Institut Pasteur du Japon : a story of French-Japanese scientific ambition
Formal recognition of scientific collaborations: the launch of Pasteur International Units in Japan
From 2016, these scientific collaborations took a new form with the launch of Pasteur International Units (PIUs), joint laboratories linking an Institut Pasteur unit to a unit from a prestigious Japanese institution. Four units emerged, each focusing on a combination of major global health issues:
Mucosal Immunomics Laboratory –since 2016 – Institut Pasteur and University of Tokyo
This unit, led jointly by Prof. James Di Santo and Dr. Ken Ishii, explores mucosal immunity and vaccinology to shed light on our body's defenses against pathogens.
Risk and Detection of Emerging Zoonotic Diseases Unit – since 2016– Institut Pasteur and Kyoto University
This unit, led jointly by Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Fumihiko Matsuda, seeks to understand the host response to emerging zoonotic diseases based on a One Health approach, with a focus on arthropod-borne pathogens.
Mechanisms Governing Mammalian Craniofacial Biology Unit – since 2024 – Institut Pasteur and Kyoto University
This unit, led jointly by Dr. Shahragim Tajbakhsh and Dr. Cantas Alev, delves into the origins of life to investigate human embryogenesis and organogenesis.
MAVERICK-FJ – since 2024 – Institut Pasteur, Japan Institute for Health Security and Kumamoto University
This unit, led jointly by Dr. Yusuke Shimakawa, Dr. Wataru Sugiura and Dr. Yasuhito Tanaka, applies a multidisciplinary approach to work on meeting the ambitious goal of eliminating viral hepatitis.
The creation of Japan's own Institut Pasteur
The wheels were set in motion in 2019 with the opening of the Institut Pasteur Japan Office, marking a new step forward. Then came the pivotal year of 2023, when letters of intent were signed with the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, and the agreement with the Japan Institute for Health Security was renewed. The creation of Institut Pasteur du Japon was henceforth a clearly defined goal.
A ceremony at the French embassy in Japan in June 2024 attended by the three key partners heralded the start of the new venture. This historic event saw the keenly anticipated official announcement that Institut Pasteur du Japon was soon to be launched.
A vision equal to the challenges faced: three pillars for the future of health
Underpinning this project is the fundamental conviction that science can, and must, protect the health of future generations. Institut Pasteur du Japon's clear ambition is to ensure healthy lives for people across the generations through a focus on longevity, planetary health and health crisis preparedness.
To meet this goal, it performs two fundamental missions: the first is to achieve excellence in research and train future scientists, and the second is to forge links between the Japanese innovation ecosystem, the Institut Pasteur in Paris and other members of the Pasteur Network.
These missions are focused on three key scientific priorities:
- Longevity and health: Japan has one of the world's oldest populations, providing unique opportunities for investigations aimed at meeting global challenges related to aging.
- Health security: given the country's geographic location, efforts to step up pandemic preparedness and health resilience in the Indo-Pacific region make perfect sense.
- Planetary health: this covers steps to better understand and predict the impact of climate change and ecosystem degradation on human health.
