Les Amis de l’IHES is an association which was created on 8 October 1998 to coincide with the Institute’s 40th anniversary celebrations. Louis Michel was Chairman until he passed away on 30 December 1999; he was succeeded by Marcel Berger, former IHES Director, by Jean-Marc Deshouillers, professor at the University Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 and by Valentin Poénaru, former professor at the Paris-Sud University (Orsay) from 2009 until  2022. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, former IHES Director, was appointed President on 31 May 2022.

New event organised by Les Amis de l’IHES on Wednesday 18 June 2025, 5:30 pm (French time) at IHES.

Elsa VENNAT, (CentraleSupélec) gave an hybrid conference in French entitled:

“Odyssey into the heart of teeth, at the boundary between biology and materials science,
to understand tissues and their pathologies.”

Why is it better to run behind someone? Biological tissues such as bones and teeth are extraordinary materials.
Mechanically, they are highly efficient, whereas their basic constituents are much less so.
Why is it so? Because they are structured on several levels.What’s more, these tissues perform multiple functions and are constantly evolving.For example, bone tissue adapts to the stresses it undergoes thanks to sensitive cells!
Teeth, on the other hand, evolve but do not regenerate naturally, unlike bones. Nevertheless, cells similar to those of bone tissue have produced them:How are teeth formed? How are dental tissues formed? How do tissues react to externalaggressions? How does biology affect the structure and properties of teeth in diseases
such as the “brittle bone disease”?

The conference will be followed by a musical interlude with Alexandra KORTCHEMSKI (piano) in the foyer of the Centre de conférences Marilyn et James Simons.

Please note: exceptionally, in-person registrations will be limited to 40 people.

Contact: Ingrid Peeters