Winner. Scientist of the Year 2019. Medical & Health Sciences

Jérôme Galon

Academic title, degree: Ph.D.
Fields of science: Functional genomics, bioinformatics, immunology
Research interest: Analysis of the tumor microenvironment, and of immune response against cancer with basic and clinical aspects
Institution: French National Institute of Health and Medical Research
Position: Director of Research
Country: France

Dr Jérôme Galon is first class Director of Research at INSERM (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) and head of an INSERM laboratory (INSERM UMRS1138, Integrative Cancer Immunology) at the Cordeliers Research Center in Paris, France. Dr. Jérôme Galon is the co-founder of the company, HalioDx, and is the Chairman of its scientific council. He is associate Director and co-founder of European Academy of Tumor Immunology (EATI), Board Director of Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC, USA), member of AAI, SFI, and AACR. He also serves on numerous advisory panels. Dr. Galon was trained as an immunologist at the Pasteur Institute and at the Curie Institute (Paris, France). He holds a Ph.D. degree in Immunology (Jussieu University, Paris, France, 1996). Between 1997 and 2001 he worked at the NIH (National Institute of Health, Bethesda, USA) on functional genomics, bioinformatics and immunology on fundamental and clinical research. Since his full-tenured position at INSERM in 2001, he directs interdisciplinary research programs.

Dr. Jérôme Galon has made important contributions to medical research through his groundbreaking work in the fields of immunology and cancer research. His contributions have been recognized with numerous awards. He received the prestigious William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology (Cancer Research Institute, New York, USA), Award from the National Academy of Science, and Award from the National Academy of Medicine, fellow Award for Research Excellence at NIH (USA), Awards from the French foundation, from the Medical Research Foundation, from the French Society of Immunology (Jacques Oudin Award). He gave the prestigious Annual B. Benacerraf Lecture in Immunology (Harvard, USA, 2014). He is best known for his works on comprehensive analysis of the tumor-microenvironment in human cancer and bioinformatics, and for the discovery that the adaptive immune reaction within the tumor was a better predictor of survival than traditional staging based on cancer’s size and spread. He defined the concept of cancer immune-contexture, pioneered the Immunoscore and is PI of the Immunoscore worldwide consortium. Dr. Galon has published over 150 papers in top-tier scientific journals, and delivered over 250 invited lectures internationally.

Dr. Galon has developed a diagnostic cancer test based on a patient's immune response that enables doctors to have a more complete picture of the person's disease, and, as a result, provide more effective, targeted therapies.

Galon's invention, licensed by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and brought to market under the name Immunoscore® by the company he co-founded, counts the number of positive immune cells of a patient at the site of their tumour. It is used at clinics around the world to predict the risk of relapse in patients with colorectal cancer.