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CHRISTINE PETIT, M.D., PH.D., HEAD OF AN
INSTITUT PASTEUR-INSERM UNIT,
WINS BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
AWARD
Recognized for Discovering the Molecular
Basis of Hearing and the Genetic Causes of Deafness
(NEW YORK, N.Y., July 27, 2005) - Christine
Petit, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Unit for Genetics
of Sensory Deficits at the Institut Pasteur in
Paris, head of Inserm Unit 587, and professor and
chair of genetics and cellular physiology at the
Collège de France, has been selected to
receive the 18th annual Bristol-Myers Squibb
Freedom to Discover Award for Distinguished
Achievement in Neuroscience Research. She was
recognized for her pioneering efforts in the field
of human hereditary sensory defects, that led her
in particular to uncover the molecular mechanisms
of hearing and the genetic causes of deafness.
A little more than a decade ago, the molecular
mechanisms of action for our senses were largely
unknown, except for insights into how we see. This
changed early in 1993, when Professor Petit
initiated her groundbreaking genetic analysis of
hereditary deafness. Over time, she went on to
isolate the genes responsible for some 16 different
forms of deafness and, in so doing, came to better
understand the molecular and genetic basis for the
function and mechanisms of action of various inner
ear components. This advanced our understanding of
how sound is transformed into biological signals so
that we can hear. She also demonstrated that a
defect in just one of some 100 genes implicated in
early onset forms of hereditary nonsyndromic
deafness accounts for about half of all cases of
congenital childhood deafness. In fact it is one
of the most common gene defect in humans. As a
result of her discoveries, diagnostic tests have
been developed to improve the quality of genetic
counseling for the deaf and their families.
Professor Petit's work resulted in a greater
understanding of the mechanical structures that
control sound stimulation and the biology of the
inner ear, the transmission of the auditory
stimulus to bundles of sensory hair cells and the
role of potassium ions in the cochlea.
Furthermore, since potassium ions carry most of the
transduction current in the inner ear, her
laboratory's identification of abnormalities in
proteins involved in potassium channels led to a
breakthrough understanding of the genesis of a
dominant form of deafness.
In addition to her pioneering work in the
genetics of hearing, Professor Petit led her team
to play an important role in developing new
insights about our sense of smell and the
mechanisms of action in the olfactory system. Her
accomplishments in this field include the
elucidation of the genetic basis for Kallmann's
syndrome, the only hereditary human disease that
results in a total loss of the sense of smell.
"By focusing on the study of inherited hearing
loss, Professor Petit deepened our understanding of
the molecular basis of hearing and identified the
genetic basis of inherited disorders in our sensory
systems. She gave us important new insights into
the basic development and physiology of sensory
functions, including our ability to hear," said
Robert Zaczek, Ph.D., group director, Neuroscience
Biology at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical
Research Institute. "Furthermore, Professor Petit's
pioneering efforts have led to the development of
tests to screen newborns for hereditary or
childhood deafness. Until her extraordinary work,
we knew very little about the underpinnings of
hearing at the cell and molecular level and how we
translate sounds into signals that can be used to
hear. That knowledge has already had significant
clinical implications for deaf people and will
continue to have major implications on medical
practice for years to come."
Born in France, Professor Petit attended the
University of Medicine in Paris and earned her M.D.
from the University of Paris in 1974 and a Ph.D. in
biochemistry in 1982. She joined the Institut
Pasteur in 1985, where, in 1993 she became a
professor and the head of the Unit for Human
Molecular Genetics. In 1996, she was appointed to
her current position at the Institut Pasteur as
head of the Unit for Genetics of Sensory Deficits.
In 2001, Professor Petit became a professor at the
Collège de France and she was named chair of
genetics and cellular physiology.
Among her many honors, Professor Petit received
the French Academy of Sciences Prize in 1992, as
well as the Charles-Léopold Mayer Prize from
the Academy in 1999. In 2001, she was awarded the
Ernst Jung "für Wissenschaft und Forschung:
Medizin" Prize by the Ernst Jung German Foundation
for Science & Medical Research. In 2002, she
was named a member of the French Academy of
Sciences and she became a Knight of France's Order
of the Legion of Honor. In 2004, Professor Petit
received the prestigious L'Oréal-UNESCO
Award For Women in Science and the Research and
Medicine Prize from the Institute of Health
Sciences.
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Freedom to Discover
Grants and Awards Program, under which the
Distinguished Achievement Award is presented, was
initiated in 1977. It marked its 25th anniversary
in 2002, and so far has committed $110 million in
no-strings-attached funding in six biomedical
research areas: cancer, cardiovascular diseases,
infectious diseases, metabolic diseases,
neuroscience and nutrition.
Professor Petit was selected by an independent
panel of her peers, in a process in which
Bristol-Myers Squibb takes no active role. The
Award, a $50,000 cash prize and a silver
commemorative medallion, is presented annually in
each of the six therapeutic areas. Professor Petit
will officially receive her award at a dinner to be
held in New York City on October 20, 2005.
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical
and related health care products company whose
mission is to extend and enhance human life.
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Visit Bristol-Myers Squibb at www.bms.com
and the Freedom to Discover program at
www.bms.com/freedomtodiscover
Visit the Institut Pasteur at www.pasteur.fr
,
Inserm at www.inserm.fr
and the Collège de France at www.college-de-france.fr
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