As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I didn鈥檛 know. I just knew I wanted to work with people.
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Explain what you do in one easy paragraph.
I divide my time between working with patients and coordinating research. Multiple sclerosis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the fatty myelin coating around nerve fibres. Our research tries to figure out how we can repair this protective coating. We also want to understand how MS progresses.
What do you love most about what you do?
The best part of my job is listening to theall-important information that patients tell us about their lived experience of MS. But I also like discussing research projects with the team.
Were you good at science at school?
I loved biology, but hated maths. I was also (and still am) an avid reader, so I was very into literature and poetry.
If you could send a message back to yourself as a kid, what would you say?
In France, students always shy away from asking questions. My advice would be, 鈥淒on鈥檛 be afraid to ask. No question is a stupid one.鈥�
What鈥檚 the most exciting thing you鈥檙e working on right now?
I鈥檓 very excited about a trial that my team is developing on optic neuritis 鈥� inflammation of the optic nerve. We will test how the stimulation of electrical activity in the nerve can repair myelin. It could lead to extremely important discoveries about ways of remyelinating nerves and possibly halting the progression of MS.
If you could have a long conversation with any scientist, living or dead, who would it be?
Jean-Baptiste Charcot 鈥� the son of Jean-Martin Charcot, who made the first diagnosis of MS in 1868. Jean-Baptiste studied neurology, but after his father鈥檚 death he travelled the world in a boat called Pourquoi-Pas? (鈥渨hy not?鈥�) and explored the Antarctic. I would love to hear his adventures.
What discovery are you most proud of?
A special moment was when our team discovered that it is electrical activity in the nerves that gives the signal for the myelination process to begin.
How has your field of study changed in the time you have been working in it?
Twenty years ago, I was part of a global meeting where, for three days, we focused on myelination in MS. At the end, a number of MS experts concluded that there was no future for myelin repair in MS. I was unbelievably disappointed. But today, there are several trials looking into exactly this, and to finding answers to the repair process in MS.
Do you have an unexpected hobby, and if so, please will you tell us about it?
I love to hike in the Alps. Last month, I was on a pass that reached 3300 metres.
What鈥檚 the best thing you鈥檝e read or seen in the past 12 months?
Myelin: The brain鈥檚 supercharger by Florence Rosier and Bernard Zalc, a colleague who also happens to be my husband.
How useful will your skills be after the apocalypse?
I鈥檓 agnostic on a potential apocalypse, but I am very conscious of the growing threat that global warming poses for us all. It鈥檚 something we desperately need to address.
鈥淭he trial we are developing could lead to ways of halting the progression of multiple sclerosis鈥�
OK, one last thing: tell us something that will blow our minds鈥�
So many of the secrets to understanding MS lie in the patients themselves. The way that people with MS and other conditions know their disease is fundamental to us in our research. I find the courage, energy and determination of many of my patients to be mind-blowing 鈥� lessons in life for us all.
Catherine Lubetzki is professor of neurology at Sorbonne University and heads the neurology department at Piti茅-Salp锚tri猫re Hospital, Paris.
The Charcot award is presented by the MS International Federation
