Governance and organization

The National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) has research facilities throughout France. These report to Regional Offices and scientific divisions. National governance is by the Directorate General and the various bodies of Inserm, supported by the committees and cross-functional departments.

Directorate General

The Inserm Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is appointed by decree of the Council of Ministers, on the joint proposal of the Minister of Research and the Minister of Health, for a four-year period which may be renewed once. Missions of the Inserm Chair on Légifrance (only available in French)

Portrait de Didier Samuel
Didier Samuel, Chairman of Inserm © Inserm/François Guénet
RoleName
Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerDidier Samuel
Vice-CEO for StrategyThomas Lombès
Vice-CEO for AdministrationDamien Rousset
Executive Director, Programming AgencyFranck Mouthon
Executive DirectorCarine Delrieu
Chief of StaffFatima Melhoub
Defense Security OfficialCéline Pujol
Data Protection OfficerFrédérique Lesaulnier

Instances and Committees

Inserm senior management is advised by various instances and committees, including the Scientific Advisory Board, the Specialized Scientific Committees, the Ethics Committee, and the Office for Research Integrity. 

InstanceManager
Management Boardsee the members
Scientific Advisory Boardsee the members
Specialized Scientific Committeessee the members
Research Support Committeesee the members
CommitteeManager
Professional Ethics BoardPhilippe Amiel
Inserm Ethics CommitteeHervé Chneiweiss
Ethics Evaluation Committee / IRBChristine Dosquet
History CommitteePascal Griset
Office for Research IntegrityGhislaine Filliatreau
Think Tank Network with Patient Organizations (GRAM)Catherine Barthélémy

Theme-Based Institutes

Inserm has nine Theme-Based Institutes that coordinate and organize research centered around major scientific fields. They take stock of the current state of affairs of each theme, contribute to facilitating the scientific community, and define strategies and major objectives. See their missions on Légifrance (only available in French)

Theme-Based InstituteManager
Molecular and Structural Basis of Living OrganismsCarine Giovannangeli
Cell Biology, Development and EvolutionThierry Galli
CancerBruno Quesnel
Genetics, Genomics and BioinformaticsEmmanuelle Génin
Immunology, Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and MicrobiologyYazdan Yazdanpanah
Neurosciences, Cognitive Sciences, Neurology and PsychiatryÉtienne Hirsch
Pathophysiology, Metabolism, NutritionChantal Boulanger
Public HealthRobert Barouki
Health TechnologiesFranck Lethimonnier

Research structures

Inserm has over 300 research structures throughout France. Each reports to a Regional Office and to at least one Theme-Based Institute. Almost all of these structures are jointly supervised by other research organizations.


Regional Offices

The Regional Offices enable Inserm to be as close as possible to its laboratories. These 12 offices are located in nine cities across mainland France. None of the laboratories report to headquarters.

Regional OfficeCityManager
Auvergne Rhône AlpesLyonDominique Pella
EstStrasbourgÉric Simon
Grand OuestNantesFrédéric Delaleu
Nord OuestLilleBénédicte Samyn
Nouvelle-AquitaineBordeauxRichard Salives
Occitanie MéditerranéeMontpellierSylvain Bourgouin
Occitanie PyrénéesToulouseSylvain Bourgouin
Paris-IDF Centre-Est (ex. Paris 6–12)ParisHélène Maury
Paris-IDF Centre-Nord (ex. Paris 5 et 7)ParisClaire de Marguerye
Paris-IDF Sud (ex. Paris 11)ParisLaurence Parmantier
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and CorsicaMarseilleFrançoise Simon-Plas
Inserm headquartersParisMurielle Guillemin

Cross-functional departments

Located at Inserm headquarters, these departments define the key policies concerning the various Regional Offices.

DepartmentManager
Financial AffairsLaurianne Cruzol
Legal AffairsJean-Christophe Hébert
CommunicationCarine Delrieu
Program AssessmentMarion Cipriano
National and Foreign AffairsElli Chatzopoulou
Strategic ProgramValérie Mazeau-Woynar
Human ResourcesNicolas Pesnel
Open ScienceMichel Pohl
Information SystemsSammy Sahnoune

The Accounting Department, which is independent of the General Directorate, is headed by Marie-Laure Griselle.