An Ambassador for the Institut Pasteur

Tasha de Vasconcelos, the acclaimed international supermodel and actress, has become an ambassador for the Institut Pasteur. Active in humanitarian causes for more than a decade, particularly in the fields of children’s rights and the prevention of maternal mortality, Tasha de Vasconcelos has decided to lend her image and her support to the Institut Pasteur and to commit her efforts to working alongside it to uphold the values of the Institute and help collect funds to support its research projects.

Professor Alice Dautry, President at the Institut Pasteur, is delighted with this association at a time when the Institut Pasteur has a greater need than ever before of support to further its development.

Institut Pasteur, the internationally renowned center for biomedical research, is a private foundation recognized as acting in the public interest, whose budget depends to a very great extent on private donations.  It is thanks to the support of these donors that the Institut Pasteur maintains its autonomy and its freedom of research, and it is this independence that enables it to react rapidly and effectively to the needs of world public health.

“It is a great honor to become Ambassador for this noble Institute, and I accept this mission with much humility,” said Tasha de Vasconcelos. “I particularly appreciate the humanism of the Institut Pasteur, whose actions are genuinely dedicated to the sole interests of human health. I am proud to uphold the values that form the basis of these actions and am happy to place my image and enthusiasm at the service of the Institut Pasteur. I will do my utmost to support the Institut Pasteur in its fight against diseases across the world by helping to collect funds to support its research and public health projects.”

The teams at the Institut Pasteur are dedicated to health research. Some of this research is currently at an advanced stage and could, over the next few years, offer targeted means of fighting major infectious diseases. Particular projects involve research into candidate preventive vaccines (against HIV/Aids, malaria, childhood dysentery, etc.) or therapies (against cervical cancer, chronic hepatitis B, etc.).
The Institut Pasteur is also charting progress in numerous other fields of medical research: therapeutic leads against Parkinson’s disease thanks to an understanding of the role of stem cells in the brain, research into congenital or acquired deafness, study of the regions of the brain involved in nicotine dependence, etc.

L’Institut Pasteur brings together in Paris 130 research units and 2,600 people (researchers, engineers, technicians and administrative staff) of around 60 nationalities. It is at the heart of an International Network that unites 30 institutes across all five continents. Over a period of 120 years, 10 Institut Pasteur researchers have received the Nobel Prize, the latest of these in 2008, when it was awarded to Professors Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for the discovery of the Aids virus.
www.pasteur.fr

Tasha de Vasconcelos was born in Mozambique of Anglo-Portuguese parents. She studied International Relations at the University of British Columbia before obtaining a qualification in International Strategy at the Centre d’Etudes Stratégiques et Diplomatiques in Paris.
Tasha then made a striking entry into the world of the supermodels, working for prestigious brands and with the world’s greatest photographers. She subsequently turned towards the theatre, and studied Drama at the Cours Florent School of Drama in Paris and the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Tasha has appeared in a number of TV series, as well as films, including “Johnny English”, beside Rowan Atkinson and John Malkovitch.
She is also highly committed to the rights and protection of children, and has been famous over the last ten years for her involvement in humanitarian causes. Unicef has appointed her goodwill ambassador to Bolivia and Algeria, for her close involvement in the cause of underprivileged children. In 2005 she was awarded a “Humanitarian Honor” from the Director General of UNESCO.
With the support of Prince Albert II of Monaco, she recently created the AMOR foundation (Aide Mondiale Orphelins Réconfort), which is financing the construction, renovation and development of orphanages and maternity units, particularly in Africa, for the benefit of children and their mothers suffering from Aids. The association has already constructed, equipped and financed a maternity unit in Malawi.
www.tashadevasconcelos.com