The Department

Dernière mise à jour : le 25/04/2025

The challenge of this Department is to create synergies between the research units that make it up with the aim of contributing to major biological advances for tomorrow's medicine.

Person(s) in charge

Director : Thierry Noël
Deputy director : Katia Boniface

Presentation

The Biological and medical sciences (SBM) research department joins together 6 research units and 1 service unit whose major goal is to contribute to scientific research on human health. The challenge of these units is to participate in major biological advances for tomorrow's medicine. The activity of the units that make up the SBM Department covers a vast multidisciplinary field, from basic research to clinical applications.

The scientific scope of these research units includes: research on host-microorganism relationships, immune and vascular systems, rare diseases, inflammatory diseases and Cancer. The Department units’ offer a diversity of conceptual and methodological approaches, granting researchers with multiple opportunities for interactions, technological and scientific innovations, and transfers to the clinic for pediatric, adult or elderly patients. The activities of these units are also supported by a common service of high quality technological platforms.

In this context, the SBM Department is in charge of research animation, it promotes synergy between the research units that compose it in order to gather and complete their strengths. The Department also acts to develop and improve their visibility and their activity through various actions (sustainable development, transverse training of doctoral students, communication, seminars, etc.).

To increase the visibility of the research carried out within the Department, it encourages the constitution of broad disciplinary communities well beyond the Department itself, at the local and regional level. To ensure its various actions, the Department has set up several working groups and this website has been created to contribute to the promotion of its actions and the units that make it up.

Activities

The research activities of the department is divided into different thematic research axes:

Cancer

Bordeaux's cancer research is based on a strong interdisciplinary approach : fundamental, translational and technological research, with an interest ranging from infants to elderly patients. This axis is also part of a very active regional network, Oncosphere.

Host/microorganism relationships

These teams work in the fields of parasitology, virology, bacteriology and host-pathogen relations. Their research ranges from the most fundamental aspect to its clinical applications, notably on antibiotic resistance. Its research axe is characterized by its diversity and its national interaction with, in particular, the networked Labex Parafrap - French Alliance against parasitic diseases.

the immune and vascular systems

Given the awareness of determining the role of the environment and immune system on health, particular attention is paid to understanding the cellular interactions in the functioning of the immune and vascular systems in pathologies. Bordeaux is a recognized site of research in these fields.

rare diseases, inflammatory diseases

The Bordeaux community has developed expertise in rare diseases, with 15 national reference centers. Research activity is highly developed in this field with the involvement of several teams in the Department, whether in oncology, genetic, metabolic or autoimmune diseases.

Several transverse themes characterize the research carried out in the Department, such as metabolism, aging and cell function. Many of these projects are carried out in connection with clinical research, in particular within the ACRONIM and SMART University Hospital Federations (FHU).