He discovered that certain vessels can help fight tumors, awarded Toulouse researcher Jean-Philippe Girard

Toulouse researcher Jean-Philippe Girard, distinguished researcher in oncology and director of research at Inserm (National Institute of Health and Medical Research), was awarded yesterday in Paris by the Arc Foundation. He was awarded the Oberling-Agenau Grand Prix for his important discoveries about the role of HEV blood vessels in the mobilization of immune defense and the effectiveness of immunotherapy against cancer.

These achievements were achieved by his research group at the Institute of Pharmacology and Structural Biology (IPBS, CNRS-Paul Sabatier University) in Toulouse.

Read also:
Respiratory allergies: a major discovery to better understand and treat them

Each year, the Oberling-Hagenau Foundation, created in 2019, rewards a researcher and his team who have made significant advances in understanding and treating cancer.

Jean-Philippe Girard, Director of Research at Inserm and head of the group “Vascular Biology: Endothelial Cells in Immunity, Inflammation and Cancer” at IPBS (Structural Institute of Pharmacology and Biology in Toulouse). He is internationally recognized in the field of cellular biology of blood vessels. He studies the role of these vessels in chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer, a subject on which he began working at Harvard Medical School in Boston in the 1990s. He discovered the presence of specific blood vessels called “HEVs” in tumors, which facilitate access to cancer cells. some leukocytes, killer lymphocytes, which leads to the effective destruction of tumors.

Read also:
Jean-Philippe Girard from Toulouse was included in the ranking of the most influential researchers

In 2019, he was included in the ranking of the most cited researchers in the world for the period from 2008 to 2018. “These discoveries broke the dogma that blood vessels play the only role in feeding the cancer cell and helping it grow. We are convinced of the significant impact of this work on the treatment of cancer patients,” said Jean-Philippe Girard.

Along with his team, he also just published an important study on respiratory allergies, sharing his major discovery to better understand and treat them.