Portraits of the UM

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, along with his colleague Luc Bidel, he won the Carnot Grand Prix for partnership research for his work on natural antifungals with the Antofenol company.

On the recommendation of Montpellier professor Eric Delaporte, director of the TransVIHMI international joint unit, the University of Montpellier awarded Jean-Jacques Muyembe an honorary doctorate on December 9.

On Friday December 2, the University of Montpellier honored Canada by awarding honorary doctorates to Quebec professors Yves Bergeron and Yves Mauffette. It was an opportunity for President Philippe Augé to recall the valuable partnerships that unite the UM not only with the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and the Université du Québec en Abitbi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), but also with the universities of Laval and Sherbrooke.

Jean-Philippe Pin, Director of Research at Montpellier's Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle (IGF), won this year's Lamonica award for his career in molecular pharmacology, which has opened up new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Straddling psychiatry and molecular biology, Raoul Belzeaux, PUPH and psychiatrist at Montpellier University Hospital, is interested in biomarkers of mental disorders. He has just been awarded the Marcel Dassault prize for his project to develop a rapid test for bipolar disorders.

With one foot in evolutionary genomics and the other in bioinformatics, Anna-Sophie Fiston-Lavier of Montpellier's Institut des sciences de l'évolution (Isem) scans genomes for repeated elements capable of influencing species adaptation. She promotes bioinformatics as a scientific discipline in its own right.

She has revolutionized chemistry, making it an ecologically sound business. Claude Grison has just been awarded the European Inventor 2022 prize in the "Research" category by the European Patent Office. A look back at the career of the director of the ChimEco laboratory, for whom dialogue and transdisciplinarity are the keys to innovation.

Under the patronage of Alexandre Viala, Professor of Public Law at the UM, the University of Montpellier had the honor and pleasure of welcoming the Belgian François Ost and awarding him an honorary doctorate. Here is a portrait of this jurist and legal philosopher, who excels in the art of recounting the law in order to better understand it.

A researcher at Inria, statistician Julie Josse joined the Desbrest Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health (IDESP) in January 2021 . For almost ten years, this specialist in missing data has been applying statistical power to the field of health.

Karim Majzoub heads the "RNA viruses and host factors" research team at the Montpellier Institute of Molecular Genetics (IGMM). Atip-Avenir - MUSE 2020 laureate, he has been awarded a 1.5 million euro grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for his work on delta viruses. A virus responsible for hepatitis D in humans, but recently found in a large number of animal species.

Rocio Semino is a researcher at the Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier. Last December, she was awarded a 1.35 million European Research Council (ERC) grant for her work on metallo-organic networks. Portrait of a chemist who wields the art of synthesis... without a test tube!

Last October, on the recommendation of Patrick Caron, Vice-President in charge of International Relations, the University of Montpellier awarded Professor Tawana Kupe the title of Doctor Honoris Causa. A Zimbabwean, this media specialist has had a brilliant career in South Africa, culminating in his current position as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Pretoria.

Last October, on the recommendation of Montpellier professor Philippe Vande Perre, the University of Montpellier awarded an honorary doctorate to Zambian pediatrician Chipepo Kankasa. Unanimously recognized for her research into mother-to-child transmission of HIV, she is also the driving force behind access to antiretroviral treatment for African children and the prevention strategies implemented in Zambia to combat HIV transmission through breastfeeding.