Congratulations to our new doctor Ruben Elisée who graduated with congratulations of the Jury !
His thesis defense took place on September 9th 2011 in the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
Thesis title
Analysis of mitochondrial metabolism in response to peptidoglycan in epithelial cell"
(in french) : "La réponse métabolique de cellules épithéliales au peptidoglycane"
Noah Hardy, FdV teacher, had the chance to attend Ruben Elisée's thesis defense and wrote us a report of this Event :
"Two-thirty PM, Friday, September 9th, 2011. Arriving at the gatehouse of the Institut Pasteur, a visitor announces that he has come to attend Ruben Élisée's doctoral thesis defense. Finding the visitor's name on the guest list, the receptionist issues him an entry pass and a map of the campus, highlighting the route to the Jacques Monod building. Visibly happy to welcome another visitor to the event, the receptionist blurts out that she knows Ruben, that he is the youngest student she has ever seen at Pasteur, adding with a broad smile that he has been attending courses at the Institute since the age of sixteen. Clearly, today is a milestone in Ruben's precocious career.
The auditorium is full. Two generations of scientists have come to witness Ruben defend his doctoral work: Analysis of Mitochondrial Metabolism in Epithelial Cells in Response to Peptidoglycan. It is the result of three years of research in the Laboratoire de pathologie microbienne cellulaire. Release of peptidoglycan, a peptide-polysaccharide component of the bacterial cell wall, induces stress in epithelial cells to which it binds, shifting the metabolism of their mitochondria toward glucose dependence. This infectious mechanism is also of potential importance in the study of cancer cell bioenergetics.
Everyone with whom Ruben has worked is there to support him. Seated in the front rows are his family and friends, some of whom have come from afar. Nine-year-old Mathias, still too young for such arcane matters, reads magazines while his brother describes experiments, presents results, and draws conclusions.
Ruben has finished his presentation. Now it is for the jury to fulfill its role. They are six in all, taking turns delivering complex questions, critical remarks, and challenging opinions to the impétrant. Ruben listens intently to each point raised, pondering, answering, responding, explaining, providing additional details, and parrying what remains, evoking further studies. The jury withdraws to an adjoining room, soon returning with the solemn verdict: Docteur ès Sciences avec Mention Très Honorable et Félicitations du Jury. Jubilation breaks out and applause resonates around the auditorium. Ruben's accomplishment is acknowledged and shared by everyone. At the podium, thanking everyone for their inestimable support, etc, radiating well-deserved joy, is Doctor Ruben Élisée, age 21.
Moments later, at the reception, Ruben hoists a plastic champagne flute, thanking his parents, family members, and colleagues individually, modestly stating that now he will concentrate on his medical school studies, which he expects to finish in three years."