Official launch of Institut ExposUM

Winner of the ExcellenceS - France 2030 call for projects and strongly supported by the Occitanie Region, the ExposUM Institute is an initiative aimed at establishing an out-of-bounds and decompartmentalized benchmark institute for the study, training and science-society interaction, of the environmental determinants of human health. ExposUM is funded to the tune of €46.4 million over the period 2022-2030.

After the official opening by Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier and Nadia Pellefigue, Higher Education, Research, Europe, International Relations of the Occitanie Region, the Institut ExposUM, its position in the academic and scientific ecosystem and the funding opportunities it offers will be presented throughout the day of exchanges.

On the program for the day

Moderated by Magali Roubieu, Director of the UM's Structuring Programs Department:

8:30am - 9am: coffee reception

9h- 9h30: introductory speech

• Philippe Augé - President of the University of Montpellier
• Nadia Pellefigue - Vice-President Higher Education, Research, Europe, International Relations of the Occitanie Region
• Sophie Béjean - Rectrice de la région académique Occitanie, Rectrice de l'académie de Montpellier, Chancellor of Universities

9:30am - 11:20am: Presentation of the ExposUM Institute
Organization, scientific scope and general program :

• Éric Delaporte - Director, Institut ExposUM

Specific actions, funding & opportunities for the research community, and answers to questions :

• Mircea Sofonea - Head of axis Research
• Charlotte Boullé - Training Manager
• Aurélie Binot - Interfaces Axis Manager
• Philippe Combette - Vice-President, Partnerships and Innovation (UM)

11h20- 11h45: scientific presentations
European/international overview of exposome projects and specificities of ExposUM
Isabella Annesi-Maesano - DR and Professor of Environmental Epidemiology (IDESP UM and INSERM)

11h45- 12h10
Exploring the exposome to understand the onset of rheumatoid arthritis
Claire Daien - PU-PH Rheumatology Department (CHU Montpellier / UMR PhyMedExp UM-CNRS-Inserm)

12.10pm - 1.45pm: lunch

13h45 - 14h35 : keynote lecture
Exposome Analytics: Questions, Achievements, and Perspectives
Marc Chadeau-Hyam - Professor of Computational Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Imperial College London - UK)

2:35pm - 3pm: scientific presentations
Presentation of the Marianne family cohort: an exposome approach to the onset of autism spectrum and neurodevelopmental disorders
Amaria Baghdadli - PU-PH Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department (MPEA / CHU Montpellier) and head of the Languedoc-Roussillon Autism Resource Center and the Center of Excellence for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

15h - 15h25 :
Biocampus Network - MAMMA (Montpellier Alliance for Metabolomics and Metabolism Analysis): presentation of the platform and opportunities within the ExposUM institute
Frédérique Courant - Research professor at UMR Hydrosciences (UM) & Maria Elena Gomez Hernandez - Research professor at UMR HydroSciences (UM)

15h25 - 15h50
Illustration of an ExposUM theme within the framework of the AAPs Research
Didier Fontenille - DR IRD, MIVEGEC, COVARS member, COSS member and director of RIVOC

3.50pm - 4.20pm: Questions and discussions
Moderator: Jacques Mercier - Vice-president Research (UM)

4:20 pm: closing