Bernard MALISSEN

I directed the the Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy from 1995 to 2005 where our team contributed to cracking the “TCR system”, the highly sophisticated molecular machinery that allows T cells to recognise the antigen and convert this information in a multitude of intracellular signals. We also study one of the main partners of these cells, dendritic cells, which are responsible for presenting these antigens. With my immunologist colleagues, we were able to identify many of the cellular and molecular players involved in the immune response and open the way for new diagnostic and therapeutic solutions.
Still, the immune system is much more complex than we would have imagined. Today, we are trying to address this complexity by combining “omics”, predictive models, patient biological samples with new computing power and digital analysis.

The Immunophenomics Centre (CIPHE) is at the forefront of this new so-called systems biology. Key player of a global project undertaken by the IMPC international consortium, CIPHE aims to draw up the first functional encyclopaedia of mice genes and through it, their implications in human disease. CIPHE contributes to unravel the complexity of the immune system, identify new therapeutic targets and challenge new treatments. With MI-mAbs and other cluster platforms, CIPHE is somewhat the “technology back office” of Marseille Immunopole.