Olivier Neyrolles is awarded the Jacques Piraud Prize from the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale

The Jacques Piraud Prize of the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale is a donation from Marcel Piraud and dedicated to his son, Jacques. It aims to recognize the work of a researcher in the field of infectious diseases. This year it is awarded to Olivier Neyrolles, Deputy Director and future Director of the IPBS at an online ceremony to be held on 02 November.

O. Neyrolles and his team have been working for 20 years on host-pathogen interactions in tuberculosis. Several of the team’s works have made a major contribution to the understanding of this disease, which kills even more than any other pathogen. These discoveries include identifying the TB bacillus receptor on the surface of dendritic cells, understanding the physiology and virulence of the bacillus within the macrophages it infects, and more recently identifying mycobacterial toxins that could be targets for new drugs. The work of O. Neyrolles’ team has been strongly supported by the FRM for many years (FRM labelled team, and numerous doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships).

O. Neyrolles is heavily involved in European and international tuberculosis research networks. In particular, he is a member of the steering committee of the TBVI Foundation for the development of new tuberculosis vaccines. His expertise earned him an invitation to submit France’s candidacy to organize the 6th Global Forum on Tuberculosis Vaccines, which was selected. This Forum will be held in Toulouse in April 2021 under the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic.

Read the press release (in French)