Professor Jacques Grosset has made the study of tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases and the development of new drug regimens to treat them his life’s work.
Grosset obtained his bachelor’s in medical science degree in 1954, followed by postgraduate qualifications in immunology and medical microbiology, before obtaining his MD in 1956. He became a certified professor in medical microbiology in 1965. He worked at the Pasteur Institute in Paris as a research fellow and assistant professor in the department of tuberculosis, before moving to Algeria where he took up the position of professor and chief of laboratory for the Pasteur Institute. He spent a number of years at Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital in Paris before moving to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, holding the positions of visiting professor and professor, the latter of which he currently holds at the Centre for Tuberculosis Research. He is also adjunct professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and visiting scientist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV.
Grosset has directed much of his research at finding ways to improve treatment and prevent the development of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis. He has also committed research to the study of other mycobacterial diseases such as leprosy, Mycobacterium avium (a disease that often presents itself in the late stages of Aids) and Mycobacterium ulcerans. His current primary interest is investigating the efficacy of new drugs and drug combinations in treating mycobacterial disease.
Since 2006 he has authored/co-authored 55 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Lancet, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Proceedings of National Academy of Science, USA and Future Microbiology. He has served on the review and editorial boards of various journals including Lancet, the International Journal of Leprosy, and PLoS Medicine and has also co-authored two books.
Grosset has garnered considerable recognition for his research. In 2002 he received the Gardner Middlebrook Award for significant contribution in mycobacteriology, the Lifetime Achievement Award of North America Region of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in 2008, the American Thoracic Society Distinguished Achievement Award in 2010, and in 2014 received the Gold Medal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. He has also served on numerous advisory panels for the World Health Organisation and the Global Alliance against Tuberculosis.