To celebrate its 60th anniversary and highlight the long-standing and successful partnership with the United States, Inserm will hold a scientific event on October 29, 2024, at the French Embassy in Washington, DC. This special occasion will showcase the key moments in Inserm’s history, its global impact, and its new ambitions and missions, providing an opportunity to address contemporary challenges in biomedical research through discussions with prestigious international partners.
The program will include both scientific and institutional sessions to provide a comprehensive overview of Inserm’s achievements and future initiatives. The event will also serve as a platform to announce significant new collaborations with leading American institutions, honor an outstanding researcher with the Inserm International Award, and celebrate the expansion of our Washington Office alongside the launch of our Inserm Abroad Scientific Network and our International Joint Labs. These initiatives underscore Inserm’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a dynamic presence in international biomedical research.
Program
9:00 Opening Session
- His Excellency Ambassador Laurent Bili (Ambassador of France to the United States)
- Didier Samuel (Chairman and CEO of Inserm)
9:30 60 Years of Scientific Cooperation
- Pascal Griset (President of Inserm’s History Committee, Professor at Sorbonne University)
- Kim Pelis (Director of the Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum)
10:00 Keynote Speech
- Michel Sadelain (Director of the Center for Cell Engineering Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
10:30 Coffee break
10:45 Round Table – Emerging Infectious Diseases : Bridging Transatlantic Efforts
Chairs
- Yazdan Yazdanpanah (Director of the Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Inserm, Director ANRS EID)
- Cliff Lane (Deputy Director for Clinical Research and Special Projects, NIAID)
Speakers
- Jeanne Marrazzo (Director of the NIAID)
- Vittoria Colizza (Sorbonne University, Research Director Inserm U1136)
11:45 Joint Opportunities Under Horizon Europe
- Elli Chatzopoulou (Director of National and International Partnerships, Inserm)
- Florent Bernard (Science Counsellor at the European Union Delegation in Washington DC)
- Douglas Millay (Associate Professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital)
12:15 Lunch
1:30 Round Table – Frontiers of Neurology and Mental Health : a French-American Dialogue
Chairs
- Étienne Hirsch (Director of the Institute for Neurosciences, Cognitive Sciences, Neurology, Psychiatry, Inserm)
- Nora Volkow (Director of NIDA)
Speakers
- George Koob (Director of NIAAA)
- Leonardo Cubillos (Director of the Center for Global Mental Health Research, NIMH)
- Marion Leboyer (Head of Department Inserm U955, Paris-Est Créteil University)
- Mickael Naassila (Head of Inserm unit 1247, Picardie University)
2:30 Research Ethics : Discussing current challenges
- François Hirsch (Member of the Ethics Committee, Inserm)
- Jill Fisher (Professor, Center for Bioethics, University of North Carolina)
3:00 Coffee break
3:15 Round Table – Environment, Climate and Health Research : Sustainable Collaborative Strategies
Chairs
- Robert Barouki (Paris-Cité University, APHP, Director of Public Health at Inserm)
- David Balshaw (Director of the Division of Extramural Research and Training, NIEHS)
Speakers
- Gary Miller (Director, Center for Innovative Exposomics at Columbia University)
- Paige Lawrence (Professor and Chair Environmental Medicine, Director Institute of Human Health and the Environment, University of Rochester)
- Robert Wright (Co-Director, Mount Sinai Institute for Exposomic Research & Chair, Department of Environmental Medicine)
- Rémy Slama (Senior Investigator, Inserm, IBENS, PARSEC – Paris Recherche Santé Environnement Climat)
- Arthur David (Professor at EHESP, Research Chair at Irset-Inserm U1085)
4:15 International Joint Labs : a new Inserm initiative to enhance collaborations
- Didier Samuel (Chairman and CEO of Inserm)
- José Alain Sahel (Distinguished Professor and Chairman, Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine)
- Signing of Joint Lab agreements and remarks by representatives of University of Pittsburgh, Université Laval and University of Ottawa
