Connecting Research, Hospital and Industry to accelerate the technological development and deployment of innovations for the benefit of patients.

Students on the Paris-Saclay University campus
© Christophe Peus / Université Paris-Saclay

Thanks to cutting-edge research in fields as diverse as mathematics, physics, biological and medical sciences, engineering, and humanities and social sciences, Paris-Saclay is attracting a growing number of students and businesses to develop multiple technologies. We believe that many of these technologies could be used for the benefit of patients and that the essential condition for this judicious use is the dialogue between the research communities, the healthcare world and the manufacturers. PASREL, anchored in the Paris-Saclay University, wants to foster and encourage this dialogue for the benefit of all.

At the beginning, the CEA and its hospital service

Service hospitalier Frédéric-Joliot, scintigraphy machine (Orsay, January 6, 1959).
CEA Historical Archives © CEA / Documentation Service - FAR_SA_N_00488
Frédéric-Joliot hospital service, measurement of thyroid fixation (Orsay, January 6, 1959).
CEA Historical Archives © CEA / Documentation Service - FAR_SA_N_00491

A proven model for clinical and industrial transfer in the field of medical imaging.

In 1934, Frédéric Joliot and his wife, Irène Joliot-Curie, discovered artificial radioactivity. Quickly convinced of the tremendous interest of these chemical species in biology and medicine, they announced in 1935, when they received their Nobel Prize, that radioelements could be used to describe many functions of the organism. The synthesis of radioactive species was to allow the development of a new science: medical imaging. After becoming the first Haut Commissaire of the CEA in 1946, Frédéric Joliot decided to bring biology to the CEA.

In 1948 and 1953, the first laboratories for lifescience research were set up in Fontenay-aux-Roses and Saclay. Their work was essentially focused on the use of radioelements as tracers. Created in 1958, within the Orsay hospital, the Frédéric Joliot Hospital Service (SHFJ, that currently belongs to the Frederic Joliot Institute for Life Sciences) was the specialist in this field.

Since 1958, thanks to its dual affiliation with a hospital and the CEA and to its expertise covering the whole chain of medical imaging, the SHFJ has never ceased to transfer advances in fundamental research into clinical applications.

It is this successful model of clinical and industrial transfer in the field of medical imaging that PASREL wants to extend to all health technologies.

The Paris-Saclay University and the flourishing of interdisciplinarity

Students on the lawn M.Lecompt
© M. Lecomte / Paris-Saclay University
Students at Centrale Supélec by Christian Dao
© Christian Dao / Paris-Saclay University

Building a broad interdisciplinary network to bring out technological and organizational innovations for the benefit of patients and caregivers.

The Paris-Saclay University offers an exceptional environment, with strong skills in mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering sciences, software technologies, data sciences, life sciences, and human and social sciences./p>

PASREL contributes to the structuration of the Paris-Saclay University by creating an interdisciplinary network, the PASREL Hub, which is positioned among six of the university’s Graduate Schools.

A new building, adjacent to the future Paris-Saclay Hospital

Aerial photo of the Moulon plateau
© EPA-Alticlic

In 2027, the PASREL building will be built in the immediate vicinity of the future Paris-Saclay Hospital (GHNE). A genuine collaborative platform, it will be dedicated to the integration of innovation in the hospital environment.

The EPAPS, a public body for the development of the Paris-Saclay area, is responsible for planning and coordinating the development of the scientific and technological cluster on the Saclay plateau. It is in charge of developing the Corbeville neighborhood where a new hospital will be built in 2024, the Paris-Saclay Hospital. This hospital will be the result of the merger and relocation of the Orsay, Longjumeau and Juvisy hospitals (the three of them constitute the GHNE, Groupe Hospitalier Nord-Essonne).

In the immediate vicinity of this hospital, the PASREL building will be built in 2027. It will be an open collaborative platform dedicated to the integration of innovation in the hospital environment. The PASREL building will be a showcase for medical technologies developed in Paris-Saclay by:

  • housing the teams and equipment of the SHFJ, including the BioMaps unit which constitutes a technology/medicine interface in the field of medical imaging.
  • hosting academic or industrial research teams from Paris-Saclay in order to support them in the implementation of their projects in the fields of innovative technologies for medical research or for organizational innovation in health.
  • offering training at the interface of engineering sciences and medicine, for Paris-Saclay students, health professionals and manufacturers.
  • welcoming the population through exhibitions, conferences and open days.