On November 21, the French Academy of Sciences awarded the Louis Pasteur / PREVOT Foundation Medal to Olivier Tenaillon, Inserm research director and team co-leader at Institut Cochin. Each year, this medal recognizes a French researcher whose research contributes to increasing knowledge in microbiology.

Olivier Tenaillon and his team study the evolution of microorganisms, focusing on Escherichia coli. They combine mathematical models, epidemiology, evolution of bacteria in the laboratory, genome sequencing and genetic engineering to reveal the principles that govern bacterial adaptation from cellular scales to the analysis of the diversity present within the species.