EADS Business Foundation Prizes for the best thesis

On December 6, 2010 the "EADS Business Foundation Prizes for the best thesis" were awarded in five scientific fields including Physics and Chemistry at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie. Prize-winner, Verena Schnitzler, developed and optimized a medical system of injection by mini-invasive surgery for the prevention of osteoporotic fractures of the neck of the femur at the Nantes University academic laboratories, CEISAM (UMR CNRS 6230) and LIOAD (UMR INSERM 791), under the direction of Bruno Bujoli and Jean-Michel Bouler. She also saw to the industrialisation of this system at Graftys, an innovative young business based in Aix en Provence which financed her CIFRE thesis. It is a calcium phosphate based biomaterial combined with a bisphosphonate-type anti-osteoporotic drug.

On completion of her thesis, Verena Schnitzler was hired as the manager of Graftys' R&D. She is currently the main spokesperson for the academic partners for everything related to research projects developed in collaboration with Graftys.
The highly detailed scientific knowledge related to the medical device produced from this thesis convinced many leaders in the orthopaedic industry of the importance of this technology and they are now examining the possibility of an exclusive partnership.

In conclusion, as the President of Verena Schnitzler's Thesis Committee emphasized in his conclusion, although the work carried out was intended for industry and had an identified application, it was achieved with high scientific rigour through in-depth study and with remarkable quality, and was entirely based on very original approaches. The President therefore considered that this was rare among CIFRE theses or theses financed by industrial funds and was therefore indicative of a very balanced and fulfilling public-business partnership for both parties.

• Home
• About
• R&D
• Clinic case
• Contact