Françoise Barré-Sinoussi

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Françoise Barré-Sinoussi
Barré-Sinoussi in 2008
Born (1947-07-30) 30 July 1947 (age 76)
NationalityFrench
Alma materUniversity of Paris
Known forCo-discoverer of HIV
Awards2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Scientific career
FieldsVirology
InstitutionsPasteur Institute

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (French:

AIDS. In 2008, Barré-Sinoussi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, together with her former mentor, Luc Montagnier, for their discovery of HIV.[2] She mandatorily retired from active research on August 31, 2015, and fully retired by some time in 2017.[3]

Early life

Barré-Sinoussi was interested in science from a very young age. During her vacations as a child, she would spend hours analyzing insects and animals, comparing their behaviors and trying to understand why some run faster than others for example. Soon after, Barré-Sinoussi realized she was very talented in the sciences compared to her humanity courses. She expressed interest to her parents that she would like to attend university to study science or become a researcher. Barré-Sinoussi admitted that she was more interested in becoming a doctor but at the time she was under the false impression that studying medicine was both more expensive and lengthier than a career in science. After two years studying at the university, Barré-Sinoussi attempted to find part-time work in a laboratory to ensure that she had made the right career choice. After nearly a year of searching for laboratory work, she was finally accepted by the Pasteur Institute. Her part-time work at the Pasteur Institute quickly became full-time. She began to only attend university to take the exams and had to rely on her friends’ class notes because she was not regularly attending class. However, Barré-Sinoussi was actually scoring higher on her exams than before because she finally had the motivation because she had realized a career in science was what she wanted to do.[4]

Academic career

The human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Barré-Sinoussi joined the Pasteur Institute in Paris in the early 1970s. She received her PhD in 1974 and interned at the U.S. National Institutes of Health before returning to the Pasteur Institute in Montagnier's unit.[5][6]

During the early AIDS epidemic in 1981-1984, the viral cause of the outbreak had not yet been identified. Working with Luc Montagnier, Jean-Claude Chermann and others at the institute, Barré-Sinoussi isolated and grew a retrovirus from a biopsied swollen lymph node of a patient at risk for AIDS.[7] This virus would later be known as HIV-1, the causative agent behind the outbreak.[8][9][10][5] This discovery allowed for the development of diagnostic tests to aid in controlling the spread of the virus, for informing policy on the treatment of people living with AIDS, and for many important advancements in the science of HIV/AIDS that ultimately saved countless lives.

Barré-Sinoussi started her own laboratory at the Pasteur Institute in 1988. Among Barré-Sinoussi's many recent research contributions are studies of various aspects of the adaptive immune response to viral infection,[11][12] the role of innate immune defenses of the host in controlling HIV/AIDS,[13] factors involved in mother-to-child transmission of HIV,[14] and characteristics that allow a small percentage of HIV-positive individuals, known as elite suppressors or controllers, to limit HIV replication without antiretroviral drugs.[15][16] She has co-authored over 240 scientific publications, has participated in over 250 international conferences, and has trained many young researchers.

Barré-Sinoussi has actively contributed to several scientific societies and committees at the Institut Pasteur as well as to other AIDS organizations, such as the National Agency for AIDS Research in France. She has also been implicated at an international level, notably as a consultant to the

UNAIDS
-HIV.

Since the 1980s, Barré-Sinoussi has initiated collaborations with developing countries and has managed multidisciplinary networks with dedication. In 2016, she was interviewed by the

Sunday Observer and reflected on how Jamaica is dealing with HIV.[17] She constantly works on establishing permanent links between basic research and clinical research with the aim of achieving concrete improvements in the areas of prevention, clinical care, and treatment.[18]

Professor Barré-Sinoussi believes that scientists have made steady progress given the development of antiretroviral treatment which UNAIDS states is being accessed by 17 million of the people globally who are living with AIDS, but finding a cure, or cures, will take time, and a continued investment in research.[17][19] As the co-chair of the 21st International AIDS Society (IAS), she said the search for curative strategy of HIV is a goal of paramount importance and a priority for the future of HIV research. Moreover, even though research to achieve such cures is in a formative stage, significant advances are being made towards a HIV cure.[20]

In 2009, she wrote an open letter to Pope

Benedict XVI in protest over his statements that condoms are at best ineffective in the AIDS crisis.[21]

In July 2012 Barré-Sinoussi became President of the International AIDS Society.

Path to HIV discovery

When Francoise Barré-Sinoussi began working on

hemophiliacs, Haitians and heroin addicts, but that HIV was also targeting heterosexuals – making the likelihood that the HIV related disease, AIDS, was an epidemic very high.[4][22]

Leadership

Francoise Barré-Sinoussi remained at the Pasteur Institute and was appointed head of the Biology of Retroviruses Unit in 1992. The Biology of Retroviruses Unit was reconfirmed in 2005 and renamed the Regulation of Retrovirial Infections Unit. Currently, the unit is working on vaccine research against HIV and the correlates of protection against AIDS for immunotherapy. Barré-Sinoussi's career has also included integration with resource-limited countries, such as Vietnam and Central African Republic. Her experiences working in developing nations with the World Health Organization were truly eye-opening experiences for her and motivated her to continue to collaborate scientifically with various countries through Africa and Asia. This collaboration has promoted many exchanges and workshops between young scientists from resource-limited countries and researches in Paris.[4][22]

Francoise Barré-Sinoussi was elected to the International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council in 2006 and served as the president of the IAS from 2012 to 2016. Barré-Sinoussi worked on the Conference Advisory Committee for the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science, which took place in July 2017 and is currently serving as co-chair of the IAS, working toward an HIV cure initiative.[4][22]

Awards

Barré-Sinoussi shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Luc Montagnier for their co-discovery of HIV, and with Harald zur Hausen, who discovered the viral cause of cervical cancer that led to the development.

In addition to the Nobel Prize, Barré-Sinoussi has received awards including:

See also

References

  1. Independent Online. Retrieved 2016-07-12.[permanent dead link
    ]
  2. ^ "Nobel prize for viral discoveries". BBC News Online. 6 October 2008.
  3. ^ "HIV discoverer: 'To develop a cure is almost impossible'". CNN. 23 July 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d "From discovery to a cure: A conversation with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi". International AIDS Society. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  5. ^
    S2CID 57481800
    .
  6. ^ "The Nobel Prize | Women who changed science | Françoise Barré-Sinoussi". www.nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  7. PMID 6189183
    .
  8. .
  9. .
  10. .
  11. .
  12. .
  13. .
  14. .
  15. PMID 21642597.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  16. PMID 19494307.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  17. ^ on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
  18. ^ "WITI Login and Signup". witi.com. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  19. ^ "HIV cure remains elusive, despite handful of remarkable stories Add to ." NewsHub South Africa. Archived from the original on 2018-07-13. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  20. ^ "HIV cure takes a centre stage at AIDS Conference". New Vision. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
  21. ^ "Lettre ouverte à Benoît XVI". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2009-03-24. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  22. ^ a b c "Françoise Barré-Sinoussi – Biographical". Nobel Prize. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Asia Leadership Center, Biography". Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
  24. ^ "France: Moroccan Aicha Ech-Chenna named Knight of the Legion of Honor". Morocco World News. 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2018-03-25.

External links