Alain Fischer (born 11 September 1949 in Paris) is a doctor, professor of pediatric immunology and French researcher in biology.
Biography
Alain Fischer's father had wanted to become a doctor, but had been prevented from doing so by the numerous clauses established against the Jews of Hungary. Alain Fischer says his father was one of the reasons he has made a medical career choice.
Fischer obtained his medical degree in 1979, and worked with Claude Griscelli at the Neckers-Enfants Malade Hospital. He became Professor of Immunology (PU-PH) at the University of Paris Descartes, and then Director of the Inserm unit, "Normal and pathological development of the immune system", in 1991. He was Head of the Pediatric Immunology and Hematology Unit (UIH) at Necker Hospital from 1996 to 2012.
Fischer was elected in November 2002 as a full member of the French Academy of sciences, and was a member of the National Consultative Ethics Committee from 2005 to 2009. In 2007, he was one of the founding members of the Imagine Institute of Genetic Diseases. In 2008, he received the Inserm Grand Prize for his work. On 5 May 2011, Alain Fischer was elected a full member of the French Academy of Medicine.
In July 2011, he joined Martine Aubry's campaign team for the 2012 presidential election, working with Jean Mallot and Brigitte Dormont on the theme "Health and Social Security".
Alain Fischer has held the chair of experimental medicine at the Collège de France since 15 May 2014, the date of his inaugural lecture. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the IRIS Association.
Scientific contribution
Alain Fischer's work has been focused for years on immunodeficiency acquired from birth (such as bubble babies) and curative approaches using gene therapies. With Marina Cavazzana-Calvo and Salima Hacein-Bey, he obtained in 1999, the first clinical successes in the world of gene therapies for about ten bubble children, two of whom unfortunately developed leukaemias after a few months, one of whom had died. The test was stopped urgently in 2002. Research will show that these leukaemias are due to random insertion into a proto-oncogene of the drug gene. The trial is restarted in 2004, according to a modified protocol using better retroviral vectors, and will be stopped again in 2005 due to new complications. However, of the 16 children treated to date, 15 are satisfactorily cured of their acute immune deficiency.
Awards and honours
- 1984: Bernard Halpern Prize
- 1998: Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite
- 2001: co-winner of the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine
- 2008: Grand Prix de l'Inserm
- 2015: Japan Prize
- 2017: Commandeur of the Legion of Honour (Chevalier in 2001, officier in 2010)
References
- "Alain Fischer, " La thérapie génique prend son envol "". Le Monde. 7 May 2014.
- ^ Alain Fischer, médecin et professeur en immunologie pédiatrique, est nommé titulaire de la chaire Médecine expérimentale . Leçon inaugurale, le jeudi 15 mai 2014 à 18h00, communiqué du Collège de France
- "Institut Imagine des maladies génétiques: le vaisseau de verre de Nouvel". L'Express. 26 April 2011.
- ^ Alain Fischer récompensé par le Grand Prix Inserm sur le site du Nouvel Observateur le 2 décembre 2008.
- Le Pr Fischer élu à l’Académie de médecine sur le site de l'AP-HP.
- L'équipe de campagne de Martine Aubry Archived 3 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine sur le site officiel martineaubry.fr
- « Réactualisation du Conseil scientifique d'IRIS », IRIS, 16 février 2015 (lire en ligne, consulté le 28 novembre 2017)
- Gene Therapy of Human Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)-X1 Disease, Marina Cavazzana-Calvo, Salima Hacein-Bey, Geneviève de Saint Basile, Fabian Gross, Eric Yvon, Patrick Nusbaum, Françoise Selz, Christophe Hue, Stéphanie Certain, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Philippe Bousso, Françoise Le Deist, and Alain Fischer. Science 28 avril 2000 : Vol. 288. nº 5466, p. 669-672.
- LMO2-associated clonal T cell proliferation in two patients after gene therapy for SCID-X1 S. Hacein-Bey-Abina et al. A. Fischer, M. Cavazzana-Calvo. Science 17 octobre 2003 : Vol. 302. nº 5644, p. 415-419.
- "Laureates of the Japan Prize". japanprize.jp. 2015. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015..
- Décret du 30 décembre 2017 portant élévation aux dignités de grand'croix et de grand Officier (Legifrance, 31 décembre 2017)