Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher
Born in 1958, Michael Schumacher conducted his doctoral research under the supervision of Pr. J. Balthazart and received in 1985 his PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Liège (Belgium). After postdoctoral trainings in the laboratories of Pr. J.B. Hutchison at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) and Pr. B.S. McEwen at the Rockefeller University (New York), he became in 1991 Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Paris-Sud. In 1993, he has been appointed Director of Research of Inserm, the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, and he pursued his research on neurosteroids in the laboratory of Pr. E.E. Baulieu. Since 1998, he is heading a research unit of Inserm and University Paris-Sud. In 2009, he also became the Dean of the Doctoral School “Signaling and Integrated Networks in Biology” (University Paris-Saclay).
Our research unit “Neuroprotective, neuroregenerative and remyelinating small molecules” (U1195 Inserm and University Paris-Sud) is located in one of the suburbs of Paris. As indicated by its name, the research of our laboratory is focused on the effects of steroids and other small molecules on the nervous system, with particular emphasis on their role in neuroprotection and in the regeneration of axons and myelin. The concept of “neurosteroids” has been introduced in our laboratory by E.E. Baulieu in the eighties, and we first demonstrated a key role of progesterone in the formation of myelin sheaths, which insulate and protect nerve fibers (Science 268, 1500-1503).
Major recent collaborative achievements are the demonstration of a key role of brain progesterone synthesis and progesterone receptors in endogenous neuroprotective responses, the observation of a central role of the CNS androgen receptor in the regeneration and sexual differentiation of myelin and the promotion of peripheral nerve regeneration by combining new microsurgical procedures with pharmacological treatments, in particular with neuroactive steroids and ligands of the translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO).
Michael Schumacher has co-authored 217 articles published in international journals.
Sum of the times cited 9,186, h-index: 56 (by January 2016).
In 2014, he has launched with Dr. Jesus Bénavides, the former Director of the Department of Neurological Diseases at SANOFI, in collaboration with senior researchers of pharmaceutical companies, physicians and academic researchers a degree of University Paris-Sud entitled “Translational Research and Therapeutic Innovation for Diseases of the Nervous System”. The course offers graduate students, clinicians and collaborators of pharmaceutical companies the necessary tools for a successful communication between experimental and clinical research.