The Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm, French pronunciation: [insɛʁm]) is the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research.

[2] Inserm's CEO is chosen by decree upon a proposal of the Ministers of Health and Research, advised by a review committee.

[3] The CEO since January 2019 is Gilles Bloch, a doctor and researcher specializing in medical imaging.

In 1980, the French immunologist Jean Dausset received the Nobel prize (along with Baruj Benacerraf and George Davis Snell), for his work on the discovery and characterisation of the genes making the major histocompatibility complex.

In 2008, the French virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi was awarded, together with her former mentor Luc Montagnier, for the identification of the human immunodeficiency virus.