Consortium

Prof. Yazdan YAZDANPANAH
Director of ANRS MIE and legal representative of the sponsor

ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases (ANRS MIE), founded on January 1, 2021, is an autonomous agency of Inserm whose missions are to facilitate, evaluate, coordinate, and fund research into HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (emerging respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, viral hemorrhagic fevers, arboviruses…).

Under the authority of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Health and Prevention, and directed by Prof. Yazdan Yazdanpanah, ANRS MIE covers all areas of research: fundamental, clinical, public health, human and social sciences, placing the accent on innovation and the strengthening of international partnerships.

Ana Zarubica

The Center for Immunophenomics (CIPHE) is a major preclinical research platform based in Marseille, specialized in mouse genetics, immunology, and disease modeling. Directed by Dr. Ana Zarubica, CIPHE supports the design, production, and functional analysis of rodent models for immunology and infectious disease research, including studies on SARS-CoV-2. 

The Center of Immunophenomics (CIPHE) (https://www.ciphe.eu) (Inserm US012; CNRS UAR 3367; Aix-Marseille University; Phenomin; Celphedia) is a Center for technological resources, research, and service based in Marseille, with recognized expertise in mouse genetics, genome editing, and immunology, directed by Dr. Ana Zarubica. CIPHE develops advanced mouse and rat models that closely mimic human diseases in immunology, infectious diseases, cancer, inflammation, auto-immunity and rare disorders. Its integrated in vivo and in vitro platforms enable translational research combining genome editing, system immunomics approaches, host–pathogen interactions, and infection disease mechanisms within BSL-2 and BSL-3 facilities. Its preclinical models are designed according to 3R principles to improve ethical standards and translational relevance. Through cutting-edge infrastructure and scientific expertise, CIPHE supports academic and industrial research projects and is actively engaged in national and international programs. As a founding member of Phenomin and Celphedia, it contributes to major international collaborative networks including IMPC, INFRAFRONTIER, ISIDORe, and ERINHA.

Chantal Pichon

ART-ARNm is an INSERM R&D laboratory dedicated to the development of RNA-based technologies for therapeutic and vaccination applications. It is part of the Innovative Therapies and Nanomedicine research unit (U1364), jointly supported by Inserm and the University of Orléans in Orléans (France).

Led by Professor Chantal Pichon, ART-ARNm brings together expertise in mRNA vaccine and therapeutic development, with a particular focus on the rational design of mRNA and innovative delivery systems including LNPs.

Yves Lévy (VRI),
Inserm U955

Véronique Godot (VRI),
Inserm U955

Aurélie Wiedemann (VRI),
Inserm U955

Jean-Daniel Lelièvre (VRI),
Inserm U955

Linda Wittkop,
Inserm U1219 and UMS 54 MART team and CIC1401

Rodolphe Thiébaut,
Inserm U1219

Founded in 1964, INSERM (French national institute of health and medical research) is a public scientific and technological institute that operates under the joint authority of the French Ministries of Health and Research. Its mission is to facilitate the exchange between basic, clinical, therapeutic and public health research leveraging on its scientific expertise in several fields and covering a very large spectrum of human diseases. In CARE, Inserm mobilizes four teams: in Créteil and Bordeaux.

The Vaccine Research Institute (VRI) Inserm U955 was created in 2011, to pursue the HIV vaccine program of the ANRS (French National Agency of Research on HIV and hepatitis). The VRI is a network of national and international clinical and research teams sharing the goal to develop innovative therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines and tools to analyze biological responses to immunotherapies and vaccines. The ultimate mission of the VRI is to conduct research to accelerate the development of an effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS and (re)emerging infectious diseases.

Gerard Zurawski

Baylor Scott & White Research Institute (BSWRI) is the dedicated research and development arm of the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Texas. BSWRI provides the critical infrastructure and operational resources needed to both safely and effectively conduct research across a broad range of specialty areas.

Rodolphe Thiébaut

Mélanie Prague

Boris Hejblum

The Bordeaux Population Health (BPH) Research Center, established in 2008, is co-hosted by the University of Bordeaux and Inserm. Bringing together over 500 staff, it addresses major public health priorities through a multidisciplinary approach.

BPH comprises 10 research teams working closely with clinicians, biostatisticians, and data scientists to develop and apply advanced methods, including prediction modeling with high-dimensional biological data and machine learning. It also has strong expertise in population neuroscience and global health, supported by collaborations with Bordeaux University Hospital and international partners.

P1 Mariano Esteban Rodriguez
P2 Carmen Elena Gómez

The National Center of Biotechnology belongs to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) who is the largest public research institution in Spain and one of the most renowned institutions in the European Research Area (ERA).

It is affiliated to the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Secretary General for Research. The missions are:

• The generation of knowledge through scientific and technical research
• The transfer of research results, in particular to promote and create technology-based enterprises
• The provision of expert advice to public and private institutions
• The delivery of highly-qualified pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training
• The promotion of scientific culture in society
• The management of large facilities and unique scientific and technical infrastructures
• The presence and representation in international bodies
• The development of targeted research
  

Isabelle Huys

KU Leuven (KU Leuven), established in 1425, is Belgium's largest and oldest university, consistently ranked among the top 50 universities worldwide by Times Higher Education. Renowned for its research-driven academic programs, KU Leuven fosters a diverse and dynamic learning environment with over 65,000 students, 21% of whom are international. The university is dedicated to excellence in research, education, and community service.

Quantoom Biosciences is reinventing mRNA production by developing an RNA platform that includes RNA manufacturing and formulation.

Their RNA manufacturing technology, Ntensify™, encompasses process, equipments, mixes of reagents, and disposables designed for seamless integration across various scales, making it an ideal choice from research to to large-scale manufacturing.

Ncapsulate™ is aimed at being an integrated and automated equipment for formulation of mRNA in lipid nanoparticles. Using a single equipment, scientists will be able to mix mRNA with LNP's, remove solvent and suspend in the required buffer at the required concentration. It is tailored for GMP production and can accommodate a wide range of production capabilities. It is designed to meet the rigorous standards of both clinical and commercial manufacturing. Ncapsulate™ is currently under final steps of development.

Quantoom Biosciences’s facilities are strategically located in Belgium, in the heart of Europe, benefiting from an exceptional biotech ecosystem. Quantoom Biosciences is part of Univercells, a global life sciences group with the mission of making biologics accessible to all.

Prof. Agostino Riva

The University of Milano (UniMIL), founded in 1924, is the largest University in Lombardy and the second in Italy. This University is the only Italian member Italian University among the 22 prestigious institutions that belong to the League of European Research Universities (LERU), a prestigious group of research-intensive European Universities.

The University of Milan is a leading Italian University for investment in research infrastructure and human capital. As a public institution concerned with the development and progress of knowledge, the University has always been committed to research projects that influence the quality of life of citizens. Research at the University of Milan is mostly conducted in the Departments and the many specialized structures, favoring the creation and growth of networks of collaboration locally, nationally and internationally. In this context, the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Luigi Sacco" (DIBIC) is an organizational structure of the University of Milan which involves professors, researchers and technical-administrative staff working in the University Center located at the Luigi Sacco Regional Hospital and other detachments of the ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco. The DIBIC activities are aimed at carrying out scientific research, teaching, training and third mission activities, and at the assistance activities carried out in the hospital.

The multidisciplinary character and the coexistence of basic and clinical research groups with different and complementary skills, give at DIBIC a translational profile of important potential for the national and international scientific landscape. As part of DIBIC the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases is committed to perform studies in the fields of the genetics, epidemiology, immunology and microbiology of the infectious diseases. The Laboratory is closely connected to the Infectious Diseases Unit from where it is receiving and collecting biological materials from SARS-CoV-2-positive patients. The Laboratory of Infectious Diseases has worked in a complementary manner with a range of medical laboratories and hospital wards on the molecular virology and immunology of HIV infection and many other infectious agents, including Influenza A virus, Human Papilloma virus and Human Hepatitis C and B viruses, neurodegenerative diseases, and aging pathologies. Furthermore, it has a long experience in preclinical and clinical evaluations of antiretroviral antiviral and immunomodulatory compounds and in the development of either therapeutic or protective vaccine protocols for several pathologies. The research group is composed by two Full Professors, two Associate Professors, three senior Investigators, several post-doctoral students and two technicians.

Mahevas Matthieu

Aurélien Sokal

Pascal Chappert

Our research group delves into the intricate mechanisms underlying the breakdown of tolerance in B cells and the establishment of long-lived immune memory, both in normal and pathological human contexts. Plasma cells and long-lived memory B cells have emerged as key players in providing long-term protection against pathogens, a phenomenon often observed in the most effective vaccines, such as smallpox or yellow fever vaccination. Conversely, B cells and plasma cells targeting self-antigens have been implicated in the development of various autoimmune diseases, including immune thrombocytopenia and severe forms of COVID-19. Our laboratory is dedicated to addressing two pivotal questions in immunology.

1. Why do some individuals develop autoimmune disorders
2. How and when do we maintain memory B cells for decades, and what are the relationships between long-lived memory B cells and plasma cell generation in humans?

Prof. Laurent Perez (WP2)

Prof. Giuseppe Pantaleo and Prof. Fabio Candotti (WP3)

Dr. Craig Fenwick (WP4 & WP5)

Prof Yannick Muller (WP6)

Prof. Raphael Gottardo (WP7)

The Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) is one of the 5 Swiss university hospitals and one of the best in the world according to Newsweek magazine's 2024 ranking. Through the collaboration with the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne, the Lausanne University Hospital plays a cutting-edge role of European scope in the fields of medical care, medical research and training.

The Service of Immunology and Allergy, headed by Prof Giuseppe Pantaleo, is an established group of investigators supported by the Swiss National Foundation, the European Union, the National Institute of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The service provides more than 27’000 outpatient consultations per year in the areas of allergy, chronic inflammatory diseases, antiviral immunity, transplantation and immunodeficiency. The research focuses on a) the identification of the immunological mechanisms responsible for the induction of memory B and T cell responses and long-term durability, b) the development of the molecular events and of the cytokine cascade associated with the innate immune response shaping the generation of adaptive immunity, c) the characterization of neutralizing antibody responses against different viruses, d) isolation and cloning of B cells producing human monoclanal neutralizing antibodies, e) immune tolerance in allergy and transplantation. The Vaccine Immunotherapy Centre (VIC) is a well established clinical research center and have conducted multiple phase I/II vaccine trials against HIV, TB and other infectious diseases, as well as large cohort studies.

Furthermore, the CHUV-UNIL Biomedical Data Science Center, led by Prof Raphael Gottardo, will contribute the WP8 Data Science. Th Translational Biomedical Data Science group focuses on developing and applying novel computational tools, statistical methods, and machine learning algorithms to solve significant biological problems using high-dimensional modeling and multimodal data integration.

EuroVacc is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of safe and effective vaccines against HIV and other infectious diseases, through promoting and fostering collaborations with world leading vaccine researchers and developers in both public and private sectors.

EuroVacc’s core activity is to facilitate the development of vaccine candidates through early clinical trials, to enable early identification of the promising vaccine candidates and eliminate candidates unlikely to succeed in the clinic, with the ultimate goal to reduce the development risks and accelerate the advancement of the promising candidates to large clinical trials.

Catherine Clusel
Director of Collaborative Research Funding department

Marie Hauduroy
Senior Project Manager – Collaborative Research Funding department

As a private subsidiary of Inserm, Inserm Transfert manages economic and societal value creation and the transfer of knowledge from Inserm and its academic partners’ innovations to companies, contributing to promote human health innovation in line with international best practices. Inserm Transfert also offers services relating to setting up and managing national, European and international projects, with more than 20 years of experience managing collaborative research projects.