doi.bio/christian_cambillau

Christian Cambillau

Early Life and Education

Christian Cambillau was born on February 22, 1951, in Perpignan, France, to Madeleine Cambillau, a social worker, and August Cambillau, an officer in the French Air Force. He studied in Perpignan and later in Paris when his family moved there. He obtained a Master's degree in biology and chemistry at the University of Orsay before completing a Ph.D. in bio-mimetic chemistry at the same university.

Career

After obtaining his Ph.D. in 1978, Cambillau spent a year at ONERA for his military service. In 1980, he was hired by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in the chemistry department. From 1982 to 1984, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Prof. Carl-Ivar Bränden in Sweden, where he contributed to the development of protein crystallography and modelling software.

Cambillau then returned to France and joined a group in the CRMC2 laboratory in Marseille, working in the field of structural biology. He developed a new molecular graphics program, TURBO-FRODO, which was distributed to over 1,000 sites, including 17 manufacturers. In 1990, he became the director of the Laboratory of Crystallography and Crystallization of Biological Macromolecules (LCCMB) at the Marseille North University Department.

From 1996 to 2004, Cambillau served as the Laboratory Director of "Architecture and Function of Biological Macromolecules" (UPR9039 and UMR6098). During this time, he also held various memberships and positions, including:

• Member of the Section 21 of the National Committee (1995-2000)
• Member of the Jury of Admission Department Sciences de la Vie (2000-2002)
• Member of the Scientific Department Sciences de la Vie (2003-2004)
• Expert at the Directorate of International Research at CNRS (1998-2000)
• Expert for orders from various research councils, programs, and grants

Since 2008, Cambillau has been the Head of Marseille-Nice Génopole. He is currently a professor emeritus at the CNRS and continues to conduct research in structural biology, with a focus on bacteriophages, X-ray crystallography, and electron microscopy.

Awards and Honours

Throughout his career, Cambillau has received several awards and honours for his contributions to the field of structural biology. Some of these include:

• CNRS Silver Medal
• Pierre Desnuelle Award from the French Academy of Sciences
• Award of the Society of Friends of Science (Academy of Sciences), 1994
• Scientific award APDF “Celestino da Costa/Jean Perrin” (France-Portugal), 2000

Selected Publications

Cambillau has authored or co-authored over 230 original articles in international, peer-reviewed journals. Here is a selection of some of his notable publications:

• "Crystal structure of ORF12 from Lactococcus lactis phage p2 identifies a tape measure protein chaperone" (1999)
• "Crystal structure of a chimeric receptor binding protein constructed from two Lactococcus lactis phages" (2000)
• "Crystal structure of Bacillus subtilis SPP1 phage gp22 shares fold similarity with a domain of lactococcal phage p2 RBP" (2010)
• "Crystal structure of SARS coronavirus NSP9" (2011)
• "The gp27-like Hub of VgrG Serves as Adaptor to Promote Hcp Tube Assembly" (2018)
• "SARS-CoV detection using a nanobody-functionalized voltammetric device" (2022)
• "Exploring Host-Binding Machineries of Mycobacteriophages with AlphaFold2" (2023)

Personal Life

Christian Cambillau is married to Mariella Tegoni and has two daughters.