models of infection.

Selected bibliography