1. Life

2. Personal life

3. Controversy

4. References

Agnès Buzin, who specializes in hematology, cancer immunology and transplant, spent most of her career as a medical practitioner, professor and researcher at Paris-Descartes University (Paris-V) and at Necker Hospital.

Since 2008, she assumed many responsibilities as part of Health and Nuclear public institutions: president of the administrative counsel of the Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute (IRSN) (French: "Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire ") (2008-2013); member of the comity on nuclear energy of The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) (French: ”Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives”) (2009-2015); member of the administrative counsel in 2009, then vice-president in 2010, and president since 2011 of the National Institute for Cancer (INCa) (French: “ Institut national du cancer”).

She was appointed Minister of Solidarity and Health under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, as part of the first government of Édouard Philippe on May the 17th 2017, then confirmed on June the 21^st 2017 as part of the second government of Édouard Phillipe.

Life

Buzyn was born to two Holocaust survivors, her father Elie from Polish Lodz, who survived Buchenwald's death march at age 16, and left for British Palestine after World War II. He became an orthopedic surgeon in Paris and married a French Jewish woman, Etty, whose family hid in France during the war; she became a well-known psychoanalyst and writer.^[2]

Buzyn is a qualified doctor, hematologist and university professor.

She has been head of the French National Cancer Institute and other public health executive boards. In 2016, she was nominated as president of the French High Health Authority, as the first woman.^[2] For several years she was a senior physician and researcher at the Paris Necker Children's Hospital, teaching hematology and transplantation at the Paris VI University.^[2]

From 2008 to 2013, she chaired France's Agency for Nuclear Safety and Protection against Radiation (IRSN), a position which involved reassuring the public after Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011.^[3]

In May 2017, President Emmanuel Macron appointed her as minister of health. Buzyn had never been involved in party politics prior to being nominated similar to other ministers (culture minister Françoise Nyssen, Olympic fencing champion Laura Flessel and TV star Nicolas Hulot).^[4]

Personal life

Buzyn was married to Pierre-Francois Veil, son of health minister and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil, who died in June 2017. They have 2 children together.^[2]

Buzyn is married to Yves Lévy, with whom she has one child. Levy is an immunology professor and has been heading the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) since June 2014. He remains interim head since his term expired 12 June 2018 and announced on July 30th that he would not run for another term due to the controversy.^[5]

Controversy

As the Minister of Health and the Minister of Research oversee INSERM, there has been an obvious conflict of interest. On May 29, 2017, a decree was issued that the French prime minister would carry out acts related to INSERM instead of Buzyn.^[5] The French press has called this an unthinkable solution in Anglo-Saxon countries.^[6]

However, Buzyn is a member of the search committee charged with auditioning the INSERM director candidates. Several candidates decided not to run for office upon learning this information.^[7]

References

• U.S.–Lithuania relations
• US–Lithuania relations
• US–Luxembourg relations
• U.S.–Luxembourg relations
• US–Macau relations
• U.S.–Macau relations
• US–Madagascar relations
• U.S.–Madagascar relations
• U.S.–Malawi relations
• US–Malawi relations
• US–Malaysia relations
• U.S.–Malaysia relations
• US–Maldives relations
• U.S.–Maldives relations
• US–Mali relations
• U.S.–Mali relations
• U.S.–Malta relations
• US–Malta relations
• US–Marshall Islands relations
• U.S.–Marshall Islands relations
• U.S.–Mauritania relations
• US–Mauritania relations
• U.S.–Mauritius relations
• US–Mauritius relations
• U.S.–Mexican War