French ambassador to the US visits Mayo Clinic to talk global collaboration

(ABC 6 News) – Friday, local government officials, like US Senator Amy Klobuchar and Rochester Mayor Kim Norton, greeted the French ambassador to the US, Phillippe Étienne, as he visited Mayo Clinic for the first time.

The visit was to highlight the importance of global connections and collaboration, especially in the world of science and medicine.

Mayo’s medicinal collaboration with France began 100 years ago when Dr. Charles Mayo traveled to Paris in 1923 to meet a famous physician, and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, Marie Curie.

“It was that very visit that started a highly celebrated relationship and research effort in fields that then revolutionized medicine, said Dr. Andre Terzic, a cardiology researcher at Mayo Clinic. “Science has no country.”
Now a century later, the importance of global partnerships still remains true.

“I’m really looking forward to the strengthening of the collaboration, especially between the US and France, but especially between France and Minnesota,” said Étienne.

They say the pandemic proved how much international cooperation mattered.

“It’s that spirit of medicine without borders or medicine beyond borders,” Dr. Terzic.

“This model of care is going to be important going into the future as our reach is not just how we can be an example for the United States, but how we can be an example to the world, as Mayo expands its global reach,” added Senator Klobuchar.

It’s a collaboration both parties are excited to continue developing.
“My visit makes me sure, that we have a lot of things to learn from the success of Mayo Clinic in this respect,” added Étienne.

Ambassador Étienne also says that his hope and mission is to have several Minnesota companies and institutions take a trip to France in the future.

He also made stops in the Twin Cities and met with Gov. Tim Walz.