PARIS, December 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Institut Pasteur, research institute of excellence in science, medicine and public health since 1887, and a network of 32 Institut Pasteur worldwide, announces the appointment of Dr. Isabelle Buckle, as Executive-Vice President Research Applications and Industrial Partnerships Department and Dr. Pierre Legrain, as Executive Vice-President, Academic Development and Grant Office Direction. These two strategic positions were created to strengthen the links between Institut Pasteur research, academia and private industry.  These partnerships will support innovation in international research and education to advance science, medicine and health for the future.

Dr. Isabelle Buckle, PhD in Microbiology,  has 25 years of international scientific, commercial and business experience in biotechnology, forged from her previous roles as Global Vice President Clinical Mass Spectrometry at Bruker Daltonics; CEO of InGen Biosciences (an In Vitro Diagnostics company); Worldwide Business Development Director for Global Big Pharmas accounts at Life Technologies, now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific and Regional Director in charge of European Diagnostic partnerships at Ciphergen Biosystems.  Dr Buckle started her carrier at Pharmacia Biotech, now part of GE.

Dr. Buckle, in her new role at the Institut Pasteur, aims to develop an ambitious, reinforced cooperation with industrial and institutional partners, both in France and internationally, in close working relationships with Institut Pasteur Development and the international Institut Pasteur network. Her goal is to improve the cooperation process to leverage the value of patent-protected inventions accomplished by scientific teams at the Institut Pasteur, on campus or worldwide and support the ambitious entrepreneurship of new companies that exploit the scientific and technological know-how on campus.

Dr. Pierre Legrain, PhD in Genetics, has published over 80 scientific articles and has a solid research and management background. Recently he had the responsibility of Master and PhD students at the Graduate School of Ecole Polytechnique. Until 2012, he coordinated the evaluation of public research in the life sciences at AERES. He joined the CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) in 2003 at the Direction of Biology Department of Joliot-Curie and, later on, managed the CEA Life Sciences Division. Pierre started as Laboratory Director at Institut Pasteur in 1995, where he created and managed the first start-up: Hybrigenics.

Dr Legrain's key role at the newly created Academic Development and Grant Office Department is to foster the development of transversal research programs, some of which concern major human health areas, such as vaccinology, microbiology, oncology and brain science. These programs will involve both Institut Pasteur Campus teams and the entire Institut Pasteur international network. In the initial stages, these programs may be self-financed but they should attract new funding partners in subsequent phases.

The Academic Development and Grant Office Direction will work in close relationship with the  Research Applications and Industrial Partnerships Direction and with the Communication Direction to identify Institut Pasteur future partnerships with French and foreign public funding agencies, industry and private foundations.

"Dr Buckle and Dr Legrain both have excellent educational and management credentials to ensure the future growth of International Institut Pasteur and to support its research, education and public Health missions", said Christian Brechot, President of Institut Pasteur. "We are happy that Isabelle and Pierre have joined us to develop the value of our scientific research with academic and industrial partnerships that is crucial to allow, on the one hand, patients to benefit from our campus and international network innovations and, on the other hand, to fund our research, in the interest of all".

About the Institut Pasteur  

For the past 125 years, scientists from the Institut Pasteur have been on the front line in the fight against major public health challenges worldwide, battling threatening human diseases. While leading the field of infectious diseases, pioneering teams at the Institut Pasteur are also recognized for their excellence in neuroscience, developmental biology, genetics and genomics. Their research efforts have lead to improvements in our understanding of living beings and to the development of new methods for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease. The Institut Pasteur's scientific strategy focuses on developing original and innovative topics, promoting interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary cooperation, and transferring scientific discoveries to applications. To gain new victories in the fight against disease, Institut Pasteur teams have access to all the technological resources they need, to speed up and further improve the quality of their outstanding research.

With an international network of 32 institutes worldwide, the Institut Pasteur plays a key role in the understanding, prevention and fight against a vast number of diseases, particularly infectious diseases. Additionally, the Institut Pasteur works in collaboration with major international players to further progress in the life sciences.

The Institut Pasteur has an international reputation for quality teaching that attracts students from all over the world who come to further their knowledge or top up their degree programs.

The Institut Pasteur's budget relies on funding from four sources: donation, government contributions, business development and research contracts.

Press Contact:
Christine Phan, Institut Pasteur
Tel: +33(0)1-45-68-81-92
Email: christine.phan@pasteur.fr

SOURCE Institut Pasteur