Following the January 2024 elections, the Pasteur Network welcomes the members of its new Board, comprising both newly elected and re-elected regional representatives alongside two externally nominated members.

The Board will steer the direction of our association over the next two years and is composed as follows:

President:
Vice-President:

Africa

Americas

Asia-Pacific

Euro-Mediterranean

External Members:

To have more information about the governance, please visit the association’s governance page.

Earlier this week, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s #GrandChallenges Annual Meeting took place in Dakar, Senegal, where the RFP “Catalyzing Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use to Improve Global Health” was launched jointly by several Grand Challenges partners, including the Pasteur Network. This RFP will enable LMICs to take the lead on designing AI solutions for improving community health and well-being.

This opportunity allows for the development of global health and development solutions in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) using AI-enabled large language models (LLMs). The purpose of the Equitable AI for Health in LMICs Call is to help advance the development of robust, locally relevant AI-empowered tools. These tools will expedite decision-making, policy pathways, and implementation by frontline health workers and policymakers.

The initiative is led by GC Brazil, GC India, GC Ethiopia, GC Senegal, GC South Africa, and GC Africa. Support for this initiative is provided by GC Canada, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, the Pasteur Network, and the Gates Foundation.

More information:

Read the press release of the Bill & Melinda gates Foundation (10 octobre2023) “Gates Foundation Celebrates 20 Years of “Grand Challenges” With New Investments and a Call to Make R&D Breakthroughs Available More Quickly and Equitably”

Grand Challenges Annual Meeting : https://www.grandchallenges.org/annual-meeting

The Department of International Cooperation of the Principality of Monaco in partnership with the Institut Pasteur‘s International Affairs Department, is pleased to announce the offer 15,000 euros to fund a Pasteur Network project to be proposed by one member from the Network’s African Region.

As “Emerging Infectious Diseases” is one of the three strategic scientific areas of the Institut Pasteur, the funding will support a project related to the fight against infectious diseases. Any project on this theme is admissible. However, projects with a strong public health component will be given priority.

Application process

The COS-Pasteur Network is organizing its 2023 webinar series on ticks and tick-borne diseases. 6 webinars are planned throughout the year with speakers from the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, the Institut Pasteur de Bangui and the Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire, members of the Pasteur Network. These webinars are free but registration is required.


For more information:
Link to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeRbzR7Hzmum5DVF7dTyrU7c-CMtUZ4hMuHh_oE0UHvQRmEhA/viewform

On January 19th, 2022,  the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, member of the Pasteur Network and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and announced a 10-year partnership in which CEPI will invest up to $50 million. This collaboration aims to advance equitable access to vaccines in Africa and contribute to the African Union’s goal of increasing African manufacturers’ share of vaccine supply to the continent to 60% by 2040.

CEPI’s investment will complement that of other major funders for the project MADIBA, including European Union, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the AFD – Agence Française de Développement, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the IFC – International Finance Corporation, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the German Government, and the Government of Senegal.


For more information:
CEPI’s news: https://cepi.net/news_cepi/cepi-and-institut-pasteur-de-dakar-announce-10-year-partnership-to-boost-manufacturing-of-affordable-vaccines-for-the-global-south/
Institut Pasteur de Dakar’s announcement: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7021806481087811584/?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7021806481087811584%29

Rebecca F. Grais, Executive Director of the Pasteur Network, has been appointed to WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE).

As a member of SAGE, Rebecca will be responsible for providing expert guidance and recommendations to WHO on global policies and strategies related to vaccines, technology, research and development, and the delivery of immunization and its linkages with other health interventions. This appointment is a testament to Rebecca’s expertise and commitment to advancing global health.


For more information:
https://www.who.int/groups/strategic-advisory-group-of-experts-on-immunization/members

Recently, three new directors have taken up their positions within the Network.

In Canada, David Chatenet has taken over as Director of the Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie Research Centre at the Institut National de Recherche Scientifique (INRS). 

In Brazil, following the appointment of Nísia Trindade Lima as head of the Ministry of Health, Mario Moreira, former Executive Director, became Acting President of Fiocruz.

In Korea, Youngmee Jee, has been appointed as the new head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The former Administrative Executive Director, Byungkwon Lim, has taken over as CEO of the Pasteur Institute of Korea.

As the Pasteur Network continues to evolve, it regularly offers new positions to its members. The Network’s job offers are available and can be consulted on the career page.

In 1891, Louis Pasteur’s vision of a stateless science was made real with the birth of the Institut Pasteur in Ho Chi Minh City, the first international milestone of the Pasteur Network. A few days before the bicentenary of Louis Pasteur’s birth, Rebecca F. Grais, Amadou A. Sall and Stewart T. Cole, current representatives of the Pasteur Network, co-wrote a comment that traces the network’s main developments from its inception to the present day. The Pasteur Network is more than ever committed to this global vision of science by combining the diversity of all its members with Pasteur’s legacy in research and epidemic management.

Read this comment in the 400th volume of The Lancet.


For more information:
Science knows no country: fulfilling Louis Pasteur’s legacy
The Lancet, December 17th, 2022.
Rebecca F. Grais, Amadou A. Sall, Stewart T. Cole.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02369-8

Following the recent outbreak of monkeypox, researchers from the Pasteur Network and ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases have published a complete portrait of the disease in the New England Journal of Medicine. This is an opportunity to review the signs of the disease, its origin, and also the projects undertaken by the Pasteur Network, such as AFRIPOX, supported by the Institut Pasteur and in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur de Bangui.

All information on this publication can be found in the dedicated article on the Institut Pasteur website.


For more information:
Article from the Institut Pasteur: Monkeypox: a detailed profile of the disease
Review article: Monkeypox
New England Journal of Medicine, 26 octobre 2022.
Antoine Gessain, M.D., Emmanuel Nakoune, Ph.D., and Yazdan Yazdanpanah, M.D.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra2208860