Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on August 12, 2006
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2006 50(7):747-748; doi:10.1093/annhyg/mel054
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Obituary
Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité Avenue de Bourgogne, F-54501 Vandoeuvre Cedex, France. E-mail: peter.gorner{at}inrs.fr
|
On Friday 28 April 2006, Jean-François Fabriès, an outstanding aerosol scientist, passed away at the age of 57 having courageously fought against cancer for more than 20 years. Jean-François had been a member of the International Advisory Board of Annals of Occupational Hygiene since 2000, and was a frequent author in this journal.
He was born in February 1949 in Nancy, France, where he attended primary and secondary school before going on to study mathematics from 1966 to 1969. He obtained his degree in engineering from the National College of Chemical Engineering in Toulouse in 1972 and his PhD from the "Ecole des Mines de Paris" in 1976. During his PhD studies, he was involved in thermodynamics research, particularly the phase equilibrium of pure and mixed liquids and the determination of activity coefficients at infinite dilutions.
After two years of teaching at the Ecole des Mines de Paris, Jean-François Fabriçès came back to Nancy in 1978 to take responsibility for a new Aerosol Measurement Laboratory at the French National Research Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (INRS). Jean-François devoted his subsequent professional career to the development of this laboratory. He carried out notable research work on aerosol sampling and on assessing occupational exposure to airborne dusts, mists and fumes. Along with his fellow workers, he developed several experimental methods to measure particle size-dependent sampling efficiency, and contributed to the design of a number of original dust samplers, the CIP 10 personal respirable dust sampler being one example. At international level, he helped develop a concept of aerosol sampling performance based on the construction of concentration bias and accuracy maps of samplers as a function of aerosol size distribution. He also studied the optical properties of aerosols with a view to using light scattering in aerosol measurement. This work resulted in a clearer understanding of the advantages and limitations of photometers and optical particle counters when used in occupational hygiene.
His scientific approach was highly appreciated in the field of international standardisation, where he participated in CEN and ISO task committees and working groups on particle sampling, and with colleagues at INRS he was an important participant in various international collaborations. One of his collaborators was Lee Kenny, who writes: "We were always delighted to get an invitation to hold a meeting at INRS in Nancy, not only for the legendary warmth of French hospitality, but also for the opportunity to see the latest developments in the superb Aerosol Laboratory run by Jean-François. The meticulous work carried out in this laboratory made an outstanding contribution to occupational hygiene in Europe. Historically, there were wide differences in how dusts and bioaerosols were monitored in different countries, and it could be difficult to find consensus. On many occasions we looked to Jean-François and his team to provide the data to settle a disputed issue, because the quality of his work, his scientific rigour and his objectivity were respected by all. I'm sure that like me, the many people around the world who worked with Jean-François will feel honoured to have known him, and will miss him greatly."
Throughout his career, Jean-François taught regularly at the INRS Training Centre, the University of Paris XII and elsewhere, and supervised PhD students in his laboratory. He was a member of the European Aerosol Assembly, the American Association for Aerosol Research, International Society for Aerosols in Medicine, and the French scientific association ASFERA (Association Française d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Aérosols) for many years.
Jean-François Fabriès wrote more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 15 general papers, participated in 50 international congresses, and contributed to the publication of three books. Together with his colleagues he developed and held the intellectual property rights for three aerosol sampling devices. His scientific achievements were recognised when he obtained the highest French scientific degree, the HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches), from the "Institute National Polytechnique de Lorraine" in 1996.
He is survived by his wife Anne-Marie, a physician, and two bright sons, Lucas (16) and Alexis (14). We offer them our sincere condolences.
Received July 3, 2006;
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||