Her passion has always been the immune system, the body’s protective shield, its personal army, so complex yet so refined, so many organs, cells and molecules each playing its interconnected role.
Having obtained a doctorate degree in pharmacy and a PhD in immunology , Anne Galy first pursued a career in the United States, working at the biotech company DNAX and thereafter at Wayne State University as a tenured associate professor in cancer immunotherapy.
However, she was determined to return to France and head a project for the development of gene therapies and lentivirus vectors. That goal was made real in 2001, when she became one of the first laureates of Genopole’s Atige grants and thus began contributing to the expansion of the gene therapy sector in Évry.
Anne Galy began her research work at Genethon, then created Integrare in 2009, a mixed research unit for the development of novel gene therapy approaches for rare diseases.
Her work led to Genethon’s first gene therapy successes in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, an immune deficiency disorder. Today, under Anne Galy’s direction, Integrare has become a leader in translational gene therapy research for rare diseases and, since 2015, home to all of Genethon’s academic research.
Anne Galy also pilots Inserm’s Genomic Therapy Technology Research Accelerator (ART-TG), created in 2018 within Cytopolis, a center built by Genopole to ease the benchtop-to-bedside passage of novel therapies. In summary, Anne Galy continues to give great impetus to the clinical and industrial development of gene therapies for the good of patients.
