Sir Stewart Thomas Cole (born 1955) is a British/French

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

. He was the Director General of the

Pasteur Institute 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. Th ...

since January 2018 to December 2023.

Early life and education

Cole grew up in Wales, where he was educated at Milford Haven Grammar School and then at Ardwyn Grammar School, Aberystwyth. Following a life-threatening bout of paratyphoid he developed an interest in bacteria, viruses and infectious diseases, which led to his reading microbiology at the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

, in Cardiff (now Cardiff University) followed by research for his PhD at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

, England. Subsequently, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the

University of Umeå 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 ...

(Sweden) and a research assistant at the Max-Planck-Institut for Biology, Tübingen (Germany).

Career and research

Stewart Cole has been active in

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

research and global health for many years. Between 2007 and 2017, he was a full professor and director of the Global Health Institute at the

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (, EPFL) is a public university, public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland". Like its sister institution E ...

(EPFL, one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). His laboratory at EPFL closed in December 2018. He was previously professor, senior vice president and scientific director of the

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 ...

(1983 – 2007), which he later rejoined as Director General. His research accomplishments in

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

have been widely acclaimed and are of direct relevance to global health and disease-control in both the developing world and the industrialized nations. Over four decades his team has investigated a range of topics including: bacterial electron transport systems; the genomics and diagnostics of

retroviruses A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. After invading a host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase ...

(HIV) and oncogenic papillomaviruses (HPV);

antibiotic resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resis ...

mechanisms; and the molecular microbiology of toxigenic

clostridia The Clostridia are a highly polyphyletic class of Bacillota, including '' Clostridium'' and other similar genera. They are distinguished from the Bacilli by lacking aerobic respiration. They are obligate anaerobes and oxygen is toxic to them ...

. Cole is best known for his pioneering work on the genomics, evolution and virulence of pathogenic mycobacteria, especially those causing the human diseases

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

(TB),

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

and

Buruli ulcer Buruli ulcer () is an infectious disease characterized by the development of painless open wounds. The disease is limited to certain areas of the world, with most cases occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa and Australia. The first sign of infection i ...

. Cole has supervised numerous students for MS and PhD degrees, and trained >50 postdoctoral fellows and clinicians. With them, he has published over 400 scientific papers and review articles. Notable alumni includ
Priscille BrodinBruno CanardRoland BroschStephen GordonAlexander Pym
an
Tim Stinear
Cole is also an inventor on many patents, several of which were licensed to industrial partners giving rise to diagnostic and therapeutic products that have found direct application in human medicine and helped save lives. Cole was scientific coordinator for the New Medicines For Tuberculosis project (NM4TB), running from 2006 to 2009 and the ensuing More Medicines For Tuberculosis project (MM4TB) running from 2011 to 2016 in the context of the FP7 European Union's Research and Innovation funding programme. This work led to the discovery of the TB drug candidate BTZ043 and PBTZ169 based on the benzothiazinone scaffold. In 2014, EPFL mandated its spin-off iM4TB, (Innovative Medicines for Tuberculosis ) a not-for-profit foundation, to raise funds and undertake preclinical development of PBTZ169. This was achieved with support from EPFL and the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

. Both BTZ043 and PBTZ169 completed phase 1 clinical trials and then entered phase 2a trials. In 2019, Cole was appointed academic Scientific leader of the public-private initiativ
ERA4TB
(European Regimen Accelerator for Tuberculosis)
ERA4TB
is developing new treatment regimens for TB and receives funding from the European Commission's IMI

Antimicrobial Resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resista ...

(AMR) Accelerator.

Director of the Pasteur Institute

Stewart Cole was appointed as the 16th director general of the

on 13 October 2017, 130 years after its foundation, thus becoming the first non-French appointee. He took office on 2 January 2018, when he began to prepare the institute's Strategic Plan for 2019–2023. The overarching ambition of the Strategic Plan was to give new impetus to basic research at the institute and to increase its impact on human health. Priority areas of the Strategic Plan included (re)

emerging infectious diseases ''Emerging Infectious Diseases'' is a monthly open-access peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The journal is in the public domain and covers global instances of new and reemerging infectious ...

antimicrobial resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resista ...

, brain connectivity and

neurodegenerative diseases A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Neuronal damage may also ultimately result in their death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mul ...

. From the Strategic Plan it is clear that the four missions originally defined by

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...

for his institute - research, public health, training/education and translating research into applications of value to humanity - are as relevant today as they were in 1887 when the

was founded. He completed his term on 31 December 2023. In 2024 joined the Ineos Oxford Institute on antimicrobial research as Executive Chair and became President of the Pasteur Foundation - UK. He was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(KCMG) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to science.

Awards and distinctions

* 2001: Prix Jean-Pierre Lecocq,

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

* 2002:

Marjory Stephenson Prize The Marjory Stephenson Prize is the principal prize of the Microbiology Society, awarded for an outstanding contribution of current importance in microbiology. Marjory Stephenson was the second president of the Microbiology Society (1947 - 1949) ...

from the

Society for General Microbiology The Microbiology Society (previously the Society for General Microbiology) is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the large ...

* 2002: EMBO member * 2004: Chevalier in the Ordre de la

Légion d’Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* 2007: Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, UK * 2009: Kochon Prize from the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

's STOP-TB Partnership * 2014:

Emil von Behring Emil von Behring (; Emil Adolf von Behring: born Emil Adolf Behring; 15 March 1854 – 31 March 1917), was a German physiologist who received the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the first one awarded in that field, for his discovery ...

Prize from the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

* 2014: Ass. Member National Academy of Pharmacy,

* 2016: Gardner Middlebrook Award, 37th Annual Congress of the European Society of Mycobacteriology (3 July 2016;

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

). *2022:

*2023:

Honorary Doctor An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

of Medicine, University of Sheffield *2024: Officier in the Ordre de la

Notes and references

External links

Pasteur Institute
* *
UPCOL - Cole Lab - Chair of Microbial Pathogenesis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Stewart British microbiologists Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of the University of Wales People from Milford Haven People educated at Milford Haven School Alumni of the University of Sheffield Living people 1955 births Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George