Thomas Bourgeron, winner of the 2020 Roger de Spoelberch Prize

Every year, the Roger de Spoelberch Foundation awards the Roger de Spoelberch Prize to a scientist for a clinical and basic scientific research project in the area of neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders.

In 2020, the scientific panel selected the DPSY project led by Professor Thomas Bourgeron.

Thomas Bourgeron is a Professor at Université de Paris and head of a joint Université de Paris/CNRS and Institut Pasteur research unit in the Department of Neuroscience at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.
The laboratory led by Thomas Bourgeron is a pioneer in the identification of rare mutations associated with autism and the role of genes carrying these mutations in neural connections (synapses).

Thomas Bourgeron is holder of the Chair of Excellence from the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation for research on autism and the social brain. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences, the Academia Europaea and EMBO.

The DPSY project, selected for the 2020 Roger de Spoelberch Prize, draws on a multidisciplinary approach that makes use of knowledge acquired in the fields of psychiatry, genetics and neuroscience to shed light on the molecular mechanisms governing autism and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Thomas Bourgeron's team is composed of geneticists, neurobiologists and clinicians, who together analyze genetic, brain imaging and clinical profiles from a range of patients, their family members and control subjects, with the aim of identifying new genes that confer vulnerability to neurodevelopmental disorders and improving understanding of the links between genetic mutations and the clinical trajectories of people carrying these mutations.
The new knowledge acquired through this project will help elucidate the underlying mechanisms governing autism and neurodevelopmental disorders and pave the way for more precise diagnosis and personalized treatment to improve inclusion for patients.

The Roger de Spoelberch Foundation, based in Geneva, was set up to fund and promote research and assistance in the area of neurodegenerative diseases in general, with a particular focus on some specific psychiatric diseases that have a severe impact on human behavior, such as schizophrenia.

Find out more about Thomas Bourgeron's laboratory