Brigitte Kieffer

B. L. Kieffer is Research Director at INSERM (U1114/University of Strasbourg). From 1989 to 2013, she developed her research activity at the ESBS (Biotechnology School Strasbourg University) then at IGBMC (Institute for Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology) Strasbourg, as a Professor of University of Strasbourg then INSERM Research Director. From 2014 to 2019 she was Professor at the Dpt of Psychiatry at McGill University, Montreal Canada. In 2020, she came back to France and her research group is now located in the newly created CRBS (Center for Biomedical Research of Strasbourg). She has isolated the first gene encoding an opioid receptor, opening an entire research field towards understanding the molecular basis of opioid-controlled behaviors. Her genetic dissection of the opioid system has brought major advances in pain, addiction and mood disorders research, as well as in the area of molecular pharmacology and G protein coupled receptor research. She has developed and shared exquisite genetic tools worldwide, and has developed innovative research lines with strong impact in neuroscience and biomedical research. She has received numerous awards, including the Lounsbery (French and US Academies of Science) and the Lamonica Award of Neurology (French Academy of Science). In march 2014, she also received the International L’OREAL-UNESCO Award for Women in Science (European Laureate). She became an EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) in 2009 and was elected as a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 2013. She published about 300 original articles and review article/book chapters in international peer-reviewed journals, and gave > 200 invited conferences worldwide at international scientific meetings and Institutions across the world (Europe, North America, Australia and Japan).