The Pasteur Institute, following a year of crisis, has named cell biologist Alice Dautry as its new managing director, and scientists are praising the choice. Dautry, trained as a solid-state physicist and a molecular biologist, was appointed for a six-year term on September 2.
"We are happy that the crisis in leadership is over," said Gerard Chaouat, a member of the National Union of Scientific Researchers and a director of research at Inserm's unit in Clamart, which works with scientists from the Institut Pasteur. "Everyone hopes that Dautry's appointment will help end the turbulence at the institute. Scientists expect a more open style of communication that will diffuse tension. But we reserve our judgement until we actually see Dautry's program."
Dautry was appointed by a two-thirds majority of the Pasteur board, who said in a press statement that they were certain that she would a "give fresh impetus" to the...