”I’ve always loved listening to music,” says Pierre Isnard, MD, PhD, a pathologist at Necker Hospital in Paris, France, now on leave to study molecular signatures in kidney disease pathologic samples here at WashU Nephrology. “I started by learning the piano when I was in primary school, then became fascinated by drums and percussion when I attended my first concert with friends from secondary school.” Pierre went on to become skilled at percussion and in high school formed a small rock band and played small concerts with friends.
Jumping ahead to today, that passion for music continues.
Pierre, who joined the Humphreys Laboratory in 2023, now has a new gig with his band, Benny and the Frogs. The band plays mainly Rock music by bands such as The Police, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Muse.
Regarding the band’s name, Pierre explains that Benny (Ben) is the guitarist and the only American. The Frogs are Pierre, the drummer, Kavi, the singer, and Emmanuel, the bassist, who are all French. “The English gently mock the French and call us the frogs (since the French eat frogs) and it also echoes the song ‘Bennie and the Jets’ by Elton John,” he says.
The idea of the band came about when Emmanuel’s parents came to play a concert in a bar in Saint louis. Over drinks, Pierre said they were talking about how great it would be to play music together and do small concerts with friends.
“So, we started our first rehearsals in the basement of Emmanuel’s house, and the Rock n Roll spirit was born! We play for fun and give private concerts as well as doing well-known band rehearsals.”
Pierre’s three children, ages two, five and eight, love to listen and watch them play. His daughter even gets in on the action (see photo of her playing the djembe, a type of West African drum).
As a scientist at the Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, Île-de-France, Pierre was co-author of multiple publications that focus mainly on the kidney pathology. He traveled to St. Louis to work in the Humphreys Laboratory (“one of the best in the word” according to Pierre) as a Postdoc Research Associate. The lab is run by with Ben Humphreys, MD, PhD, Joseph Friedman Professor of Renal Diseases in Medicine and Chief of the Division of Nephrology. Pierre currently uses spatial transcriptomics technologies such as Visium or Xenium (10X genomics) to better characterize the molecular mechanisms involved in kidney diseases and in particular to try to associate morphology and spatial information with the molecular signature to better understand lesion phenomena.
“Pierre is a multitalented professor with training in general clinical nephrology, nephrologic pathology and hematopathology. He and his wife Dr. Chrystelle Poyat brought their family here to WashU from Paris so he could learn spatial technologies, which has been a great success – but he has also contributed to our broader community through his music, open mind and snare drum! A special shout-out to his wife Dr. Poyat who is a critical care physician in the French Air Force and who has supported her family’s St. Louis adventure while her colleagues back home eagerly await her return. I am so grateful to both of them. Two incredibly bright futures in medicine.”
Ben Humphreys, Chief of the Division of Nephrology
Pierre’s goal is to become an Associate Professor at Paris CIté University, working as a pathologist to build his own research team using spatial omics to decipher molecular mechanisms of kidney diseases.
As far as his music is concerned, he says, “I’d love to be able to create a new band in France and maybe perform a Benny and the Frog concert there!”
On X, follow @IsnardPierre1, @HumphreysLab and @WUNephrology. Keep up with WashU Nephrology news via Facebook, Instagram, and our website.