Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)

Founded in 1964, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) is a public scientific and technological institute which operates under the joint authority of the French Ministry of Health and French Ministry of Research. In EBOVAC2, Inserm is represented by five research units.

• The Research Center in Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit 1219, which specializes in epidemiological and clinical studies, covers topics such as biostatistics, aging, epidemiology of neurological diseases, HIV infection and other infectious diseases. The centre works closely with the University Hospital of Bordeaux and the University of Bordeaux which are also involved in EBOVAC2.
• The Vaccine Research Institute (VRI) Unit 955 is a network of national and international clinical and research teams sharing the goal to develop innovative therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines and tools to analyse biological responses to immunotherapies and vaccines.
• Based in Lyon, the Jean Mérieux BSL4 Laboratory is France’s only BSL4 laboratory. It provides cutting edge facilities and offers the largest Animal Biosafety Level 4 facility in Europe, allowing experiments with animal models ranking from small rodents to Non‐Human Primates (NHP) to be carried out.
• Unit 1058 “Infection by HIV and by agents with mucocutaneous tropism: from pathogenesis to prevention”, aims to improve knowledge on and innovate in public health control of HIV and other sever infections with mucocutaneous portal of entry.
• European ClInical Trials Services Platform & Development (EUCLID) is an academic FCRIN-labelled CIC 1401 core facility, aiming to support the sponsor/investigator duo in implementing international clinical trials

For more information on Inserm: http://www.inserm.fr/

Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen)

Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V.is one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, and is focused on research, development and production of vaccines that prevent and/or treat infectious diseases. Janssen has a broad development pipeline, with several product candidates based on their unique AdVac® technology. Janssen is dedicated to addressing and solving some of the most important unmet medical needs of the time in infectious diseases and vaccines, oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Driven by its commitment to patients, Janssen develops innovative products, services and healthcare solutions to help people throughout the world.

For more information on Janssen: www.janssen.com

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public health. Part of the University of London, the School is the largest institution of its kind in Europe with a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise encompassing many disciplines. The School was recently cited as one of the top three institutions in the UK for research impact, and one of the top five in the world for collaborative research (Leiden Rankings 2013). In 2009, the School became the first UK institution to win the Gates Award for Global Health. The School has research collaborations with over 100 countries throughout the world, utilizing its critical breadth of multidisciplinary expertise which includes clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, social scientists, economists, molecular biologists, immunologists, ophthalmologists, anthropologists, virologists, pharmacologists and nutritionists. The School’s research funding now exceeds £67M per annum, much of it from highly competitive national and international sources. It is home to numerous multidisciplinary centres, research groups and collaborative partnerships including a recently established multidisciplinary Vaccine Centre whose members cover a range of disciplines extending from the social science to molecular biology. Staff of the School have played key roles in many vaccine trials conducted in developing countries ranging from Phase 1 to pivotal Phase 3 or post implementation trials in Hib, pneumococcal, meningococcal, hepatitis B, HPV, HIV and other infections. The School is well qualified to support many aspects of multidisciplinary trials of Ebola vaccines. The School has an active communications department which has close contact with many national and international news outlets and work supported by the School is regularly reported on major TV and radio channels and in the general press. Members of School staff have extensive experience of communicating the results of vaccines and other trials for example the RTS,S vaccine trial) to communities where these trials have been done.

For more information on LSHTM: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/

The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford (UOXF)

The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford (UOXF) The University of Oxford is a higher education institution, and the Oxford Vaccine Group is a vaccine clinical trials unit in the University. The University of Oxford has strategically made a major investment in infrastructure to support research on vaccines and immunisation over the past two decades, recognising the importance of vaccines as the most cost-effective public health intervention leading to research income of over £260M for vaccines and immunisation since 2008, building from a strong scientific base in vaccine-related experimental immunology, pathogen biology & genetics and driving the largest output in vaccine research publications of any UK academic institution. By investing in dedicated vaccine research facilities and vaccine researchers, Oxford has become home to the largest not-for-profit research endeavour in immunisation in Europe. Some 400 researchers are employed by the University to work directly on vaccines, with many others working in related fields, brought together in the Jenner Institute (www.jenner.ac.uk). The University works closely with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust in supporting and leading UK immunisation research, establishing a major programme of translational research in the Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC; http://oxfordbrc.nihr.ac.uk/) in 2007, the only BRC nationally with a vaccines theme.

For more information on the University of Oxford: http://www.ox.ac.uk/

Le Centre Muraz (CM)

Le Centre MURAZ is the oldest national health research institute in Burkina Faso, established in 1939 in Bobo-Dioulasso. At the beginning, Centre MURAZ was an Office for the control of major tropical endemic diseases. From 1960 to 2000, Centre MURAZ was among the 9 Institutes of OCCGE, a Francophone Organization for Coordination and Cooperation in the fight against major endemic diseases in West Africa. In addition to disease control, the scope of activities in Centre MURAZ was extended to include scientific research, training of health workforce, and technical support to OCCGE Member States (Benin, Burkina, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo).

Since 2001, Centre MURAZ is a national & public research institute for health in Burkina Faso. Its mission is to contribute to prevention, diagnosis and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases through the provision of quality health research results, training of health and research workforce, and technical expertise in clinical biology and research, human and social sciences and public health. Centre MURAZ staff is currently made up of more than 250 agents including 50 researchers organized in Department and Research Units and multidisciplinary teams. Core competencies include clinical medicine and biology, pharmaceutical sciences, field and clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, medical informatics, policy and health systems, health geography and demography, health economics, human and social sciences. With these multidisciplinary teams, Centre MURAZ is familiar of running laboratory investigations, surveillance, clinical and epidemiological studies, clinical and community trials, and also of designing, monitoring and evaluating (M&E) major health programs nationally and internationally. Annually the portfolio of research grants is around 40 projects with a total budget amounting €3-4 million. In 1986, Centre MURAZ conducted the first malaria vaccine trial in Africa using a sporozoite CS-NANP candidate (NANP-3-TT RO 40-2361). Centre MURAZ has contributed to various clinical trials in HIV prevention and care under the auspices of the French National Agency of Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis in collaboration with different Inserm units. Centre MURAZ is engaged in a process of accreditation to ISO 15189 with the support of African Society for Laboratory Medicine, EDCTP and WHO. Currently all laboratory exams are run under external quality control concluded with South Africa National Health Laboratory Service Proficiency Testing Schemes.

For more information on Centre MURAZ: http://www.centre-muraz.bf

Inserm Transfert (IT)

Founded in 2000, Inserm Transfert is the private subsidiary of the French National Institute of the Health and Medical Research (INSERM), dedicated to technology transfer (from invention disclosure to industrial partnership). Inserm Transfert also has a dedicated European Affairs Department which supports the set-up and management of large scale projects in biomedical research notably including infectious diseases, epidemiology and public health. Inserm Transfert runs a 2M€/year proof of concept fund. The company also supports entrepreneurs in the biotech sector, in partnership with Inserm Transfert Initiative, a € 39.7m life sciences seed investment company.

For more information on Inserm Transfert: http://www.inserm-transfert.fr/en/