March 31, 2023 – On Friday March 31, 2023 at a ceremony in Paris, the Institut Pasteur President, Professor Stewart Cole, and the University of São Paulo (USP) Rector, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior, signed articles of association for the Institut Pasteur in São Paulo, a private non-profit organization under Brazilian law. The mission of the institute, an associate member of the Pasteur Network, is to conduct research in the field of biology that contributes to the development of human health, and to promote outreach, education, innovation and knowledge transfer activities and public health measures.
The Institut Pasteur in São Paulo will be based on the Cidade Universitária campus, in a vast 2,000m² space with 17 laboratories, a bioinformatics facility and several multi-user laboratories. When it becomes fully operational, the new institute will house more than 80 scientists from Brazil and other countries who will conduct international-level research on communicable, non-communicable, emerging, re-emerging, neglected and progressive diseases, including those involving neurological dysfunction and degeneration.
“The signing of the articles of association of the Institut Pasteur in São Paulo marks a major step forward that will strengthen the Institut Pasteur’s cooperation with Brazilian institutions. I would particularly like to mention the importance and relevance of the work achieved by the teams in the Scientific Platform Pasteur-USP, especially during the covid-19 pandemic, and the platform’s integral position within the research ecosystem in the State of São Paulo. The Institut Pasteur in São Paulo aims to deliver scientific excellence for the benefit of local populations,” declared Professor Stewart Cole.
“A key priority for our rectorate management team is to strengthen the University of São Paulo’s links with society. The establishment of the Institut Pasteur in São Paulo, in partnership with the Institut Pasteur, represents a major step forward in this direction and complements other ongoing initiatives, including several partnerships with other French universities and research centers. It is an important milestone in the continuing internationalization of our university. France has played a strategic role throughout our history, ever since the USP was founded nearly 90 years ago,” added Professor Carlos Gilberto Carlotti.
The articles of association were signed at a ceremony at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, attended by French and Brazilian authorities including Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, São Paulo State Governor, Marco Antonio Zago, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) President, Michèle Ramis, Director of the American & Caribbean Department at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Yves Teyssier d’Orfeuil, Consul General of France in São Paulo.
The establishment of the Institut Pasteur in São Paulo will help strengthen cooperation between France and Brazil by paving the way for the countries to work together on priority public health measures.
“This signing ceremony is a historic occasion for the scientific facility we have opened. It strengthens the collaboration between the State of São Paulo, the University of São Paulo and the Institut Pasteur. Our structure’s new status as the “Institut Pasteur in São Paulo” and associate member of the Pasteur Network would not have been possible without the unwavering commitment of our institutions and the support of the French and Brazilian authorities, which is a great example of international scientific collaboration,” indicated the SPPU coordinator, Paola Minoprio.
The Institut Pasteur in São Paulo has emerged from an agreement between the Institut Pasteur and USP, signed in 2017 and renewed in 2022. Under the agreement, the two partners pledged to develop a scientific platform, an intermediate stage before the formal establishment of an institute. The Institut Pasteur in São Paulo will take over the rights and obligations of the Scientific Platform Pasteur-USP, and will remain an associate member of the Pasteur Network. The Pasteur Network is a vast human and scientific community with more than 30 members in around 20 countries working together to help improve global health.
The Scientific Platform Pasteur-USP (SPPU) was inaugurated in June 2019 under the joint coordination of Dr. Paola Minoprio (Institut Pasteur) and Dr. Luís Carlos Souza Ferreira (USP). It initially had five research teams, but when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, a sixth team was rapidly put together to study the virus and the disease. The Scientific Platform Pasteur-USP also joined the USP network for COVID-19 diagnosis (RUDIC), a working group for large-scale diagnostics composed of several laboratories in the State of São Paulo.
In 2022, the Scientific Platform Pasteur-USP had seven principal investigators and 29 PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, and had established partnerships with more than 20 institutions. Since it was founded, SPPU has published more than 60 scientific articles, including several during the COVID-19 pandemic.