Pierre Gressens MD (Child Neurologist), PhD (Developmental Neurosciences)
Course and current status
PRESENT POSITION
Research Officer (DR2 Inserm) and Director, UMR 676 Inserm-Paris 7 University, Robert-Debré Hospital, Paris, France.
Professor of Perinatal Neurology, Hammersmith Hospital, ICL, London, UK.
Consultant, Service of Pediatric Neurology (Prof. Ph. EVRARD), Robert-Debré Hospital, Paris, France.
Co-director, Associated Laboratory PROTECT (UMR 676 Inserm-Paris 7, Paris – National Brain Research Centre, Gurgaon, India).
Co-director, PremUP Foundation, Paris.
Consultant, IRIS-Servier, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
1985-1989 : Student researcher : Laboratory of Experimental Surgery (Prof. L. LAMBOTTE), University of Louvain Medical School at Brussels, Belgium.
1989-1991 :
- Research Assistant : Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology (Prof. Ph. EVRARD), University of Louvain Medical School at Brussels, Belgium.
-Resident : Service of Pediatric Neurology (Prof. Ph. EVRARD), University of Louvain Medical School at Brussels, Belgium.
1991-1993 : N.I.H. Research Fellow : Laboratory of Experimental Neuropathology (Prof. H. deF. WEBSTER) and Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology (Prof. P.G. NELSON), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A.
1994-1995 : N.I.H. Guest Researcher : Laboratory of Experimental Neuropathology (Prof. H. deF. WEBSTER), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, U.S.A.
1993-1995 : Resident : Service of Pediatric Neurology (Prof. Ph. EVRARD), University of Louvain Medical School at Brussels, Belgium
1995-1996 : Resident: Service of Pediatric de Psychiatry (Prof. M.C. MOUREN-SIMEONI), Robert-Debré Hospital, Paris, France.
1995-1999 : Research Officer (CR2 Inserm) : Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology (Prof. Ph. EVRARD), Robert-Debré Hospital, Paris, France.
1996-today : Consultant : Service of Pediatric Neurology (Prof. Ph. EVRARD), Robert-Debré Hospital, Paris, France.
1999-2004 : Research Officer (CR1 Inserm) : Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology (Prof. Ph. EVRARD), Robert-Debré Hospital, Paris, France.
January 2000 "Visiting Professor", Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (Prof. C. HOBEL), Cedars-Sinaï Medical Center – UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
July 2000 "Visiting Professor", Division of Neonatology (Prof. A. SOLA), Cedars-Sinaï Medical Center – UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2002-2003 "Visiting Professor", Division of Neonatology (Prof. A. SOLA), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
2004-today : Senior Research Officer (DR2 Inserm) UMR 676 Inserm-Paris 7, Robert-Debré Hospital, Paris, France.
2005-today : Director, UMR 676 Inserm-Paris 7, Robert-Debré Hospital, Paris, France.
2008-today : Co-director, Associated Laboratory PROTECT (UMR 676 Inserm-Paris 7, Paris – National Brain Research Centre, Gurgaon, India).
2008-today : Co-director, PremUP Foundation, Paris.
2009-today : Professor of Perinatal Neurology, Hammersmith Hospital, ICL, London, UK.
Scientific summary
Neurological handicap (motor or cognitive) of a perinatal origin is a serious public health problem, with increasing incidence in developed countries. This evolution notably arises from the increase in the frequency of premature newborns and in their rate of survival. This handicap is the functional consequence of perinatal brain damage, the pathophysiology of which is still poorly understood. At present, there is no known preventive treatment or cure.
Our objective is to study the pathophysiological mechanisms of brain damage in the newborn and to develop strategies for neuroprotection. These axes of research involve experimental studies in animals, and where possible, studies in humans, leading to the mutual enrichment of these two complementary approaches within a translational research framework.
1. Pathophysiological mechanisms
1.1. Animal models: Different approaches to excitotoxic cerebral damage (in vivo in rodents at different developmental ages up to adulthood, organotypic cultures of the hippocampus, and primary neural cell cultures), will allow us, on the basis of our hypothesis of a multifactorial etiology for perinatal damage, to evaluate the impact of molecular interaction between excitotoxic insults and i) inflammatory cytokines ("Neobrain", European consortium FP6; "PremUp" RTRS of the Research Ministry, in collaboration with Olivier Baud's team; "NeoVasc", ANR neurosciences), ii) maternal stress during the gestational period, and iii) exposure to different levels of oxygenation ("Oxiprem", ANR neurosciences, in collaboration with Jorge Gallego's team and Pierre Rustin's team). These experimental studies will combine approaches using neuropathology, cellular and molecular biology, brain imaging by MRI (diffusion, ADC maps and the use of ferromagnetic particles; this part is described in more details in Guy Sebag's group), and behavioral studies in the neonatal period as well as in the adult animal (in collaboration with Jorge Gallego's team).
1.2. Human newborns and premature baboons (this part is described in more details in Catherine Verney's group): i) study of the evolution of microglial populations in lesions of the periventricular white matter of premature infants (MRI study in premature infants and correlation with immunohistochemical studies post-mortem); ii) immunohistochemical study of the plasticity of GABAergic interneurons in the cortex of brain-damaged premature baboons).
2. Neuroprotection
2.1. Animal models: i) evaluation of the neuroprotective effects and the mechanisms of action of original pharmacological agents targeting the effectors of inflammation ("Neobrain", FP6; "PremUp", RTRS), and anesthetics and trophic factors modulating post-lesion plasticity; ii) study of the mechanisms of differentiation and proliferation of embryonic stem cells, from the point of view of a strategy of cell therapy (this part is described in more details in Vincent El Ghouzzi's group). These studies will combine approaches using neuropathology and cellular and molecular biology, as well as using behavioral studies and MRI.
2.2. Clinical trials in humans: evaluation of the neuroprotective effects of melatonin in the premature infant at high risk for brain damage (trial funded by the MRC, UK, in collaboration with Olivier Baud's team).
