Professor Emmanuel Fournier died on April 2, 2022 at the age of 63. Professor of Physiology at Paris Sorbonne University, MD, PhD, he became head of department in 2009, following Pierre Bouche and Jean-Claude Willer, and created the Clinical Neurophysiology Department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. I had the privilege of working with him for more than 25 years, which allowed me to recognize in him, unique intellectual and human qualities that these few lines will not be enough to describe. Emmanuel Fournier has been able to carry out an activity of an immense richness in many fields.
He has conducted clinical research of an exceptional level. In collaboration with Prof. Bertrand Fontaine's team, he has made a major contribution to the characterization of muscular channelopathies -dyskalemic paralysis and myotonic syndromes- by developing very rigorous neurophysiological experimental protocols, integrating effort of variable duration (short effort, long effort), the temperature conditions, all parameters that he was able to integrate from a detailed clinical observation. The joint analysis of mutations in the genes of the various muscle channels has made it possible to establish very significant genotype-phenotype correlations and to better understand their dysfunction. This work, published in prestigious journals*, has had a major international impact both on diagnostic practice and on the mechanistic understanding of these pathologies. In the field of congenital myasthenic syndromes, a major theme of my own team, it is by developing the same expertise, based on a neurophysiological exploration targeted on clinical characteristics and combined with molecular genetics, that Professor Fournier has developed a very efficient diagnostic algorithm on more than one hundred patients. He has also developed exploration techniques that reduce the pain induced by electromyographic examination, which is greatly appreciated by patients and in particular children.
Emmanuel Fournier was an outstanding pedagogue. So many interns and neurologists have trained in the practice of electroneuromyography by his side. He had a very heavy teaching load at the faculty: from introduction to the basics of physiology for the young students, to highly specialized courses and diplomas for neurologists and scientists. The teaching books on electromyography that he wrote are models of pedagogy. His talents as an organizer were based on the respect and ability to listen to his collaborators and an exceptional organizational intelligence. They were applied from the smallest level (the staffs) to the construction of a structured department grouping together numerous teams on several hospital sites. With each of them, he was able to create a unique and lasting personal bond.
If the medical-scientific legacy of Professor Emmanuel Fournier is considerable, it does not sum up his work. He was the head of the Ethics Department of Sorbonne University and created a renowned philosophical trend through several works that are references in the field. Finally, he was a very gifted artist for drawing and poetry. Not everyone knew all the facets of his universal spirit, so modest he was. All friends of Emmanuel Fournier will remember his gaze which was bright with intelligence, benevolent, questioning, revealing full availability for his interlocutor.
Pr Bruno Eymard. Professor emeritus of neurology, Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
*Fournier E, Arzel M, Sternberg D, Vicart S, Laforet P, Eymard B, Willer JC, Tabti N, Fontaine B. Electromyography guides toward subgroups of mutations in muscle channelopathies. Ann Neurol. 2004 Nov;56(5):650-6
Fournier E, Viala K, Gervais H, Sternberg D, Arzel-Hézode M, Laforêt P, Eymard B, Tabti N, Willer JC, Vial C, Fontaine B. Cold extends electromyography distinction between ion channel mutations causing myotonia. Ann Neurol. 2006 Sep;60(3):356-65.
