Pr Didier MENARD
UR 3073 - Pathogens Host Arthropods Vectors Interactions
Instituts de Bactériologie et de Parasitologie de la Faculté de Médecine
Université de Strasbourg
Laboratoire de Parasitologie et de Mycologie Médicale
Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg
3 rue Kœberlé, 67000 Strasbourg
Malaria Parasite Biology and Vaccines
Sergent Building 5th floor
Department of Parasites and Insect Vectors
Institut Pasteur
25-28 Rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15
Tél. : +33 3 69 55 14 41 / +33 6 65 38 54 49
E-mail: dmenard@unistra.fr / didier.menard@chru-strasbourg.fr /dmenard@pasteur.fr
 | dmenard@unistra.fr |
Over the last two decades, Didier Ménard’s research program has been focused on antimalarial drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax, developed during his leadership positions in the Institut Pasteur International Network in Africa (Central African Republic, 2000–2004; Madagascar, 2005–2008) and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, 2010–2017). His work combined molecular diagnostic strategies and field-based investigations to improve the understanding of malaria epidemiology and support policy makers in elimination strategies.
In Madagascar, he demonstrated that P. vivax can cause blood-stage infection and clinical disease in Duffy-negative individuals, a paradigm shift in vivax biology. In Cambodia, his research on P. falciparum drug resistance led to the development of innovative in vitro assays to characterize isolates resistant to artemisinin and piperaquine. His team contributed to major discoveries, showing that mutations in the propeller domain of the Kelch13 gene (K13) are markers of artemisinin resistance, while plasmepsin 2–3 gene amplifications are determinants of piperaquine resistance. In collaboration with 41 international partners (KARMA project), he coordinated the first worldwide mapping of K13 polymorphisms.
From 2017 to 2021, he headed the Malaria Genetics and Resistance Unit at Institut Pasteur, Paris, before being appointed Full Professor of Parasitology in 2021 at the University of Strasbourg, where he directs the Malaria Genetics and Resistance Team (MEGATEAM) within UR 3073 – Pathogens Host Arthropods Vectors Interactions Unit, Faculty of Medicine, and the Laboratory of Parasitology and Medical Mycology, University Hospitals of Strasbourg. Since 2023, he is also Guest Scientist in the Malaria Parasite Biology and Vaccines Unit (Dir. C. Chitnis) at Institut Pasteur, Paris.
He has authored more than 280 peer-reviewed publications, with a Hirsch index of 53, and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023). His achievements have been rewarded by several prestigious prizes, including the Eloi Collery Prize (Académie Nationale de Médecine, 2015), the Jean-Pierre Lecocq Prize (Académie des Sciences, 2016), the Thérèse Lebrasseur Prize (Fondation de France, 2020), and the Mme Jules Martin née Louise Basset Prize (Fondation de France, 2021). He was elected Distinguished International Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) in 2021 and awarded the Joseph Augustin LePrince Medal in 2024.
In Madagascar, he demonstrated that P. vivax can cause blood-stage infection and clinical disease in Duffy-negative individuals, a paradigm shift in vivax biology. In Cambodia, his research on P. falciparum drug resistance led to the development of innovative in vitro assays to characterize isolates resistant to artemisinin and piperaquine. His team contributed to major discoveries, showing that mutations in the propeller domain of the Kelch13 gene (K13) are markers of artemisinin resistance, while plasmepsin 2–3 gene amplifications are determinants of piperaquine resistance. In collaboration with 41 international partners (KARMA project), he coordinated the first worldwide mapping of K13 polymorphisms.
From 2017 to 2021, he headed the Malaria Genetics and Resistance Unit at Institut Pasteur, Paris, before being appointed Full Professor of Parasitology in 2021 at the University of Strasbourg, where he directs the Malaria Genetics and Resistance Team (MEGATEAM) within UR 3073 – Pathogens Host Arthropods Vectors Interactions Unit, Faculty of Medicine, and the Laboratory of Parasitology and Medical Mycology, University Hospitals of Strasbourg. Since 2023, he is also Guest Scientist in the Malaria Parasite Biology and Vaccines Unit (Dir. C. Chitnis) at Institut Pasteur, Paris.
He has authored more than 280 peer-reviewed publications, with a Hirsch index of 53, and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023). His achievements have been rewarded by several prestigious prizes, including the Eloi Collery Prize (Académie Nationale de Médecine, 2015), the Jean-Pierre Lecocq Prize (Académie des Sciences, 2016), the Thérèse Lebrasseur Prize (Fondation de France, 2020), and the Mme Jules Martin née Louise Basset Prize (Fondation de France, 2021). He was elected Distinguished International Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) in 2021 and awarded the Joseph Augustin LePrince Medal in 2024.
