A new Lebanese scientific achievement by Christiane Farran in Paris

The Lebanese-American professor, Christiane Farran, is a new name added to the list of Lebanese women achievers for her outstanding invention in identifying the gene related to resistance of organ transplant in the human body. Farran, originally from Saida in the south, has lived through Lebanon’s civil war and had her share of a sniper’s bullet in her leg. Fortunately, she was treated at Hotel Dieu Hospital where she became fascinated with the medical profession and decided to enroll in Saint Joseph university’s school of medicine. Later on, Christiane moved to Paris where she specialized in nephrology and kidney surgery at the University of Paris (V) and later practiced at Necker Hospital in the French capital which, luckily, witnessed the first kidney transplant in the country. Eventually, Christiane discovered the crucial function of the immunity system in tolerating or resisting a transplanted organ, and therefore, decided to turn to scientific research in the field. She received a masters from Pasteur Institute followed by a doctorate in immunology from the University of Paris (VI). Her post doctorate research led her to Harvard in the US where she contributed to advanced studies on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Her efforts culminated with the determination of the gene A-20 responsible for organ transplants. (Al Hayat, April 3, 2016)