Death of Etienne Guillard
01/07/2025
We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Étienne Guillard on December 21 at the age of 47.
Étienne was working on his thesis at LEPS and at the Research Chair on Patient Engagement. Our thoughts are with his family, his loved ones, our colleagues, his collaborators and our doctoral students, who so appreciated the values he espoused, and his professional and humanitarian commitment. He is already sorely missed by all those who had the good fortune to know him.
A pharmacist by training with a Master's degree in environmental and health research, Étienne turned to humanitarian work when he finished his studies. After field experiences in Haiti and Ecuador, he joined Solthis in 2007, where he stayed for 16 years, while building a family life in France.
Highly respectful of people's fundamental rights and believing in their abilities, he became involved in therapeutic education for people living with HIV. Then, in May 2023, he joined MSF as part of a CIFRE contract to write a thesis on peer helpers affected by other chronic illnesses in humanitarian contexts. Highly committed to his thesis, he was an active contributor to all doctoral seminars, where he demonstrated an insatiable curiosity for the human sciences, which he was discovering. His incessant ethical questioning revealed the depth of his values. He will be sorely missed by his colleagues and by the dynamics of LEPS and the Patient Engagement Research Chair.