title: [50 years of connective tissue research: from the French Connective Tissue             Club to the French Society of Extracellular Matrix Biology].
abstract: The history of connective tissue research began in the late 18th century. However, it is           only 50 years later that the concept of connective tissue was shaped. It took another           fifty years before biochemical knowledge of extracellular matrix macromolecules began to           emerge in the first half of the 20th century. In 1962, thanks to Ladislas and Barbara           Robert, back from the US, the first society called "French Connective Tissue Club" was           created in Paris. The first board was constituted of Albert Delaunay, Suzanne Bazin and           Ladislas Robert. Very quickly, under the influence of these pioneers, national and           international meetings were organized and, in 1967, a "Federation of the European           Connective Tissue Clubs" was created at the initiative of Ladislas Robert (Paris) and John           Scott (Manchester). It spread rapidly to the major European nations. In 1982 the           transformation of "Clubs" in "Societies" occurred, a name more in line with the           requirements of the time. In 2008, the "French Connective Tissue Society" became the           "French Society of Extracellular Matrix Biology" ("Société Française de Biologie             de la Matrice Extracellulaire", SFBMEc), to better highlight           the importance of the extracellular matrix in the biology of living organisms. The           SFBMEc's mission today is to promote and develop scientific exchanges between academic,           industrial, and hospital laboratories involved in research on the extracellular matrix.           SFBMEc organizes or subsidizes scientific meetings and awards scholarships to Ph.D.           students or post-docs to participate in international conferences. It includes 200 to 250           members from different disciplines, developing strong interactions between scientists,           clinicians and pathologists. It is present all around the French territory in many           research laboratories. During these last 50 years, the extraordinary advances made           possible by the development of new investigation techniques, in particular molecular           biology, cell and tissue imaging, molecular modeling, etc., have permitted a considerable           increase of the knowledge in the field of connective tissue.
authors: Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, CNRS FRE 3481, CHU de Reims, Faculté de Médecine, Reims, France. fmaquart@chu-reims.fr
authors: François-Xavier
authors: FX
authors: Maquart
authors: Jacques-Paul
authors: JP
authors: Borel
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D003585:Cell Biology / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000502:physiology; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000502:physiology; D005602:France; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D012958:Societies, Scientific / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration*