2023 new directors’ appointments

Mario Moreira has been appointed President of Fiocruz, taking up his new position on May 12^th, 2023. With an outstanding career at Fiocruz started in 1994, he has held the positions of Vice President of Management and Institutional Development.

His expertise in public health, scientific research and institutional management propelled him to the head of Fiocruz.

For further information:

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation: Mario Moreira, new President of Fiocruz

Yasmine Belkaid has been appointed President of the Institut Pasteur and will take up her new position on January 1^st, 2024.

An internationally renowned researcher in the field of microbes and the immune system, Yasmine Belkaid is currently Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Human Immunology in the United States of America.

Her appointment aims to strengthen the institute’s international reach and focus on global surveillance of emerging pathogens. She will be the 17^th President of the Institut Pasteur and the second woman to hold this position since 1887.

Further information:
Institut Pasteur : Institut Pasteur: Professor Yasmine Belkaid appointed Institut Pasteur President

Antoine Des Graviers has been appointed Director of the Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe and will take up his new position on October 1^st, 2023. He is a medical doctor and lawyer by training, with over 20 years’ experience in the creation and management of institutions, international projects and start-ups in the health and research sectors.

He began his career as co-founder and director of an artificial intelligence software company specializing in industrial process optimization and medical data mining.

Afterwards, he joined the Institut Pasteur, first in the Legal Department as a lawyer specializing in medical law, then in the International Affairs Department, where he helped to set up the financial and legal aspects of different institutes (Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Institut Pasteur Korea…) and managed various projects within the Pasteur Network in Africa, Asia and South America.

Before his nomination as the Director of the Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe, Antoine Des Graviers was the Administrative and Financial Director of the Institut Pasteur du Laos.

For further information:

Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe: website of the Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe

Paola Minoprio has been appointed Executive Director of Institut Pasteur de São Paulo by decision of the Institute’s first Board of Directors, which met on July 11, 2023. Institut Pasteur de São Paulo takes over from the Pasteur-USP Scientific Platform, following the signing of new statutes between Institut Pasteur and the University of Sao Paulo.

Paola Minoprio began her Pasteurian career in 1984, was a Foundation Roux Fellow and is presently Associate Professor at the Institut Pasteur. 

Head of the Trypanosomatids Infectious Processes Laboratory, she has focused her career on the immunopathology of infectious processes. Coordinator of the Americas Pole at the International Division, she participated in the creation of AMSUD Pasteur, the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo and, in 2004, presented FIOCRUZ as an associate member of the Pasteur Network. She has directed Institut Pasteur’s Administrative Office in Brazil since 2017 and is a French Foreign Trade Advisor. Before being appointed Executive Director of the Institut Pasteur de São Paulo for the next four years, she has been co-coordinating the Pasteur-USP Scientific Platform since March 2018, an associate member of the Pasteur Network since 2019. Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur for her work (2020), she was awarded the Médaille des Epidémies in 2021 (MEAE) and, recently, the Médaille du Sénat, in 2023.

For further information:

Institut Pasteur de São Paulo (former Pasteur-USP Scientific Platform) : official website

Philippe Buchy has been appointed as the Director of the Institut Pasteur du Laos, effectively since August 1^st, 2023. He is a medical doctor, specializing in clinical pathology, and holds a PhD in virology. In addition, he worked for 16 years at the Institut Pasteur as a virologist and directed several national and WHO reference centers on influenza, H5N1, rabies and arboviruses.

Philippe Buchy is the author of more than 170 publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as several book chapters and WHO guidelines. He received the 2014 Mérieux Prize in recognition of his research on infectious diseases in developing countries.

Further information:

Website of the Institut Pasteur du Laos

Byungkwon Lim has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Institut Pasteur Korea, taking up his new position on January 1^st, 2023. Byungkwon Lim holds a Degree in Mechanical Design from Seoul National University of Science and Technology and a Master’s degree in Environmental Planning from the University of Salford, UK.

His career has included key roles at the Ministry of Science, Information Technology and Future Planning, as well as an assignment with the International Atomic Energy Agency. In recent years, he has received several awards, including the Presidential Prize for Outstanding Public Servants in 2008.

Further information:
Website of the Institut Pasteur Korea