Former Visiting Scholar awarded the 2018 State Prize
December 6, 2018
The Institut de France Académie des Sciences awarded the 2018 State Prize jointly to Christian Giaume, research director emeritus of the National Center for Scientific Research at the Collège de France in Paris, and François Michel, research director emeritus of the National Center for Scientific Research, researcher at the Institute of Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC) at Paris-Sud University in Gif-sur-Yvette.
Christian Giaume has been involved in many aspects of the Peter Wall Institute, including the French Scholar Lecture Series, the International Visiting Research Scholar program, co-organizer for a Wall Colloquium Abroad at the Collège de France, and participant in Research Colloquia. He is a world-renowned expert in the field of glial cells, which, besides neurons, represent more than half of the cells in the brain. In addition to the classical chemical synaptic transmission characteristic of neurons, permeable channels (i.e. gap junctions) between these cells allow for the exchange of ions and small molecules, which gives glial cells properties that have often been neglected. His research aims to identify the molecular mechanisms of nervous system diseases and to find new drugs to cure and prevent them.
The Academy paid tribute to Prof. Giaume and Prof. Michel during the award ceremony at the Institut de France, on November 20, 2018.
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