Missions of the Institut Pasteur

The Institut Pasteur is led by:

- An ideal : helping to fight against disease - primarily infectious diseases - through research, education, and public health activities
- High expectations : striving for excellence in each of our missions
- A humanist vision of the world and generosity to others

The Institut Pasteur brings together three fields of activity - research, education and public health - on its campus in Paris with almost 2800 individuals. The  independent Réseau international des Instituts  Pasteur, which constitutes an original and autonomous body, is the sole example in the world.

 Research in biology,  with priority given to the fight against infectious diseases (microbiology)
 
- Viral diseases (hepatitis, influenza, AIDS, rabies, poliomyelitis, haemorrhagic fever etc.)
- Bacterial diseases (tuberculosis, whooping cough, meningitis, cholera, diarrhoea etc.)
- Parasitic diseases (malaria etc.)

Our researchers also study other diseases such as certain types of cancer, genetic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and allergy.
Main fields of research: microbiology, immunology, molecular biology, neurobiology, genomics and post-genomics. 

 Education 

Every year, about 250 young scientists from all over the world follow high-level courses in microbiology and immunology as part of the Institute’s teaching program, and over 800 trainees from 60 different countries  come to perfect their skills in the Institute’s laboratories.

 Public health activities

Our medical centre provides to the population the following services :

- Vaccinations and advice to travellers (influenza, tetanus, hepatitis, diphtheria, etc.)
- Infectious and tropical diseases
- Travel medicine
- Allergy
- Rabies centre
- Screening centre (AIDS, hepatitis C)
- Analysis laboratory

 
The Réseau International  des Instituts Pasteur provides similar services, specific to the countries in which they are located. 20 National Reference Centres and 8 World Health Organization Collaborating Centres efficiently monitor infectious diseases in France and throughout the world. In order to enable the results of its research to be of rapid benefit to the general public, in the form of new products, technologies or services, the Institut Pasteur has established close partnerships with industry in a number of fields including :
- Human health, by improving and developing medicinal products, vaccines (against tuberculosis, whooping cough, malaria, gastric ulcers etc.), and diagnostic tests (for dengue, listeriosis, tuberculosis etc.)
- Environment
- Food industry
- Hygiene

This valorisation of its research also represents a source of financing enabling the Institut Pasteur to pursue its missions.