Researcher of the Year 2025 - Michel Arock
Michel Arock, PharmD, PhD, is Professor of Hematology and Medical Biologist and has been affiliated with Sorbonne University and Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France. He has dedicated his > 40-years academic and professional career to the study of mast cell biology and of mastocytosis, combining expertise in biological hematology, molecular biology and translational research.
His research has focused particularly on the molecular mechanisms underlying mast cell disorders, with a major emphasis on the role of activating KIT mutations in the pathogenesis of mastocytosis. His work has contributed to the understanding of the biological effects of mutations in KIT, including KIT D816V, and their consequences for mast cell proliferation, survival, differentiation and activation. He has also contributed to the development of new in vitro and in vivo models of advanced systemic mastocytosis, to innovative diagnostic approaches and to the evaluation of novel targeted therapies for mastocytosis.
Michel Arock is author and coauthor of more than 280 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals, including prestigious journals such as Blood, Haematologica, Nature Reviews Disease Primers, and the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. His research has helped to advance the understanding of the pathophysiology of mastocytosis at the molecular level and has contributed to the development of new diagnostic strategies and new therapeutic approaches directed against neoplastic mast cells.
Michel Arock has played a major role in the development of the European Competence Network on Mastocytosis (ECNM), serving as Chair from 2015 to 2020 and subsequently as a member of its Board. He has organized two ECNM meetings in Paris, in 2007 and 2017, and has been actively involved in the development of the network and in international collaborations in mastocytosis research. He has also made a strong contribution to the structuring and development of the French national network for mastocytosis, CEREMAST, of which he is a member of the Board, and which is affiliated to the ECNM.
For his “Pioneering Work in the Field of Mastocytosis”, in particular for his seminal contributions to the understanding of KIT mutations effects in mastocytosis, Prof. Arock received the Researcher of the Year (ROY) Award at the ECNM meeting in London in 2025.