CV Science

Christophe Tzourio Professor of epidemiology

Course and current status

Christophe Tzourio, MD, PhD, has been trained in clinical neurology and epidemiology. He served as chief resident of Neurology at Lariboisière Hospital. He joined INSERM in 1994 as Senior Researcher, was promoted to Director of Research in 2000 and to First Class Director of Research in 2007. He is currently Professor of epidemiology at the University of Bordeaux.

In 2005, he became director of a new INSERM Research Unit U708, which includes thirty people, including five full-time researchers. This unit has been given the highest possible performance grade (A+) by the Agency for the Evaluation of Research in 2008. Since its inception, the unit has recruited three Directors of Research and is the host unit for two prestigious Chairs of Excellence awarded by the ANR. This unit has recently moved to Bordeaux.

Christophe Tzourio has published >180 original papers in international peer-reviewed journals, which have been cited >6800 times. He is ranked in the top 1% of cited scientists by the ISI Web of Science in both clinical medicine and neurosciences.

Pr. Tzourio has important responsibilities in the evaluation and development of research policies in France. He has been Director of the Department of Research in Public Health at INSERM and has served in the Scientific Committee 'Public Health' for five years. He is currently member of the Scientific Advisory Board of INSERM. He also participated in several scientific councils and steering committees in public and private entities (Foundation for Medical Research, Institut National de Veille Sanitaire, Ministry of Health, etc). He is a regular reviewer for international grant applications as well as for major international journals.

Scientific summary

Christophe Tzourio is currently co-PI of the 3C study, a large population-based cohort study which aims at studying the relationships between vascular factors and the risk of dementia.

He also participated as regional PI and member of the International Management Committee, in a large-scale randomized controlled trials the PROGRESS trial, which aimed at the secondary prevention of stroke by lowering blood pressure.

In the framework of the prestigious call for "Investments for future", Pr Tzourio has recently been awarded significant funding for setting up a large cohort on students' health, the i-SHARE project.