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Scientific research - Bioinformatics
Nicholas Ayache wins the 2008 Microsoft Award of the Royal Society and the French Academy of Sciences
On October 20 in London, the Royal Society and the French Academy of Sciences will give the Microsoft 2008 Award to Nicholas Ayache, a research director at INRIA. The honour rewards the outstanding work by this researcher, a pioneer in computational medical image analysis.
Bioinformatics: a calling
Dr. Ayache first thought of going to medical school before eventually deciding on a career in science. Throughout his years of study, he never lost sight of medicine, taking an interest in information technology’s role in medical image data processing.
Dr. Ayache graduated from the Ecole des Mines in Saint-Etienne with an engineering degree before earning a master’s in artificial intelligence at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). Then he prepared a doctorate in model-based object recognition at INRIA and a PhD in stereosvision at the Université de Paris XI, where his research focused on the development of vision capabilities for autonomous robots and geometric reasoning in two and three dimensions.
A pioneer in medical imagery and robotics
Dr. Ayache became aware of information technology’s vital role in analysing medical images very early on. With backing from former INRIA chairman Gilles Kahn, in 1989 he set up a first research project dedicated to medical applications.
Today Dr. Ayache leads one of the most important computational medical image analysis teams. He has actively contributed to structuring this emerging new discipline in France and internationally, in particular by co-founding a journal, Medical Image Analysis, and co-founding the first International Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention Conference (MICCAI).
A trailblazer in the service of public health
Dr. Ayache has spearheaded many scientific innovations and breakthroughs. In particular, with his team and his academic, clinical and industrial partners, he has developed groundbreaking multi-dimensional image analysis and simulation methods and image-guided surgery prototypes. The purpose of his research is to help doctors improve diagnosis and therapy.
My goal,” he says, “is to create, from the medical images of any patient, a series of computational models of his or her organs and pathologies to create a personalized ‘virtual patient’ (or ‘digital patient’) realistic enough to increase the potential for early diagnosis and also to plan and simulate several therapeutic strategies to select the most efficient one.
Dr. Ayache, who has worldwide recognition, always conducts his work with public health in mind. He wants to see his research put to effective use, has 11 registered patents and co-founded four start-ups.
Microsoft Award
Created in 2006, the Microsoft Award is designed to recognise and reward scientists working in Europe who have made a major contribution to the advancement of science through the use of computational methods. This award of 250 000 euros is handed each year by the French Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society. It aims to support the future researches of the winner.
On October 20 in London, the Royal Society and the French Academy of Sciences will give the Microsoft 2008 Award to Nicholas Ayache, a research director at INRIA. The honour rewards the outstanding work by this researcher, a pioneer in computational medical image analysis. 
My goal,” he says, “is to create, from the medical images of any patient, a series of computational models of his or her organs and pathologies to create a personalized ‘virtual patient’ (or ‘digital patient’) realistic enough to increase the potential for early diagnosis and also to plan and simulate several therapeutic strategies to select the most efficient one. 
