Tribute to Anne Bertrand (1978–2018): Neuroradiologist, scientist, teacher and friend

Abstract

Anne Bertrand passed away on March 2nd 2018. She was in a touring-skiers group led by a guide and swept by an avalanche in the French Alps. This paper is a tribute to Anne and an attempt, by some of her closest colleagues, to provide an overview of her major contributions. Anne Bertrand was a rising star of the neuroimaging community who traced innovative paths at the interface of basic science and clinical neuroradiology. From the very beginning of her career, she had been interested in the cross-fertilization between research and medical practice. After an MD and a specialization in neuroradiology, she prepared a PhD in preclinical imaging at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and at New York University. She was then appointed as Senior Neuroradiologist (at the Pitié-Salpêtrière and then Saint-Antoine Hospital in Paris) and Associate Professor (Sorbonne University). Simultaneously, she continued to develop her research activities in the ARAMIS Laboratory at the Brain and Spinal Cord Institute (ICM). Her main field of interest was neuroimaging of dementias. In a short time, she made important and exceptionally diverse contributions to the understanding, detection, diagnosis and tracking of these disorders (including Alzheimer's disease and fronto-temporal lobar degeneration) using advanced multimodal neuroimaging techniques. They will be a source of inspiration for all of us. Anne was not only an outstandingly bright scientist but also enlightening by her personal qualities: joy, openness, kindness and generosity.