CNRS Innovation Medal laureate: Claude Grison

Aged 53, Claude Grison directs the bioinspired chemistry laboratory for environmental innovation (laboratoire Chimie bio-inspirée et innovations écologiques - CNRS/UM2/Stratoz) and is a professor at the University of Montpellier-II. She successfully filed twelve CNRS patent applications which make it possible not only to use plants to progressively clean up mining sites, but also to exploit the metals that these plants absorb. There are many applications available, from an anti cancer agent derived from monastrol to cosmetics. Industrial collaborations are being developed with Chimex, a subsidiary of L' Oréal, and the Japanese company Takasago, while Stratoz, a young and innovative company, is to develop the full process. As a winner of the 2014 CNRS Innovation Medal, Grison takes a look back on her career and describes her key research.