François Leulier, wins the "National Junior Award"

Sanofi and Institut Pasteur award five researchers for their major contributions to the health service. François Leulier, Research director at the CNRS, team leader at the Institute of Functional Genomics in Lyon (France) François Leulier, winner of the National Junior Award in the field of microbiology, has been awarded for his research that has highlighted the positive impact of certain bacteria on growth, in a context of chronic undernutrition. "Bacterial partners" to fight against undernutrition - Having trained as a geneticist, François Leulier is passionate about interactions between animals and micro-organisms. During his thesis, submitted late 2003, he looked at the genetic bases of innate immune responses using Drosophila as a model animal. From 2004 to 2010, he continued working with Drosophila, studying the immune responses triggered by pathogenic bacteria in the intestine. In 2011, he highlighted the influence of Drosophila intestinal microbiota on their own physiology and how they optimize their growth in food-deficient conditions. In 2012, supported by the FINOVI Foundation and a Fellowship of the European Research Council, he joined the Institute of Functional Genomics (IGFL) in Lyon to develop an ambitious research program to identify the molecular bases of the beneficial effects of intestinal microbiota on animal growth.