Jean-Pierre Soulier, 1915–2003

Abstract

Jean-Pierre Soulier died in Paris on 18 January 2003. Born in Etretat, Normandy, France in 1915, Jean-Pierre Soulier was the grandson of a surgeon. He attended primary and secondary school in Rouen and at age 15 moved to Paris to attend the Lycee Pasteur in Neuilly where he received his baccalaureate. He then went to the Faculty of Medicine in Paris and obtained his doctorate with honors. Named ‘Interne des Hôpitaux de Paris’ in 1937, he was drafted in 1938 and sent to Morocco where he remained until 1940. Back in Paris in 1941, Jean-Pierre Soulier completed his residency and after the war in 1945 was named ‘Médecin-Assistant des Hôpitaux de Paris’. He was granted a research fellowship in hematology at Harvard and worked in Boston for a year (1945–1946). On his return to Paris he was named Head of Laboratory, first in a Regional Blood Center and then at the Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine (CNTS) Paris where he established a clinic of hemorrhagic diseases and continued his research activities. In 1954 he was named General Director of the CNTS and remained in this post until his retirement in 1984. At the same time as his activities at the CNTS Jean-Pierre Soulier continued his academic career, and became ‘Professeur Agrege’ in 1961 and full Professor of Hematology in 1969 at the Faculté de Médecine Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris. He retired from this latter position in 1984. Jean-Pierre Soulier's professional activities were diverse and multiple. He was a leader not only in the field of transfusion medicine, but also in the field of general hematology and hemostasis and thrombosis. His activities were directed not only to clinical research but also to the creation of the first plasma fractionation center in Paris, and the development of laboratory tests for diagnostic purposes. Jean-Pierre Soulier contributed in the international arena both in the field of blood transfusion and in the field of thrombosis and hemostasis. In 1954 Jean-Pierre Soulier was one of the 19 founders of the International Committee for the Standardization of the Nomenclature of the Blood Clotting Factors which was the forerunner of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) founded in 1969. He was an active member of the International Committee for several years and filled the positions of Vice Chairman, Chairman and in 1975 President of the Vth ISTH Congress held in Paris. At that time he personally designed the Congress logo which is the current ISTH logo. In the field of transfusion, first named Regional Counselor of Blood Transfusion for the ‘Île de France’, Jean-Pierre Soulier became in 1956 Vice President of the French Society of Blood Transfusion and at the same time Vice President of the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT). He then filled the position of Secretary of the ISBT for 9 years prior to becoming President of the society. In addition to his professional activities, the research activities of Jean-Pierre Soulier were similarly broad. Among his achievements and original contributions to hematology and hemostasis were the clinical and laboratory observations of a new type of familial thrombopathy, the Bernard Soulier syndrome; in 1953 the observation in a girl of a prolonged bleeding time associated with factor VIII deficiency (referred today as von Willebrand disease); a congenital prothrombin deficiency and a molecular abnormality of prothrombin, ‘prothrombin Barcelona’. He demonstrated the anticoagulant and antilytic activity of soya bean trypsin inhibitor, and that of phenyl-indane-dione. With his associates Jean-Pierre Soulier developed and introduced new laboratory tests for clinical investigation. To list a few, these included: the heparin tolerance test for monitoring anticoagulant therapy; an in vitro test allowing for the differentiation of hemophilia A from hemophilia B; the use of HLA typing for paternity testing; a method to evaluate prekallikrein on synthetic substrate; and an immunofluorescent technique for the screening of Plasmodium falciparum using monoclonal antibodies. As Director of the CNTS and together with his associates, Jean-Pierre Soulier dedicated much of his time to the development of plasma derivatives. Under his direction the first product, PPSB, for replacement therapy in patients with hemophilia B (factor IX deficiency) was produced at the CNTS and distributed in 1959. This type of product was manufactured later on all over the world and remains in use today for specific indications. In 1962 the CNTS produced and distributed in France the first concentrate for replacement therapy in patients with hemophilia A. He created several new laboratories at the CNTS to cover the fields of molecular biology, immunochemistry, isotopes, virology, cellular immunology, and he directed personally a research laboratory for malaria. In the field of infectious diseases Jean-Pierre Soulier and his team were the first to report on the occurrence of virus particles and an antigen: ‘Antigene Aurillac’ in the blood of blood donors. This virus was later shown to be identical to Parvovirus B19. With his associates he evaluated the effect of immune globulins in the prevention of several infectious diseases and demonstrated the effectiveness of the use of specific immune globulins in the prevention of hepatitis B. In addition to his publications in hematology and transfusion Jean-Pierre Soulier was a writer in other fields. He published several books, including a biography of the nineteenth century poet Lautreamont and a biography of Jacques Monod. At the time of the investigation carried out in France on ‘contaminated blood’ he published a compendium of documents on the facts and events that occurred during that period: ‘Transfusion et SIDA, le droit à la verité’ (Transfusion and AIDS the right to the truth). While General Director at the CNTS Jean-Pierre Soulier coached many researchers who later became in turn leaders in their own field of hematology, nephrology, and pediatrics, either in France or in other parts of the world. He taught us rigor, curiosity and precision in the laboratory as well as the art of providing constructive criticism while respecting the point of view of others. He taught us that research was enriching, interesting and the source of joy. His students and associates will remember Jean-Pierre Soulier not only for his leadership and contributions to hemostasis and thrombosis, transfusion medicine, and general hematology, but also for his kindness and help whenever needed. Jean-Pierre Soulier is survived by his wife, two sons, three daughters and 13 grandchildren. His passing is a great loss to his family, friends and colleagues around the world.