Arnold Munnich (born 9 October 1949, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

), is a French

paediatrician Pediatrics (American and British English differences, also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United King ...

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

. He is the creator and head of the department of medical genetics at the Necker-Enfants malades hospital in Paris. He was an advisor to the President of the Republic from 2007 to 2012 and a member of the Scientific Council of the AMMi Association.

Scientific background

After a

doctorate in medicine A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

(1979) and a science thesis (1988) at the Institut Cochin in the U129 unit then headed by

Axel Kahn Axel Kahn (5 September 1944 – 6 July 2021) was a French scientist and geneticist. He was the brother of the journalist Jean-François Kahn and the chemist Olivier Kahn. He was a member of the French National Consultative Ethics Committee ...

, he was appointed Professor of Genetics at the University of Paris-Descartes in 1989. He has been head of the Inserm unit "Genetic handicaps of the child" since 1990, succeeding Jean Frézal, where he had done his clinic (1986-1990) at the Necker Hospital in Paris. After

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

was elected President of the French Republic, Arnold Munnich was appointed Advisor to the President for Biomedical Research and Health. Arnold Munnich has tried to use

molecular genetics Molecular genetics is a sub-field of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the ...

paediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

and to reconcile clinical and molecular genetics. He is the co-founder and current president of the Imagine Institute of Genetic Diseases and a member of the Scientific Council of the AMMi Association.

Distinctions

* 1994: Jean Hamburger Prize of the City of Paris * 1999: Jean-Pierre-Lecocq Prize from the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

* 1999: Eloi-Collery Prize of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

* 2000: Grand Prix de l'Inserm * 2001: Jean Bernard Prize from the Fondation pour la recherche médicale * 2003: Member of the

Institut Universitaire de France The Institut Universitaire de France (IUF, Academic Institute of France), is a service of the French Ministry of Higher Education that distinguishes each year a small number of university professors for their research excellence, as evidenced by t ...

* 2004: Member of the French Academy of Sciences * 2007: Winner of the European Society of Human Genetics Award * 2009: Winner of the Gagna & Van Heck Award of the Belgian National Research Fund * 2012: Winner of the British Society of Human Genetics Carter Award * 2013: Officier of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* 2014: Jean-Bernard Grand Prize of the City of Paris A 2021 publication found Munnich to be a central researcher for describing rare genetic diseases.

Books

* ''La Rage d'espérer''. La génétique au quotidien, Plon Publishing, 1999 () * ''Programmé mais libre'', Plon Editions, 2016 () He is the author or co-author of more than 700 scientific publications.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munnich, Arnold Living people 1949 births French pediatricians French geneticists Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy Members of the French Academy of Sciences Inserm directors