IBS - Institut de Biologie Structurale - Grenoble / France

Irina Gutsche, recipient of the 2025 FRM Jacques Piraud Prize

2026-01-21T09:32:22Z

Irina Gutsche, CNRS Research Director and group leader at the IBS, has been awarded the Jacques Piraud Prize by the French Foundation for Medical Research (FRM).

Photo credit: FRM

With her group (IBS/Microscopic Imaging of Complex Assemblies group), Irina Gutsche investigates large assemblies of biological molecules using state-of-the-art electron microscopy techniques and develops new tools to improve image analysis of these complex structures. This research aims both to decipher fundamental mechanisms at the atomic scale and to open up new therapeutic avenues.

Their work focuses in particular on the study of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is responsible for bronchiolitis in infants and severe pneumonia in elderly people. The researchers also explore the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in certain pathogenic bacteria, as well as the survival strategies of other bacterial species under extreme stress conditions.

Each year, thanks to the generosity of donors, the French Foundation for Medical Research honors outstanding researchers for their innovative and promising work. The Jacques Piraud Prize, endowed with €15,000, comes from a donation by Marcel Piraud dedicated to his son Jacques. It is intended to support research on infectious diseases.

Rebekka Wild, 2025 Paoletti Prize

2026-01-14T07:43:06Z

Rebekka Wild, CNRS research fellow and team leader at IBS, received the Paoletti Prize 2025 for her work on understanding glycosaminoglycans at the molecular level.

A scientific career marked by excellence
After studying biochemistry at the University of Tübingen (Germany), Rebekka completed a PhD in structural biology at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at ETH Zurich. There, she developed a deep interest in understanding glycosyltransferases at the molecular level. In 2019, she was recruited by the CNRS and joined the “Structure and Activity of Glycosaminoglycans” group at the IBS in Grenoble, where she now leads a team studying the enzymes involved in glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis.

Her research
Glycosaminoglycans are long, complex linear polysaccharide chains found on the surface of most animal and human cells. Their strategic position allows them to regulate many biological processes and play a role in various diseases. Her team's goal is to better understand these fascinating macromolecules by studying their biosynthesis, which involves more than a dozen glycosyltransferases and modifying enzymes in the Golgi apparatus. Using cryo-electron microscopy, we are elucidating the molecular mechanisms and structure of these enzymes.

A prestigious recognition
The Claude Paoletti Prize was created in honor of Claude Paoletti, former director of the Life Sciences Department at the CNRS and a fervent supporter of young researchers. Each year, it recognizes two promising young scientists from all disciplines of biology. The 2025 prizes were awarded on January 7, 2026, during a ceremony held at the Gérard Mégie Campus in Paris.

Alicia Vallet, winner of the 2025 CNRS Crystal Medal

2025-06-16T13:23:09Z

Alicia Vallet, a nuclear magnetic resonance study engineer in the IBS NMR group, has been awarded the 2025 CNRS Crystal Medal for her involvement in the Infranalytics national research infrastructure.

After obtaining her Master 2 in ‘Polymers for advanced technologies' at the Joseph Fourier University (now University Grenoble Alpes), Alicia was recruited as a CNRS study engineer to join the ‘Advanced NMR methods in solution' team at the Institute de Biologie Structurale. Very quickly, her strong involvement in the scientific life of the Institute's NMR platform led her to work with many people in a wide variety of fields in chemistry and its interfaces with biology, health, ecology, etc.

She quickly assumed responsibility for the solid-state NMR part of the platform and took part in several scientific projects focusing on the structural characterisation of large protein complexes using solid-state NMR. These projects resulted in publications in high-impact journals, for example on the dynamics of complex biomolecular assemblies.

At the same time, Infranalytics* gave her responsibility for relations with industrial partners. "Working at CNRS allows me to optimise the performance of the most powerful NMR spectrometers in France. And industrial activities will lead me to subjects with direct applications in everyday life", an important point that Alicia is keen to emphasise.

She guides industrial partners among the different intruments of the Infranalytics infrastructure, offering them the best expertise and analytical techniques for a wide range of issues. More than 140 contacts with private partners have already led to 28 collaborations, 17 of which involved the signing of legal contracts drawn up by Alicia herself. A business developer...

The individual Crystal Medal rewards women and men working as research support in Joint Research Units, who, through their creativity, technical expertise and sense of innovation, contribute, alongside researchers, to the advancement of knowledge and the excellence of French research. In 2025, the CNRS awarded 34 crystal medals.

* Infranalytics is the national infrastructure set up in 2022 to bring together state-of-the-art NMR, RPE and FT-ICR-MS analytical instruments with very high magnetic fields (18 research units and 13 sites in France).

Lionel Imbert, winner of the 2025 CNRS Crystal Medal

2025-06-16T12:43:14Z

Lionel Imbert, research engineer in the NMR Large Assemblies Group (IBS/NMRLA), has been awarded the 2025 CNRS Crystal Medal for his key role in the development and dissemination of isotope labelling by cell-free.

Lionel Imbert is a specialist in cell-free expression systems. Responsable of the Cell-free platform - a structure open to the european scientific community working on this subject - he supports researchers and students in the production of proteins and RNA that are difficult to obtain using conventional methods. These samples are essential for studying their structure using NMR spectroscopy, crystallography or cryo-electron microscopy. With this in mind, Lionel Imbert has also developed advanced isotopic labelling methodologies that simplify and speed up studies of complex proteins.

Highly committed to training, he organises a practical isotope marking school every two years and lectures at a number of international universities and schools. He was awarded the CNRS Crystal Medal for his key role in disseminating these technologies to the scientific community.

The individual Crystal Medal rewards women and men working as research support in Joint Research Units, who, through their creativity, technical expertise and sense of innovation, contribute alongside researchers to the advancement of knowledge and the excellence of French research. In 2025, the CNRS awarded 34 crystal medals.

Florian Chenavier, IBS Young Scientist 2025

2025-06-12T09:35:56Z

The 2025 IBS Young Researcher Award has been presented to Florian Chenavier, in recognition of his outstanding doctoral research, conducted under the supervision of the VRM and MEM groups and funded by the Labex GRAL.

Influenza virus remains a significant human pathogen. During his doctoral studies, Florian developed an innovative experimental model to reconstitute influenza virus ribonucleoprotein-like complexes in vitro, using recombinant nucleoprotein (NP) and RNA fragments. This approach overcame the limitations of numerous earlier studies by enabling analysis at atomic resolution through cryo-electron microscopy. His work unveiled previously unobserved details of NP-RNA and NP-NP interactions. These findings led to the proposal of a novel model for viral genome encapsidation—an essential step toward a deeper understanding of influenza virus replication mechanisms—and open new avenues for the development of antiviral strategies.

Following publication in leading scientific journals, Florian's research received considerable attention in popular science media, underscoring the broader significance of these discoveries in advancing our understanding of this major pathogen.

In parallel with his thesis work, Florian actively contributed to a number of other projects within the VRM and MEM groups, notably making innovative progress on the Borna disease virus and acquiring additional expertise in crystallography.

He has since joined the Francis Crick Institute to further pursue his specialization in structural virology.