Cellular Microbiology & Pathogenesis

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Professor: Pasteur Institute, Paris, France
• Director: Unite des Interactions Bacteries-Cellules, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
• International Research Scholar: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: New York University, USA

EDUCATION:
Dr Cossart received her MS in chemistry from Georgetown University in 1971 and her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Paris in 1977. She conducted postdoctoral research at the Pasteur Institute.

AWARDS:
In 1998, she received the Richard Lounsberry Prize and the L'Oreal/UNESCO Award for Women in Science; in 2000, the Swedish Society of Medicine awarded her the Louis Pasteur Gold Medal. She received the Valade Prize from the Fondation de France in 2003, the INSERM Prize in fundamental research in 2005, and the 2007 GlaxoSmithKline International Member of the Year Award. She has also received the 2007 Robert Koch Prize and the 2008 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine. Dr Cossart is 'Officier de l'Ordre du Mérite' and 'Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Mérite'.

MEMBERSHIPS:
Dr Cossart is president of the Conseil Scientifique of the Pasteur Institute and member of the French Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina. She is also a Member of the American National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Pascale Cossart is investigating infection by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, one of the best models for studying intracellular parasitism, host tissue tropism, and crossing of host barriers. She is characterizing the molecular strategies Listeria uses to infect cells, disseminate into tissues, and breach the host's intestinal, placental, and blood-brain barriers.