Researcher at the LEM, Jérôme Duval was awarded a bronze medal in 2011 by the CNRS.

What are your feelings about this medal ?
It is a very positive result that marks the recognition for work carried out with my collaborators. The research conducted on complex (nano)particle systems in the environment necessitated the association of multidisciplinary competences. I regularly work with physicists, microbiologists and virologists from France, Germany, Denmark, Japan, Portugal... My approach to problems is rather that of a physicist: I always try to conceptualise experimental measurements and reproduce them with theoretical models and, in parallel, conceive original experiments that question the validity of these models.

What does your research consist of ?
I am interested in the reactivity of (bio)particle systems. Bacteria, viruses, nanoparticles, heavy metals from anthropogenic activities… How do all these things interact? Using theoretical and experimental approaches on a molecular scale, I try and understand the nature of the interactions between particle systems that make up the environment in order to appreciate their reactivity, their eco-toxicity and speciation in space and time. This research finds echoes in the fields of bio-nanotechnology, microfluidics and biomedicine with, for example, the problem of bacterial adhesion mechanisms to surfaces, particularly important in the context of the development of nosocomial infections in hospital environments. We are trying in this precise case to understand the determining bacteria’s bio-physic-chemical factors that govern their deposition on surgical equipment.

What is your relationship with the university world in Lorraine ?
In particular, I have numerous collaborative projects with researchers at the LCPME on the subject of the physics-chemistry of biological interphases. With the LIEBE, we have started a study into the interactions between metals, nanoparticles and certain bacteria. The study into associated biophysical phenomena necessitates the development of innovative experimental and theoretical approaches, notably based on electrohydrodynamic techniques and atomic force microscopy. I also oversee several doctoral students and post doctoral students on these different problems.

What is your contribution in terms of industrial transfer ?
I am currently the scientific representative within the framework of the Biomonar European project. This project involves academic partners and industrial groups. It aims at optimising microfluidic detection equipment: small sensors capable of measuring in situ the responses of micro-organisms exposed to heavy metals such as copper, cadmium, nickel… I have also developed a theoretical model for the Michelin group in order to understand and optimise the aggregation process of latex particles.

 

LEM : Environment and Mineralurgy Laboratory The scientific activity of the LEM aims at understanding molecular mechanisms at the origin of the subject’s behavioural laws divided in the processes of mineral engineering in natural environments. Its objectives are to : - Develop and protect ore, industrial mineral, and water resources ; - Develop clean and safe mineral engineering processes ; - Make the development, recycling, passivation of residual materials evolve.

Read also
Hamid M’Jahed, 2011 CNRS Crystal award winner : "The success of interdisciplinarity"

© Picture : Clotilde-Verdenal-L'Oeil Créatif

 

• http://lem.ensg.inpl-nancy.fr