Press Release

The New President of Institut Pasteur, Christian Brechot, Visits S. Korea to Engage with Institut Pasteur Korea and Korean R&D Leaders

2013-12-20

Christian Brechot, the new president of Institut Pasteur, visited S. Korea for two days from Dec. 18, 2013. As a part of a field trip to the key members of 32 Institut Pasteur International Network, Brechot has visited Institut Pasteur Korea following his visit to Hong Kong University-Pasteur Research Center.

During his visit, Prof. Brechot participated in the regular Board of Directors meeting of Institut Pasteur Korea, a non-profit research institute established from a collaboration agreement between Korea and France, and had meetings with some of the top leaders of Korea, including Gyeonggi Governor Moonsoo Kim, who are facilitating the realization of "Creative Economy" of Korea through R&D excellence.

Christian Brechot, a former professor and a hospital practitioner in the field of Hepatology and Cell Biology, previously led a research unit of INSERM-University Paris Descartes, the hepatology service at the Necker hospital as well as a National Reference Center (NRC) Pasteur / Necker on viral hepatitis. From 2001 to 2007 he was the Director General of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), and from 2008 till the new appointment, he was the Vice-President of the Institut Merieux in charge of medical and scientific affairs. Prof. Brechot has an outstanding medical and scientific curriculum, strong field experience, international recognition, and a high-level capacity of administrative management in both academic and industrial contexts. He was elected as a successor to Prof. Alice Dautry for a 4-year mandate as of Oct. 1, 2013, and he will act as a non-standing Board of Director of Institut Pasteur Korea for the equivalent period.

Founded in 1887 by Louis Pasteur through donations received from all over the world, Institut Pasteur has achieved an impressive track record including the development of world’s first BCG and Hepatitis B vaccine, the discovery of HIV as the cause of AIDS and the provision of 10 Nobel Prize laureates. For over 120 years, Institut Pasteur has been contributing to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases through excellent research, teaching and public initiatives. As of now, 32 Pasteur Institutes are established in 28 countries on 5 continents as a part of the Institut Pasteur International Network. As a key member of the Network, Institut Pasteur Korea has established itself as a leading translational research institute and contributed to accelerating first-in-class drug discovery by facilitating the translation of basic research into clinical expertise and by creating enabling technologies.

Throughout the visit, Brechot has provided a solid cornerstone to reinforce the utilization of Institut Pasteur Korea as a mutually beneficial collaborative model and to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaborations between Korea and France as agreed in the South Korea-France Summit in November, 2013.

http://www.ip-korea.org/news/press_list.php?view_year=2013