Seminar by Pr. Maxime Schwartz on Apr.27

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract: While everyone thought that infectious diseases had been defeated, new infectious diseases emerged during the past thirty years or so, and some of them have been threatening or still threaten mankind as a whole. AIDS, Ebola, mad cow disease, SARS, avian flu, chikungunya, constitute the most well known examples. How can we explain the emergence of these new diseases? How can we control them? Should we fear the emergence of still other new diseases in the future? These are the questions that will be discussed in this talk.

 

Maxime SCHWARTZ was born in Blois (France) on June 1, 1940. After studying at “Ecole Polytechnique” (1959-1961) and at the Paris University, in 1967 he defended a phD thesis prepared in the laboratory of Jacques Monod at Institut Pasteur. He then spent two years of post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of James D. Watson at Harvard University before coming back to Institut Pasteur where he remained for most of his scientific career. He has been employed both by the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Institut Pasteur. In 1986, he reached a position of full professor in both institutions.

Most of his scientific work dealt with the molecular biology of bacteria. From 1975 to 1987, he directed the Unit of Molecular Genetics at Institut Pasteur. From 1985 to 1987 he became the Scientific Director of the institute and then became its General Director, a position which he occupied for 12 years, from January 1988 to December 1999.

During the years that followed (2001-2006) he was the Scientific Director of the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA), where he also chaired an expert committee in charge of giving advice to the government on the licensing of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s).

He published in 2001 “How the cows turned mad”, which was translated in English, Japanese and Russian, and, in 2008, together with Fran？ois Rodhain, “Microbes or Men, who will win?” This year, he will be publishing, together with Jean Castex, a book on the Franco-American controversy regarding the discovery of the AIDS virus. In 1999, he also published, with Annick Perrot “Pasteur, from microbes to vaccines”.