Jacques Banchereau, PhD, is Head of both the Inflammation and the Virology Discovery and Translational Areas (DTA) and Chief Scientific Officer for Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (Roche), in Nutley, New Jersey. In this role, he oversees research and early development up to late stage development in the field of Inflammation, including autoimmune and respiratory diseases and in Virology, including hepatitis, influenza and other infectious diseases. As Nutley's Chief Scientific Officer, his mission is to drive scientific excellence and scientific exchange on the Nutley site.

Jacques joined Roche in 2010 from the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research in Dallas, Texas, where he was the Founder and Director. The Institute was designed on the concept of studying patients suffering from diseases that involve the immune system. During his tenure, Jacques orchestrated the Institute's growth, building a broad human immunology research portfolio by applying a multi-disciplinary approach and actively securing large grants to fund research activities. The Institute also hosts the INSERM Unit U899, specialized in human vaccines. Jacques oversaw the construction of a new Institute, which includes GMP facilities for the production of cells destined to be re-injected to patients. His research group was the first to discover how to grow human dendritic cells, an important breakthrough that led to the better understanding of autoimmune disorders, like lupus, and to the development of dendritic cell-based immunotherapy.

With ongoing collaborations between Roche and Baylor Institute, Jacques continues to oversee the work in translational research spanning diseases such as cancer (melanoma, breast cancer), autoimmunity (arthritis, lupus) and infectious diseases (HIV, HCV and Influenza).

After graduating as a pharmacist from University of Angers, France, Jacques transferred to the University of Paris, earning certification in pharmacology and immunology, as well as clinical biochemistry, microbiology, and parasitology, before completing a PhD in biochemistry. During his PhD studies, he spent one year as a research fellow at Columbia University in New York. One year later, Jacques joined Schering Plough's research unit in Dardilly, France - the beginning of a highly productive 15-year career including the understanding of the biology and therapeutic potential of numerous cytokines.

As a result of 30 years experience in discovery and translational science, in industry and academia, Jacques is recognized as a world-class leader in immunological research encompassing a vast array of clinical conditions triggered by immunological anomalies and mechanisms. He is inventor or co-inventor on numerous patents and a widely published author.

The NIH Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series includes weekly scientific talks by some of the top researchers in the biomedical sciences worldwide.

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