Catherine Picart Awarded Academy of Sciences Prize

After receiving a CNRS medal in 2016, Catherine Picart was rewarded by the Academy of Sciences for her research work. Catherine Picart is a professor at Grenoble INP - Phelma and a researcher at LMGP (UMR-CNRS, Grenoble INP). As of September 1st, she has been on provisional assignment as head of the IRIG Health Department (Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Grenoble). Catherine Picart is an internationally recognized expert on biomaterials, bioactive surfaces and their applications.
After studying the physics of materials, Catherine Picart quickly focused on biological materials (cells & biopolymers). With a degree from Grenoble INP, she spent a year at the University of Pennsylvania following her thesis on Biological and Medical Engineering. She then worked in Strasbourg as a lecturer for the INSERM laboratory, followed by a stint in Montpellier as a professor of biophysics in the department of Biological Health (where she created a team). She joined Grenoble INP - Phelma in November 2008 as a professor.
 

International recognition


Catherine Picart’s work in the field of biomaterials and tissue engineering has earned her international recognition. More specifically, she has focused on the relationship between structural and functional characteristics at molecular to macroscopic scales—the goal being to analyze situations that are as close to reality as possible in order to discover new medical applications. Catherine Picart is also an expert on self-assembling films made from natural polyelectrolytes, which offer promising possibilities in terms of bone repair and medicine delivery for cancer therapy. She also developed an automatic system for creating a layer of bio-active polyelectrolyte film within cell cultures in order to carry out in vitro, high-speed cellular tests.

Catherine Picart’s research work is supported by the ERC (European Research Council), which provided her with an ERC Starting Grant in 2010 and three ERC Proof of Concept grants in 2012, 2015 and 2017. She was named a senior member of the French University Institute for the period 2016-2021 (after having been a junior member from 2007 to 2012). On October 15, 2019, she received the Emilia Valori prize for science applications, which the Academy of Sciences awards to a researcher who has made a significant, scientific contribution with promising technological applications.