CV Science

Pierre Boulanger Professor Emeritus, Virology, University Lyon 1

Course and current status

Biographical sketch and Curriculum Vitae of Pierre Boulanger, M.D.

Present position : Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine and University Claude Bernard, Lyon I, France.

Date of birth : 26th January 1940.

Marital status: married, 3 children

Professional Address: Laboratory of Retrovirology and Comparative Pathology (INRA-UCBL UMR 754) 50, avenue Tony Garnier, 69366 LYON cedex 07, France

Education and degrees:

- 1959-1964: Medical studies (Faculty of Medicine, University of Lille II)

- 1962-1964 and 1966-1968 : Medical resident at the Lille University Hospital

- 1964-1966: Military Service as “MD-Lieutenant” (Now : Honorary as “MD-Major”)

- 1968 : MD Thesis, University of Lille II

- 1962-1968: Master of Sciences : Biological studies at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lille (Biochemistry and Microbiology), and at the Faculty of Sciences of Paris (Genetics).

- 1970-1978: Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Lille

- 1978-1988: Full Professor (PU-PH), Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lille II

- 1978-1988 : Director of the INSERM Unit U-233, “Molecular Virology”, Lille

- 1988-1999: Full Professor (PU-PH), Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier.

- 1992-Aug. 1999: Director of the CNRS Unit UMR-5812, “Molecular Virology”, Faculty of Medicine Montpellier

- Sept. 1999-2005 : Full Professor (PU-PH), Head of the Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine Laennec, University of Lyon I, and Director of the CNRS Unit UMR-5537, “Molecular Virology & Viral Pathogenesis”.

- 2006-2009 : Full Professor, Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine Laennec and Biologist Consultant at the Lyon University Hospital.

- 2009-now : Professor Emeritus, University of Lyon I.

 Scholarships and Awards:

- 1969-70: Fellowship from the World Health Organization-International Agency for Research on Cancer. Post-doctoral stay at the Institute for Molecular Virology, Saint-Louis School of Medicine, Missouri, USA (Professor Maurice Green)

- 1976-77: EMBO Fellowship. Post-doctoral stay at the Division of Virology, MRC-NIMR, Mill Hill, London, UK. Professor William C. Russell.

- 1985-1986: International Union for Cancer Campaign- Eleanor Roosevelt Foundation and Philippe Foundation. Sabbatical stay at the Molecular Biology Institute (MBI), University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA ; Professor Arnold J. Berk).

- 1986-1987: California Institute for Cancer Research. Second part of the three-year sabbatical stay at UCLA – MBI (Professor A. J. Berk).

- 1989: French Academy of Medicine Award, Prix Gallé-Breton on Cancer Research.

 Distinctions and Honours:

- 1976-1979 Member of the Scientific Committee CSS-1 of the INSERM (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research)

- 1983-1987 Vice-President of the Scientific Committee CSS-1 of the INSERM

- 1983-1986 and 1992-1996: Member of the Scientific Council of the French Foundation for Medical Research (FRM)

- 1995-2005: Member of the Scientific Council of the Association Française de Lutte contre la Mucoviscidose “ Vaincre la Mucoviscidose (VLM : Cystic Fibrosis Association)

- 1993-1996: Member of the Scientific Committee of TRANSGENE, SA, Strasbourg for Adenovirus vectors and Gene Therapy.

- 1997-2002: President of the Scientific Committee CSS-2 ’Molecular Biology of HIV-1 and Genetic expression’ at ANRS, the French AIDS Agency (Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le SIDA)

- Since 2001, Member of the Scientific Committee of Got-A-Gene, AB, Göteborg, Sweden (Modified Adenovirus vectors for Gene Therapy)

- EMBO Member since 1982

- Since 2005 : Member of the Strategic Committee of the French Cystic Fibrosis Association (VLM )

- Referee for the EMBO Journal, Gene Ther., Hum. Gene Ther., J. Virol., Virus Res., Cancer Res. Mol. Therapy.

Scientific summary

Pierre Boulanger (Emeritus Professor, University of Lyon 1) is a virologist with three decades of experience in molecular virology of Adenovirus and HIV-1, and electron microscopy imaging of virus and virus-like particles. Pr Boulanger has served as the Head of Department of Virology at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier (1988-1998), then as the Head of Department of Virology at the Faculty of Medicine of Lyon (1998-2006). His area of research is mainly on structure-function relationship of viral proteins, virus assembly and virus assembly inhibitors. He has identified and characterized some of the cell receptors for adenovirus (Ad), and developed efficient systems for capsid modification for redirecting Ad vectors to specific cell targets or subcellular compartments. He is the co-inventor of thirteen patents covering adenoviral receptors, modifications of Ad vectors for retargeting, Ad-mediated activation of dendritic cells, and baculovirus vectors for hormone receptor assays. Pr Boulanger is the co-author of more than 140 articles in international journals, several reviews, four chapters in books on fundamental and medical virology, and human gene therapy. He made several stays in Great Britain and USA, and he is the former fellow of EMBO, WHO, International Union of Cancer Campaign-Eleanor Roosevelt Foundation, and Californian Cancer Institute of Cancer. Pr Boulanger is a current member of the Strategic Committee of VLM, the French Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis, and of the Scientific Committee of INRA (French Research Institute of Agronomy). He has also served (2007-2011) as a member of the Scientific Committee of ‘GIANT’, an European Consortium of twelve laboratories involved in the Gene therapy of prostate cancer. He has served as President of two Scientific Committees of ANRS, the French National Agency for AIDS Research, and as Vice-President of the Scientific Committee of INSERM. He is a member of EMBO, and a referee for several international journals, including EMBO J., Gene Ther., Hum. Gene Ther., J. Virol., Cancer Res. and Mol. Therapy.