Pierre Magistretti

Pierre Magistretti received his M.D. from the University of Geneva in 1979 and his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California at San Diego in 1982. He is Professor and former Director (2005-2012) of the Brain Mind Institute and Professor at the Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience at the University of Lausanne Medical School.

His laboratory has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the cellular and molecular bases of brain energy metabolism and their relevance for functional brain imaging. More recently, his research has focused on the behavioral, cellular, and molecular determinants of neuronal and glial plasticity, and the role of glia in memory. He is the author of over 180 original articles in high impact journals.

He was Secretary General of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) (2009–2012) and President of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (2002-2004). He was awarded the Camillo Golgi Medal Award and the Emil Kraepelin Professorship of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich. He was elected Professor at the College de France to the annual International Chair in 2007-2008, and he is a member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences and the Academia Europaea.

With François Ansermet, he has written two books, Biology of Freedom (Other Press) and Les Enigmes du plaisir (The Puzzles of Pleasure) (Odile Jacob), on the relationship between psychoanalysis and neuroscience.

He is the President of the Agalma Foundation in Geneva, which promotes research and dialogues in the field of psychoanalysis, neuroscience and culture.