Alain Mucchielli (born 3 October 1947 in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

) is a French

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

physician.

Biography

In 1975, Mucchielli obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

with a thesis on

food irradiation Food irradiation (sometimes American English: radurization; British English: radurisation) is the process of exposing food and food packaging to ionizing radiation, such as from gamma rays, x-rays, or electron beams. Food irradiation improves ...

at the

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

Institut Pasteur The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. T ...

in collaboration with the CEA

Cadarache Cadarache () in Southern France is the largest technological research and development centre for energy in Europe. It includes French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, CEA research activities and ITER. CEA Cadarache is one of th ...

Research Centre. After joining the

Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale The (Inserm, ) is the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research. History and organisation Inserm was created in 1964 as a successor to the French National Institute of Health. Inserm is the only public research institution ...

in 1977, his work focused on

alpha-fetoprotein Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP, α-fetoprotein; also sometimes called alpha-1-fetoprotein, alpha-fetoglobulin, or alpha fetal protein) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''AFP'' gene. The ''AFP'' gene is located on the ''q'' arm of chromosome ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million trophoblast The trophoblast (from Greek language, Greek : to feed; and : germinator) is the outer layer of cells of the blastocyst. Trophoblasts are present four days after Human fertilization, fertilization in humans. They provide nutrients to the embryo an ...

antigens In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule, moiety, foreign particulate matter, or an allergen, such as pollen, that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. The presence of antigens in the body may trigger an immune response. An ...

in the Blond McIndoe Centre for Transplantation Biology,

Queen Victoria Hospital The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world-famo ...

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

, England. In 1981, he obtained an MD with a thesis on antibody transfer from mother to fetus in the

University of Nice A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. In 1984, he engaged in street work. In 1987, along with seven other doctors, he co-founded a

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Volunteer Centre for

homeless people Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

. Difficulties faced by people in this center committed him in

harm reduction Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of intentional practices and public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. H ...

, and he organized in the early 1990s a medical care network for intravenous drug users. This network supported about 500 drug users in the south of France from 1990 to 1997, and, since 1993, it provided substitution treatment for drug users suffering very difficult conditions. In 1997, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he was "awarded the National Rolleston Award … for his advocacy of

in the face of opposition and doubt and for his efforts to bring about changes in Nice, a city badly affected by the problems arising from drug use and HIV". On 27 June 1998, he participated in the creation of the French Association for the Reduction of Drug-Related Harm, which brought together members who were involved in the majority of projects and actions in the field of harm reduction. Its initial ambition was to bring together, beyond the actors who were already involved, all those who were professionally concerned by the issue of drug use (police, justice, health, social, education, sport, culture, leisure) but also ordinary citizens, as well as their representatives. After obtaining a

speciality Specialty or speciality may refer to: * Deed, a contract in law * Index of speciality, a geometrical invariant * ''Speciality'' (album), an album by J-Pop singer Nami Tamaki * Specialty (medicine), a field within medicine * Specialty (dentistry), ...

in Public Health, he was recruited in 1998 as Director of the Public Health Unit of the Mutualité Française des

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

(which includes the

SAMU Social A SAMU Social is a municipal humanitarian emergency service in several cities in France and worldwide whose purpose is to provide care and medical ambulatory aid and nursing to homeless people and people in social distress. This is partially acco ...

in Nice). He then took on a regional management role in the Mutualité Française

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

References

Sources

L'héroïne, la cocaïne et le crack en France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mucchielli, Alain 1947 births French public health doctors Physicians from Toulon Living people Addiction physicians French physicians Scientists from Toulon Inserm people