Jean Rossier

Born in Brussels on 18 June 1944, Rossier studied medicine in his home city before earning a doctorate in biology in 1969 at the Collège de France under the direction of Jacques Glowinski.^[3] He worked as a researcher for Tufts University School of Medicine and at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology. After the biology department at ESPCI Paris was founded by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Rossier became a professor and researcher there, working on techniques of the polymerase chain reaction.^[4] He also founded a startup called Genescore, which developed biotechnology for DNA microarrays.^[5] In 2003, he joined the scientific council of Gaz de France.^[6] A major advocate for teaching innovation and research in engineering schools,^[7] he created the Fondation pour les Sciences du Cerveau.^[8] Some of his main research included β-Carbolines^[9] and interneurons.^[10]

Rossier died in January 2026, at the age of 81.^[11]

• Mentoring in Science Award from Nature (2011)^[12]