The Medical and Scientific Community Pays Homage to Jean-Pierre Revillard

Abstract

The medical and scientific community pays homage to the memory of their colleague, Professor Jean-Pierre Revillard, who died on Monday, June 2, 2003. The teaching and other staff at the Faculty of Medicine, Lyon, France, where Dr Revillard worked as a Professor of Immunology, the members of staff in the Department of Nephrology, Pavillon P, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, and the members of the team INSERM 503 ‘Fundamental and Clinical Immunology’ unite in honouring the memory of this great clinical researcher. Professor Jean-Pierre Revillard followed Professor Jules Traeger as the head of the INSERM 80 unit, situated in Pavillon P, Hôpital Edouard Herriot. Throughout his long and illustrious career (he was a resident in Lyon at age 22 years), Jean-Pierre Revillard applied himself to furthering knowledge in the field of organ transplantation and the regulation of immunity. As a nephrologist and immunologist, his research work involving clinical and experimental models led to a better understanding of the mechanisms of action of immunosuppressive drugs. Always very involved in the biomedical research and immunology teaching communities, Jean-Pierre Revillard was President of the Conseil Scientifique de la Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (Scientific Advisory Body for Medical Research), the Working Party ‘Immunology-haematology’, and the Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits de Santé (AFSSAPS, French Agency for the Safety of Health Products). He was President of the Conseil d'Administration de l'Etablissement Français des Greffes (Governing Body of the French Transplant Establishment) since 1996 and was also Président du Conseil Scientifique de L'Agence Nationale de la Recherche sur le SIDA (President of the Scientific Committee of the National Agency for AIDS research). In recognition of his many contributions, he was awarded the title of Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. A founding member of the French Transplantation Society, member of the French Immunology Society and of the Association of Immunology Teachers, Professor Revillard's enthusiasm for his discipline naturally led him to teach immunology in the Faculty of Medicine, Lyon, for greater than 20 years. Jean-Pierre Revillard will be notably remembered among all students of medicine and biological sciences and all doctors interested in immunology and immunopathology for the quality of his teaching and for the very complete and thorough reference book entitled ‘Immunologie’, which was originally printed in 1994 (ed. De Boeck) and recently reprinted as a 4th edition (2001). In addition to this exceptional professional career, all those who were fortunate enough to have met Jean-Pierre Revillard and appreciate his skills, honesty and scientific precision, his devotion to duty and his real humanity will miss him deeply.