The awards were presented at the meeting on 19 December 2023.
SAFIA COSTES, WINNER OF THE “GILBERTE AND JACQUES TACUSSEL” PRIZE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE
Safia is an INSERM researcher in the team “Innovative Therapeutics for Diabetes” at the IGF. Since the beginning of her career, Safia has elucidated several mechanisms of pancreatic beta-cell alteration, contributing to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. This prize is intended to support her research on diabetes. Her current project aims to assess the impact of chronic exposure to a mixture of pesticides on the onset of type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, and to identify alteration mechanisms common to these two pathologies.
PHILIPPE RONDARD, WINNER OF THE “NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE” PRIZE
Philippe is an INSERM research director and leads the “Neuroreceptors, dynamics and function” team. His work focuses on receptors for glutamate, the main neurotransmitter in the brain. Glutamate acts on receptor-channels on the cell surface within milliseconds, and on others that act more slowly. For the latter, eight receptors have been identified, made up of two identical entities and called homo-dimers. The team recently demonstrated that these glutamate receptors are also present in the form of hetero-dimers, made up of two different entities, thus revealing the existence of 16 new receptors with specific properties. This discovery opens up new perspectives for the development of drugs for brain diseases such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Congralutations Safia and Philippe !
The Management Team
