This year the prizes were awarded by the Nobel Committee for work that "has opened up new avenues for the development of prevention and therapy against infections, cancer and inflammatory diseases," explains the selection committee.
Born in Luxembourg in 1941, Jules Hoffmann went to university in Strasbourg, where he obtained a PhD in experimental biology. He joined CNRS in 1964, and then set up the CNRS laboratory on 'Immune response and development in insects', which he ran until 2006. This laboratory was part of the CNRS Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, of which he was also Director from 1994 to 2006. His many discoveries in this field have led to a new understanding of the defence mechanisms used by organisms, from the most primitive to the human body, against infectious agents.
The Nobel Committee explained how Jules Hoffmann, 70, and Bruce Beutler, 55, had "discovered receptor proteins that can recognize such microorganisms and activate innate immunity, the first step in the body's immune response".
For André Syrota, President of Aviesan, "This new Nobel Prize awarded just three years after the Nobel Prize received by Françoise Barré Sinoussi and Luc Montaignier demonstrates, if such proof were necessary, the excellence of French academic research in the life sciences." He sends his warmest congratulations to Jules Hoffmann and to CNRS and Strasbourg University.
President of the French Academy of Science in 2007 and 2008, Jules Hoffmann is also a member of the Academies of Science of the US, Germany and Russia. He is the recipient of many prestigious prizes such as the recent Rosenstiel Award for Immunity (2010), the Keio Medical Science Prize (2011), the Gairdner Award 2011 in medical science, and the Shaw Prize 2011 in Life Science and Medicine. He has just been awarded the 2011 CNRS Gold Medal.
About Aviesan – French National Alliance for Life and Health Sciences
The French National Alliance for Life and Health Sciences consists of CEA (the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy Commission), CNRS (the National Centre for Scientific Research), INRA (the National Institute for Agricultural Research), INRIA (French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control), Inserm (the National Health and Medical Research Institute), the Pasteur Institute, IRD (Institute of Research for Development), the CPU (Conference of University Presidents) and the Conference of Chairmen of the Regional and University Hospital Centres. The goal of Aviesan is to develop all areas of research in life and health sciences to the highest possible level with a continuum running from fundamental research to its applications. Aviesan is structured around 10 multi-agency thematic institutes, the operational bodies for research coordination, and its particular role is to establish a survey of French research in broad subject areas. www.aviesan.fr