Pierre L. Roubertoux (born June 26, 1937) is a French behavioral geneticist.

Early life and education

Roubertoux was born on June 26, 1937 in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. He received his

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

education in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the

University of Caen The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France. History The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...

, the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, and the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. He received a degree in

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

and

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

from the

University of Paris VI Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the L ...

in 1970. He then received a

doctoral degree 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 ...

from

Paris X Nanterre Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, ma ...

in 1972, followed by three more from Paris Descartes University in 1977, 1979, and 1982.

Academic career

Roubertoux was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of psychology at Paris Descartes University from 1981 to 1983, after which he became a professor of genetics there. In 1995, he became a professor of genetics at the

University of Orléans The University of Orléans (french: Université d'Orléans) is a French university, in the Academy of Orléans and Tours. As of July 2015 it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University. History ...

. In 2005, he became an emeritus professor at the

University of the Mediterranean The University of the Mediterranean Aix-Marseille II was a French university in the Academy of Aix and Marseille. Historically, it was part of the University of Aix-Marseille based across the communes of Aix-en-Provence and Marseille in souther ...

and began working at INSERM U910, a

medical genetics Medical genetics is the branch tics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to medicine, while medical genetics refers to the application of genetics to medical care. For example, research on the caus ...

laboratory in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Research

Roubertoux is known for his research on the genetics of

maternal ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestat ...

and

aggressive behavior Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

. He has also researched the effects of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

changes on mouse behavior and

neuroanatomy Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defin ...

Honors and awards

Roubertoux was president-elect of the

Behavior Genetics Association The Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) is a learned society established in 1970 and which promotes research into the connections between heredity and behavior, both human and animal. Its members support education and training in behavior genetic ...

(BGA) in 1995 when the organization's then-president,

Glayde Whitney Glayde D. Whitney (1939 – 8 January 2002) was an American behavioral geneticist and psychologist. He was professor at Florida State University. Beyond his work into the genetics of sensory system function in mice, in his later life he supporte ...

, gave a highly controversial presidential address. In it, Whitney argued that racial differences in rates of criminal activity may be due to genetic factors, and that behavior geneticists should investigate the roles of both genes and environment in such differences. Along with

Wim Crusio Wim E. Crusio (born Wilhelmus Elisabeth Crusio on 20 December 1954) is a Dutch behavioral neurogeneticist and a '' directeur de recherche'' (research director) with the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Talence, France. Educat ...

, who was a member-at-large of the BGA's executive committee at the time, Roubertoux resigned from the organization in protest of what he considered their failure to enact sufficiently strong sanctions against Whitney for his address. He received the BGA's Dobzhansky Memorial Award in 2000, and served as its president from 2006 to 2008. In 2017, a study he co-authored on a mouse model of

trisomy 21 A trisomy is a type of polysomy in which there are three instances of a particular chromosome, instead of the normal two. A trisomy is a type of aneuploidy (an abnormal number of chromosomes). Description and causes Most organisms that reprodu ...

received the BGA's Fulker Award, which is given to a "particularly meritorious paper" published in the organization's official journal, ''

Behavior Genetics Behavioural genetics, also referred to as behaviour genetics, is a field of scientific research that uses genetic methods to investigate the nature and origins of individual differences in behaviour. While the name "behavioural genetics" ...

''. He is a member of the BGA and the

American Society of Human Genetics The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), founded in 1948, is a professional membership organization for specialists in human genetics. As of 2009, the organization had approximately 8,000 members. The Society's members include researchers, a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roubertoux, Pierre L. 1937 births Living people Behavior geneticists French geneticists French neuroscientists Pieds-Noirs Algerian emigrants to France People from Algiers Academic staff of Paris Descartes University University of Caen Normandy alumni Paris Descartes University alumni University of Strasbourg alumni University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the University of Orléans Pierre and Marie Curie University alumni