Portrait of a scientist in the International Network: Roman Thibeaux's joust with bacterial armor

Each month for the coming semester, the International Affairs Department will present the portrait of a scientist in the Institut Pasteur International Network. This monthly snapshot will offer a glimpse of the career, commitment and challenges – together with some choice anecdotes – of those whose efforts ensure that Pasteurian research reaches every continent worldwide.

The fourth portrait is of Roman Thibeaux, a young researcher at the Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Born on the island, he left the South Pacific region for a decade before coming back better armed.

Roman Thibeaux has been immersed in a medical environment since he was a little child – his father is a nurse, his mother a medical secretary. Born in Nouméa in 1985, he was very early confronted to infectious diseases: "When I was little, I heard about people who had leprosy or leptospirosis, there were epidemics of dengue fever every year. It impressed me. I was afraid of these diseases and at the same time I thought we had to fight! " says the thirty years-old’s.

When Roman obtains his degree in Life Sciences at the University of New Caledonia, he had no choice but to leave the island to continue his studies. He then thought pursuing in marine biology, influenced by his teachers, many of whom worked on fish and the management of marine stocks. The student then sent an application in Brest in marine biology and one in Paris in genetics.

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