After first opening in June 2015, the I-Motion Institute was officially inaugurated on 18 February 2016. This inauguration took place in the presence of Thierry Mandon, the French Secretary of State in charge of Higher Education and Research, Martin Hirsch, Chief Executive Officer of the AP-HP (the Paris Region public hospital system), Prof. Noël Garabedian, Chairman of the AP-HP Establishment Medical Commission, Prof. Jean Chambaz, President of the Pierre and Marie Curie University, Laurence Tiennot-Herment, President of AFM-Téléthon, and also the singer, Garou, ambassador and mentor to the Institute, and many stakeholders from the medical world.
“For our Association of Patients and their Parents, I-Motion is a beacon of hope,” Laurence Tiennot-Herment explains. “It is a place that I would have liked to have been assigned to, 20 years ago, when I was told about my son’s diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. At the time, there were no places like this. I-Motion consists of a team of 18 individuals; young men and women who are committed and ambitious, working everyday for children with neuromuscular diseases. There are already 22 trials underway or upcoming. This is just the beginning of the story, a new ambitious journey.”
A visit of I-Motion through a glimpse of the journey of a young patient enrolled in a therapeutic trial allowed everyone present, including Martin Hirsch and Thierry Mandon, to discover the site and the teams.
Garou had already visited the Institute in November, 2015 and had met the young patients and their families, but it was important to him to be here, also, for the inauguration. “I am very proud to make my own humble contribution to the I-Motion Institute. Being the ambassador to the Téléthon in 2014 has transformed my life. I have been able to have wonderful meetings with young patients, but also with incredible researchers. It is very natural for me to continue investing in them and to contribute to the children’s dreams.”
