Philippe Kourilsky


Philippe Kourilsky, born on 22 July 1942 in Boulogne-Billancourt, is a French biologist, a member of the French Academy of sciences and an honorary professor at the Collège de France.

Biography

Son of Raoul Kourilsky, professor of medicine, and Simone Kourilsky, also a doctor, Philippe Kourilsky devoted himself to biology after studying mathematics and physics at the École polytechnique. For his doctorate, he chose as thesis director the biologist François Gros,.

Professional background

Kourilsky spent most of his career at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, as a research director. He was elected correspondent of the French Academy of sciences in 1990, then member in 1997.
In 1998, he was appointed professor at the Collège de France, where he held the chair of molecular immunology until 2012. Professor at the Institut Pasteur on 1 January 2000, he was appointed Director General; a position he resigned from on 31 July 2005.
Kourilsky has also been a member of Academia Europaea since 1992, and a member of the Foresight Committee of the Veolia Institute. He became editor-in-chief of the digital journal FACTS Reports, launched in 2007 with the support of the same institute.
In 2010, he founded the Resolis association, of which he has been president since then.

Research studies

He has held numerous responsibilities in the administration of research and applications of genetics and immunology in the public and private sectors. He is the author of a report on the precautionary principle, submitted to the Prime Minister in 2006.

Distinctions

1980: Member of EMBO
1986: International Prize for Immunopathology
1990: Lacassagne Prize of the Collège de France
1998: Officier of the Légion d'Honneur
2000: International Prize for Research in Medical Sciences
2001: Doctor honoris causa of the University La Sapienza in Rome
2001: Commandeur of the National Ordre du Mérite
2005: Doctor honoris causa from the University of Quebec
2009: Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur.
2015: Grand Officer of the National Ordre du Mérite

Publications