Sanofi et l’Institut Pasteur ont décerné le 13 novembre 2014, pour la troisième année consécutive, les Prix Sanofi - Institut Pasteur. Quatre chercheurs d’envergure internationale ont été distingués pour leurs travaux dans deux domaines majeurs pour la santé mondiale : les maladies tropicales négligées et l’immunologie. Créés en 2012, ces Prix encouragent l’innovation et l’excellence scientifique au service de la santé. En 2014, le programme a été doté de 300.000 euros.

Ever since the Ebola virus was identified in Guinea in March 2014, the designated WHO Collaborating Centers within the Institut Pasteur and Institut Pasteur International Network have been assisting the international aid initiative via diagnostic support and epidemiological surveillance. Now, faced with the seriousness and spread of the epidemic, the Institut Pasteur and Institut Pasteur International Network are strengthening and coordinating their efforts in order to effectively fight the disease.

Since the beginning of the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, several scientists from the Institut Pasteur, as part of their mandate as a WHO Collaborating Centre on arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fevers, have been offering their support to international aid plan implemented in collaboration with the Guinean Ministry of Health.

An international team of scientists from Institut Pasteur Paris and Dakar are on the front of the outbreak in Guinea. 

The Institut Pasteur confirmed the outbreak on March 21, 2014. Since the outbreak is still continuing, scientists and materials have been sent from Institut Pasteur Paris and Dakar to Guinea. 

Although it has been known for several years that the adult brain is capable of producing new neurons, how these neurons are integrated into existing, functional nerve circuits has hitherto remained a mystery. Scientists have just shown that new neurons set up a denser network of connections with the rest of the brain in contexts of active (as opposed to passive) motivation and learning.

In the fight against hepatitis C, directing preventive and curative interventions towards sufferers of chronic diseases requiring regular medical care would be an effective means of reducing transmission of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Egypt, and undoubtedly also in other countries with limited resources. This theory has arisen from a mathematical modeling study carried out as part of the ANRS 1211 study, conducted jointly by scientists at the Institut Pasteur, the CNAM and their fellow scientists in Egypt.

Artemisinin is currently the most effective malarial treatment available. However, the recent emergence in South-East Asia of artemisinin-resistant parasites strengthens the urgent need to identify a new generation of antimalarial drugs. In this context, scientists have determined the three-dimensional structure of a promising new therapeutic target for malaria: SUB1.

The innate lymphoid cells contribute to immune defense by maintaining the integrity of the intestinal barrier. ILC are made in the bone marrow but must find their way to the gut mucosa where they perform their function. Scientists have discovered how this migration process is regulated.

Erosive oral lichen planus (OLP) is an auto-immune disease affecting skin and mucous membranes which results in an abnormal immune response against mucocutaneous cells. Today, scientists have proven that the immune cells involved in OLP are the same as those activated during an immune response to human papillomavirus (type HPV-16). This suggests a link between OLP and HPV.

On October 18th, 2014 the Institut Pasteur  in  French Guiana received Mrs. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research.