Harry Sokol

Harry Sokol serves as Professor of Gastroenterology at Saint Antoine Hospital and Head of the Microbiota and Immunity research group at UMR Micalis (INRAE, AgroParisTech), pioneering translational research connecting clinical patient care with fundamental microbiota studies in inflammatory bowel diseases.

His academic foundation includes:

• Doctor of Medicine (2007), Faculty of Medicine Paris 5, Paris Descartes University
• Doctor of Science in Microbiology (2008), Faculty of Sciences of Orsay, University of Paris-Sud
• Postdoctoral Research at Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital (2009-2011)

Dr. Sokol's research centers on host-microbiota interactions in immunity, highlighted by his discovery of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii's anti-inflammatory properties and leadership of France's first fecal transplantation clinical trial for Crohn's disease. His ERC-funded work investigates microbiota-tryptophan metabolism links, revealing implications for intestinal inflammation and neuropsychiatric disorders through integrated animal and patient studies.

His major recognition includes:

• European Research Council Starting Grant (2016, €1.5 million)

This substantial grant enables exploration of microbiota-derived therapeutic molecules for inflammatory bowel disease, driving collaborations between his UMR Micalis basic research group and Saint Antoine Hospital's clinical environment to accelerate bench-to-bedside translation.

His dual laboratory-hospital framework creates a continuous discovery cycle: patient symptom patterns generate research hypotheses, while animal model findings undergo clinical validation, positioning him at the forefront of microbiota-based therapeutic development for gastrointestinal disorders.