Portraits of the UM

A great name in paleontology, Colombian Carlos Jaramillo is a specialist in the evolution of Amazonian-Andean ecosystems over the last 120 million years. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute researcher explained the origin of the abundant biodiversity of this intertropical region.

Director of the Laboratory of Physiology and Experimental Medicine (University of Montpellier / CNRS / Inserm), Alain Lacampagne has just been awarded the CNRS silver medal for his work on the role of calcium homeostasis in pathologies such as heart failure and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The medal rewards a career focused on a holistic understanding of medicine and promising therapeutic avenues.

Alison Duncan is a researcher in evolutionary ecology at the Institut des sciences de l'évolution de Montpellier (ISEM). To better understand the dynamics of epidemics, she works on interactions between parasites and between hosts and parasites. In 2022, she was awarded the Mariano Gago springboard prize for bilateral cooperation between France and Portugal. 

With his Ocean One robotic diver-archaeologist, Stanford Robotics Lab director and world-renowned researcher Oussama Khatib turns the spotlight on the mysteries of the deep and robotics. On February 20, on the recommendation of his French peers Philippe Poignet, Vincent Creuze and Philippe Fraisse, all three robotics researchers at Lirmm, the Franco-American received an honorary doctorate from the University of Montpellier. 

Researcher at the Charles Gerhardt Institute (ICGM) and lecturer in the galenic pharmacy and biomaterials department at the University of Montpellier, Marie Morille conducts strategic research into the formulation of biotherapies. This has earned her the IUF prize in 2022, after being awarded an ANR junior prize in 2020.

Professor at the University of Montpellier's UMR Iate, Christian Jay-Allemand puts teaching and public research to the test through interdisciplinarity and business creation. Last October, he and his colleague Luc Bidel won the Carnot Grand Prix for partnership research for their work on natural antifungals with the Antofenol company.