Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, a researcher involved in retrovirology research since the early 1970s, is known for her contributions in the field of AIDS, particularly the discovery of HIV in 1983. Honorary President of Virology Departement and of the Pasteur Network, Honorary President of the international network of Pasteur Institutes, she has led work on the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS, in particular on the mechanisms necessary to control HIV / SIV infections and/or the inflammation and deleterious activation of T lymphocytes induced in response to these infections.
Beyond her research activities, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi is an activist of multidisciplinary and translational research, and of international collaboration in response to the expectations of patients wherever they are in the world. In accordance with her commitments to capacity building and training in Africa and Southeast Asia, she has a long experience of collaboration with countries with limited resources, in relation to the international network of the Institut Pasteur and the coordination of ANRS AIDS research programs in Cambodia, Vietnam and in Africa. In 2010, she launched the International AIDS Society (IAS) initiative “Towards a cure for HIV infection” as part of her strong involvement in advocacy to accelerate evidence-based public health interventions.
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi is author and co-author of more than 300 original publications and more than 125 articles in books. Invited to more than 400 international conferences and/or meetings, she was President of the IAS from 2012 to 2014 and remains a member and/or chair of numerous international scientific councils or advisory committees. Since 2009, she has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences in France. She has also received more than 40 national and international awards and distinctions, including the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2008 for her contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS.
Officially retired, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi remains active on the international scene. President of Sidaction since November 2017, she currently chairs the ANRS Scientific Council and is still co-chair of the IAS initiative “Towards an HIV Cure”. Honorary President of the International Network of Pasteur Institutes, she will continue to play a major role in addressing global health challenges.