Appointment of the Director of the Hearing Institute and the Medical Research Director

As announced on December 17, the Board of Governors made two key appointments at its session held earlier that day:

• Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud, currently a Professor in the Department of Basic Neurosciences in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Geneva, has been appointed as a Professor at the Institut Pasteur and Director of the Hearing Institute;

• Pierre Buffet, Professor and Hospital Practitioner, has been appointed as Medical Research Director.

They both took up their positions on January 1, 2022.

Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud, Director of the Hearing Institute

Following the call for candidates to direct the Hearing Institute, with applications assessed by an international selection committee, discussions between the management team, the Institut Pasteur Scientific Council, the Fondation Pour l'Audition (partner and co-founder of the Hearing Institute) and Inserm resulted in the following being proposed to the Board of Governors:

- Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud's appointment as Director of the Hearing Institute for an initial five-year term, from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2026, renewable once;

- the creation of the Neural Coding and Engineering of Human Speech research unit in the Hearing Institute from January 1, 2022, led by Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud;

- Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud's appointment as a Professor at the Institut Pasteur.

Since 2013, Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud has been a Professor in the Department of Basic Neurosciences in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Geneva. She obtained an accreditation to supervise research (HDR) from Pierre & Marie Curie University in 2006. Since 2020, she has been Co-Director of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) for Evolving Language.

In 1997, Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud completed a PhD in Neuroscience in the Lyon-based laboratory for neuroscience and sensory systems. She was able to complete a post-doctoral fellowship in the United Kingdom, at University College London (UCL), after receiving a grant from the Fyssen Foundation and then a Marie Curie grant from the European Commission. She subsequently received a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for a second post-doctoral fellowship in Germany, at the Physiology Department at Goethe University in Frankfurt. In 2001, she founded her own research group in the Brain Imaging Center at Goethe University, which she transferred in 2004 to the École normale supérieure (ENS) in Paris after being recruited as a research associate at the CNRS; she was subsequently promoted to CNRS research director in 2008. She was involved in the creation of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (U960), where she led an Inserm team from 2008 to 2012.

Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud has authored 90 scientific publications in specialist internationally peer-reviewed journals. She was awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) in 2011. She is a member of the scientific boards of several research institutions in France (Neurospin Inserm-CEA; the Institute of Language, Communication and the Brain at Aix-Marseille University) and in Switzerland (the Linguistic Research Infrastructure (LiRI) at the University of Zurich).

She is on the editorial board of three international scientific journals (Neuroimage Clinical, Neuroscience and Language, Cognition and Neuroscience).

Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud has also co-authored several books and has written a book for a mainstream audience entitled "Le cerveau et les maux de la parole" (Éditions Odile Jacob, 2017).

As Director of the Hearing Institute, Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud will be responsible for spearheading its strategic development plan and in charge of general management.

Her main tasks are to develop:
-   research in neuroscience in the field of hearing, especially by recruiting new teams;
-   translational research;
-   a policy of innovation and technology transfer;
-   partnerships with professionals in the field of hearing health (hospitals and other clinical structures).

Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud's research expertise in the field of hearing, which she will continue to exercise with her unit, is focused on the exploration of the neural mechanisms underpinning the implementation of the language processing network in the human brain. Her research team employs an approach involving bioinformatics, human neurophysiology (MEG, electrocorticography, fMRI, etc.) and neuroengineering (transcranial stimulation and neurofeedback) to identify the neural and computational determinants of speech processing and their dysfunction in hearing and language disorders such as aphasia, dyslexia, stuttering and speech reception difficulties in autism.

The Hearing Institute, an Institut Pasteur center co-founded with the Fondation Pour l’Audition and in partnership with the City of Paris, is affiliated with Inserm through a joint research unit and operates in cooperation with several CNRS scientists. It is the first French national research center for auditory neuroscience.

The management team would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to Christine Petit, a Professor at the Institut Pasteur and the Collège de France, for her major contribution which paved the way for the launch of the Hearing Institute in February 2020, thanks to her multiple discoveries in the field over many years, which have received wide recognition at international level. Christine Petit, who was involved from the very start of the project as founding Director of the Hearing Institute, is now passing on this leadership role to Anne-Lise Mamessier Giraud. Christine Petit will pursue her research at an innovation laboratory within the Hearing Institute.

Pierre Buffet, Medical Research Director

Pierre Buffet obtained his MD from the Necker Enfants Malades/Paris Descartes University Faculty of Medicine. He is a Professor and Hospital Practitioner in cellular biology at Université de Paris and in the Paris Public Hospital Network (AP-HP). He specializes in dermatology, with additional qualifications in infectious dermatology, emergency dermatology, mycology (the Pasteur course) and blood transfusion. He holds a degree in parasitic immunology, a Master's on the evaluation of anti-infective agents, a PhD in Microbial Biochemistry from Paris Diderot University with a thesis on malaria in pregnant women (2000), and an accreditation to supervise research (HDR) from Pierre & Marie Curie University (2006).

Pierre Buffet held several positions at the Institut Pasteur from 1998 to 2007: he was Chief Resident at the Institut Pasteur Hospital, Head of the Clinical Research Center and then of the Institut Pasteur Medical Center, and Head of the Biomedical Research Center.

Since January 2014, Pierre Buffet has led an Inserm-Université de Paris research team in the Integrated Red Blood Cell Biology joint research unit (UMR 1134).

Pierre Buffet also provides initial medical training and lectures on several university and inter-university degree courses in the fields of cellular biology and infectiology. He has been a member of the Inserm Specialized Scientific Committee for Immunology and Infection, an expert for the ANR, PHRC, CIRC, ANSM, WHO and the DNDi Scientific Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Scientific Council of the French Foundation for Medical Research (FRM). He works closely with two French National Reference Centers (CNRs) (for leishmaniasis and malaria).

Pierre Buffet has authored several publications based on collaborative international research, including within the Pasteur Network.

In connection with the Institut Pasteur's 2019-2023 Strategic Plan and its ambition to "increase the impact of the Institut Paster's (basic) research on health," Pierre Buffet's main tasks will be to:

1. Lead the various departments within the Medical Research Department, especially:

- the Center for Translational Science, whose role is to organize biomedical and clinical research, facilitate access to samples and clinical data for the Institut Pasteur's scientists and manage the Institut Pasteur's collections of human biological samples;

- coordinating public health activities, including the 14 National Reference Centers (CNRs) and the Laboratory for Urgent Response to Biological Threats (CIBU), and interactions with health authorities, especially Santé publique France (SpF);

- contributing to the effective operation of the Institut Pasteur Medical Center for infectious and tropical diseases, international vaccinations and travel medicine.

2. Develop translational projects and promote interactions between scientific and medical stakeholders and institutions, such as the Paris Public Hospital Network (AP-HP), Inserm and the French Research Agency on HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases (ANRS-MIE), to determine shared priorities; and work in close collaboration with the Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnership Department (DARRI) on innovation projects at the Institut Pasteur with a clinical and medical component that may lead to technology transfer.

3. Develop public health activities and step up links between the expertise-related activities of the National Reference Centers and the basic research carried out in the research units.

Pierre Buffet's extensive experience in clinical research in the field of infectious diseases and his expertise in research outreach will be invaluable in supporting the development of the Institut Pasteur's public health mission. Since scientific research and biomedical research are closely linked and mutually beneficial, the development of closer links between the two will be vital in enabling us to achieve our ambitions in the area of public health.

Pierre Buffet will report to Christophe D'Enfert, Scientific Director. He joined the Senior Management Board on January 3, 2022.