Head of Immunology of Viral and Auto-immune Diseases
Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA)
Roger Le Grand has been Head of the Immunology of Viral and Auto-immune Diseases Department at Infrastructure for Infectious Diseases Models and Innovative Therapies (IDMIT) at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) in France since 2015. He has been IDMIT Chief Executive since 2012 and was formerly Head of the IDMIT Department of Immuno-virology.
His research group is currently developing NHP models for HIV, HBV, dengue, human influenza, chikungunya, chlamydia, pertussis and new emerging diseases. Roger is particularly interested in host-pathogen interactions and the prevention of viral transmission.
His research has generated more than 150 referenced peer-reviewed publications. He has worked as an expert for several French national research agencies, the French government, the European TRANSVAC programme, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and WHO. The goal of his research is to study host response to infections to understand basic mechanisms of immunology and develop new prevention strategies for human infectious diseases. His work is mainly based on the use of preclinical models, including non-human primate models of human diseases, and the development of advanced technologies in cytometry and in vivo imaging, with a continuing effort to translate findings in experimental models to clinical practice.