Pierre Chambon, MD, FAACR, a Fellow of the AACR Academy who was a pioneer in the structure and expression of genes, died May 5, 2026, at the age of 95.
Chambon’s early work contributed to the discovery of PolyADPribose, the discovery of multiple RNA polymerases, major contributions to the elucidation of chromatin structure, and the discovery of animal split genes. Later work included the discovery of multiple promoter elements and their cognate factors. His research on nuclear receptors has had a marked influence on the understanding of signal transduction and endocrinology in vertebrates.
Born February 7, 1931, in Mulhouse, France, Chambon received his medical degree from the University of Strasbourg in 1958. He joined the university as a research associate, becoming an associate professor in 1962 and professor of biochemistry in 1968. He founded the Institute for Genetics and Cellular and Molecular Biology in 1994 and served as its director until 2002. He then founded the Mouse Clinical Institute and served as director until 2006.
He held the chair of molecular genetics at the Collège de France from 1993 to 2003 and served as chair of molecular genetics and biology at the University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study from 2012 to 2021.
Chambon was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in1985, the same year in which he was elected a foreign member of both the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Among his many other honors and awards, he received the Gold Medal of the French National Center for Scientific Research in 1979, the Richard Lounsbery Award in 1982, the King Faisal International Prize for Science in 1988, the Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry in 1998, the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize in 1999 and again in 2018, the Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize in 2003, the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology in 2003, the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2004, and the Canada Gairdner International Award in 2010.
He was a Commander of the French Legion of Honor and a Grand Officer of the French National Order of Merit. He was a member of the AACR since 1988 and was elected to the AACR Academy in 2014.
Leave your remembrance of Dr. Chambon below (limit to 1,000 characters).
Pierre was a very fine person and a great scientist. His discovery of poly A RNA was fundamental to our understanding of mRNA and opened the door to all subsequent RNA research. Beyond his research accomplishments, he was a person who always gave an honest opinion of one’s own research. I will miss his friendship and his wise advice. Goodbye dear friend. Paul
It is with great sorrow that I say goodbye to someone who was tremendously important in the scientific field and achieved extraordinary accomplishments. The postdoctoral work I carried out under his supervision in Strasbourg was of the highest level and marked a complete turning point in my scientific career. My deepest condolences and support go to his family and loved ones from distant Buenos Aires.