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Vassilia THEODOROU, PhD, HDR
EI Purpan Professor

• Vassilia Theodorou joined the Purpan School of Engineers in 1995 after a brief internship in the pharmaceutical industry after obtaining her PhD in digestive physiopathology and pharmacology at INRA (Toulouse) in 1992. Since 2001 she has been doing her research work at INRA in the Neuro-Gastroenterology and Nutrition team which, before the creation of Toxalim, was the NGN Research Unit. She was successively Deputy Director (2005-2008) and Director (2008-2010) of this Unit. The research activities of her team concern the impact of environmental factors (stress, food contaminants, neoformed products, bacterial metabolites ...) on the barrier function of the intestine and more particularly on the regulation of the intestine-brain axis. Vassilia is a member of the Scientific Committee of the French Neurogastroenterology Group, the Carnot Institute "Qualiment" and the Board of Directors of the French Nutrition Society. She is also a member of the American and European Society of Gastroenterology

Isabelle OSWALD, Agro Engineer, PhD, HDR
Research director

• Isabelle OSWALD joined INRA in 1994 after a PhD in Rennes (1990) and a post-doctorate (1990-94) in Bethesda (USA). Since 2002, she leads the "Biosynthesis and Toxicity of Mycotoxins" team, which works on the three issues that are related to mycotoxins : the mechanisms involved in the production of toxins by fungi, the impact of mycotoxins on human and animal health (particularly pork) and the development of strategies to control the contamination and effects of these toxins. The team is involved in several national and international projects focusing on certain mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol, fumonisin, zearalenone or patulin as well as projects aimed at studying mixtures of food contaminants. Isabelle Oswald is an expert at ANSES (Committee on Residues and Chemical and Physical Contaminants as well as the Animal Feed Committee), ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute), and EFSA (member of "Contaminants" panel and several working groups) addressing mycotoxins). She participates in (or participated) the editorial board of several journals (Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, Journal of Animal Sciences, World Mycotoxin Journal, Toxins...).

Hervé GUILLOU, Engineer, PhD, HDR
INRA Research director

• Hervé Guillou: joined INRA in 2008 after a PhD in Rennes (2004) and a post-doctorate (2004-2008) in Cambridge (UK). Since 2011, he has led the "Integrative Toxicology and Metabolism" team. The team is interested in liver functions controlled by nuclear receptors using systems biology approaches. The team is involved in several national and international projects that focus on the regulation of hepatic metabolism, the detoxification of xenobiotic contaminants in the diet, the complications of obesity. Hervé participates on the editorial board of several journals (Plos One, Frontiers in Nutrition, Nature partner journals: Biofilms and Microbiomes, World Journal of Gastroenterology).

Fabrice PIERRE, PhD, HDR
INRA Research director

• Fabrice Pierre: joined INRA in 2001 after a doctorate in Nantes (1999) and a post-doctorate (1990-2000) at Institut Pasteur. He leads since 2014 the team "Prevention and Promotion of Carcinogenesis through Food". The team is interested in the impact of meat products, neoformed products, contaminants and food additives on the risk of colorectal carcinogenesis. Through various national and international projects, the team's work aims to prevent the risk associated with the consumption of meat products, while participating in the analysis of the risk associated with aldehydes and E171. Fabrice Pierre is an expert at ITMO-Cancer and a member of the NACRe network (Nutrition Nutrition Cancer Research).

Rafael GARCIA-VILLAR, PhD, HDR
INRA Research Director

After graduating from Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse in 1979, Rafael Garcia-Villar joined INRA in 1980, where he conducted investigations on reproductive tract physiology and pharmacology in ruminant species until 1991. He worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Cornell University, New York College of Veterinary Medicine (1992-1993). Research Director (1995) and deputy head of unit (1999-2006) at the Neuro-Gastroenterology & Nutrition Research Unit in Toulouse (INRA's Human Nutrition division), his major field of investigation during this period related to gastro-intestinal tract pathophysiology, visceral sensitivity and food safety. In 2003, he was appointed by the French Ministry of Research and Higher Education on request of the DG Research of the European commission as the French "National Contact Point" (NCP) for european research & development Framework Programmes 6 and 7, in the thematic priorities "Food Quality & Safety" (FP6-FOOD, 2003-2006) and "Food, Agriculture & Fisheries, and Biotechnology" (FP7-BIO, 2007-2013). He is currently the coordinator of the French BIO-NCP network dealing with Societal Challenge 2 "Food security, Agriculture... and the Bioeconomy" and Key-Enablig Technology "Biotechnology" of Horizon 2020. He has been member of several european expert groups on Food and Health research.