Bio: Full professor and head of the Department of toxicology (Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris-Saclay) since 1997. Head of the team 2 “Drug and Chemical Allergy, Immunotoxicology and Immunopathology”, INSERM UMR 996. Member of the EUROTOX Executive committee and chairman of the EUROTOX Education committee. Member of the HESI board of trustees and co-chairman of the “Immunogenicity Technical Committee”. He has chaired the IMI ABIRISK consortium on the immunogenicity of therapeutic proteins (2012-2018).

He was Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University Paris-Saclay from 2015 to 2025 and ViceDean for research from 2000 to 2015.Marc Pallardy has 185 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and more than 120 invited presentations.

Abstract: Immunotoxicology is a discipline that studies the interactions between chemical, physical or biological substances and the immune system. Where does the term "Immunotoxicology" come from? It is commonly accepted that the origin of taking-into-account the effects on the immune system linked to exposure to environmental products is a publication from the RIVM at the end of the 1970s (Vos JG. CRC Crit Rev Toxicol. 1977). This publication primarily concerned immunosuppression and its possible consequences on human health. As a result, the bulk of research for many years concerned understanding the mechanisms of immunosuppression to environmental pollutants (dioxin, PCB, HPA, etc.) and developing assessment models. However, it is only very recently that exposure to environmental products has been linked to measurable effects on human health with PFAS and upper airborne infections but also the recent classification of PFOA in Group 1 of the IARC classification of carcinogens, partly linked to its immunosuppressive mechanisms.

But the understanding of immunity, the discovery of cytokines/chemokines and their production in recombinant form, the culture of immune cells, and the identification of numerous immune cells using monoclonal antibodies have made possible to address other aspects of immunotoxicology. This is the case for allergy mechanisms with the emergence of the pi-concept developed by W. Pichler and the identification of T lymphocytes recognizing small molecules such as beta-lactams. But understanding immunotoxic effects over time is also achieved through accidents or side effects linked to the use of products that modulate immunity: therapeutic antibodies and "cytokine release" "immune checkpoint inhibitors" and "autoimmune" diseases. Recent advances in research have finally made possible to identify the “Key Characteristics” that allow the identification of an immunotoxic product and also to define an AOP (Adverse Outcome Pathway) for skin allergy following exposure to chemical products.