Cossart earned a Bachelor of Surgery and Master of Surgery from Lille University in 1968, and an Master of Surgery in chemistry from Georgetown University in 1971. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in biochemistry at the University of Paris in 1977 (University Paris Diderot). She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Pasteur Institute.
She is currently a Professor and Head of the Unité des Interactions Bactéries Cellules at the Pasteur Institute. She was awarded the Balzan Prize for Infectious Diseases: Basic and Clinical Aspects in 2013.
Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology (1995) Richard Lounsbery Award (1998) Helena Rubenstein / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Award for Women in Science Leadership (1998) Officier de la Légion d"Honneur and Officier de l"Ordre du Merite, French Legion of Honor Louis Pasteur Gold Medal (2000), Swedish Society of Medicine Valade Prize (2003), Fondation de France Margaret Pittman Lecture, National Institutes of Health (2003) President, Conseil Scientifique of the Pasteur Institute Corresponding member, French Academy of Sciences Member, French Conseil National de la Science Member, American Academy of Microbiology Member, German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Robert Koch Prize (2007) Foreign member, Royal Society of London (2010) Balzan Prize 2013.
Royal Society; German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. French Academy of Sciences.
