Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, a towering figure in virology, is a new recipient of an honorary doctorate from Université de Montréal. In 1983, at France's Institut Pasteur, she and Luc Montagnier identified the virus responsible for AIDS —a discovery that earned them the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008.
Born in Paris in 1947, Barré-Sinoussi joined Jean-Claude Chermann’s laboratory in the Institut Pasteur’s immunochemistry department in 1971. After earning a doctorate in virology in 1974, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the U.S. National Cancer Institute before returning to France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research, known by its French acronym Inserm.
Her career progressed at the Institut Pasteur. From 1974 to 1988, she worked in Chermann’s laboratory in the viral oncology unit led by Montagnier. In 1988, she established her own lab, where she researched the pathogenesis of HIV and worked on developing a vaccine. She directed the retrovirus biology unit from 1992 to 2004 and the retroviral infection regulation unit from 2005 to 2016.
Barré-Sinoussi’s contributions to science include some 270 original publications in international journals, over 120 book chapters and more than 250 papers at international conferences.
“By curbing HIV, you have given millions of people a future,” UdeM rector Daniel Jutras told Barré-Sinoussi during a ceremony in Paris at the Institut Pasteur to bestow her new degree. “You have made it possible for humanity to envision the possibility of a cure at last.”
Noting her influence on the next generation of scientists, Jutras added: “Your career is a powerful inspiration for our young researchers. The fight against HIV is far from over. From basic research to public health, much remains to be done: refining treatments, expanding access to care, fighting the stigma and strengthening education and prevention.”
