Professor Hoffmann was honored with a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011 for his pioneering work on the innate immune system using Drosophila. Hoffmann and colleagues are in particular cited for having provided the first evidence that Toll receptors mediate the innate immune response. （http://flybase.org/static_pages/news/articles/2011_10/Hoffmann_Nobel_prize.html）
Jules Hoffmann was born in Luxembourg and moved for his studies to the University of Strasbourg France, where he received his Ph.D. in Biology in 1969. He has held various positions with the French National Research Agency CNRS, the latest being that of Distinguished Class Research Director and of Member of the Board of Administration of this Agency. He also serves as a Professor for the University of Strasbourg. From 1993 to 2005 he was the Director of the CNRS Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology in Strasbourg. The research of Jules Hoffmann was continuously centered on studies of the development and the defense reactions of insects. Since 1990, JH and his laboratory have explored the potent antimicrobial mechanisms of Drosophila as a paradigm for innate immune defenses. The group is in particular credited with having unravelled the role of Toll receptors in fighting infections. Jules Hoffmann has authored or co-authored 250 publications and edited several volumes. He is a Member of the French National Academy of Sciences of which he served as Vice-President (2005-06) and President (2007-08). He is a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Jules Hoffmann is a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S., the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Jules Hoffmann is the recipient of several international awards, namely the William B.Coley Award, the Robert Koch Prize and the Balzan Prize. He is also an awardee of the 2010 Lewis Rosenstiel Price and the 2010 Keio Prize for Medical Sciences. J.Hoffmann and his wife Daniele, his long-time scientific co-worker, have two children who have both embraced academic careers, and four grand-children.
