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Dakar, Senegal - Institut Pasteur

Site Institution: Institut Pasteur de Dakar
U.S. Institution: Yale University
Research Areas: Malaria, Genetic Diversity, Immunity, Host-Pathogen Dynamics

Site Description:
The Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) is a non-profit Senegalese foundation and is authorized to contribute to public health, particularly in Africa and Senegal, by carrying out activities of research, teaching, training, medical, epidemiological and biological expertise in addition to production of the yellow fever vaccine, under the conditions laid down in the statutes signed between the Government of the Republic of Senegal and the Institut Pasteur de Paris. The Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) is Biomedical Research Center whose excellence in research and training contribute to the advancement of public health.

The research conducted at Institut Pasteur de Dakar advances the local public health needs in trying to ensure that all have access to effective malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The collaborative research of the team fills a critical need communicating research findings to the Ministry of Health to enhance the impact of basic research on public health policy. Institut Pasteur de Dakar has always strived to empower young African talents, especially in African leadership in vaccinology. We will welcome GHES fellows interested in pursuing projects focused on vaccinology.

Other features of this site include:
  • Institut Pasteur de Dakar is a leading institution in research, public health and training in West Africa in the field of infectious diseases namely malaria, arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fever (AVHF), influenza, diarrheal diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
  • The AVHF unit (AVHFU) of IPD is a WHO Collaborating Center for arbovirus and viral hemorrhagic fever since 1963 and has such has been involved in all major outbreaks of yellow fever, dengue, Rift valley fever, CCHF, Marburg, Ebola throughout the different regions of Africa.
  • IPD is involved as laboratory platform funded by Wellcome Trust for Clinical trials on Ebola experimental therapies and vaccines. AVHFU is performing research on diagnostics, virus vector interactions, virus molecular evolution, risk assessment and modeling of arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fever. IPD hosts National reference Centers and WHOCC including Respiratory Infectious diseases, Influenza. IPD hosts a collection of more than 7,000 isolates from 200 species of arboviruses and Viral haemorrhagic fevers.
  • IPD has a long-standing interest in malaria research, including the initiation and maintenance of the Dielmo-Ndiop Longitudinal cohort, which is the longest ongoing longitudinal study in the malaria field. Further, current infrastructure through the 4S network (Système d'information pour la surveillance et l'alerte épidémiologiques) allows for powerful surveillance of both malaria parasites, hosts, and mosquito vectors.
  • Investment in a vaccine production center –the MADIBA project— to enhance the independence and excellence of Africans in vaccine research, trials, production, and evaluation.

Current research projects include:
  • Development and deployment of mRNA technology applied to viral and parasitic diseases of public health importance
  • Vaccine candidate discovery and validation for emerging and re-emerging diseases
  • Investigating the functional impact of genetic diversity in malaria vaccine candidate antigens
  • Exploring vector symbionts to hamper pathogen development and transmission
  • Host genetic determinants of susceptibility and resistance to infectious diseases
  • Systems immunology of acquired immunity to infectious diseases
  • Applying bioinformatic tools and mathematical modeling to predict the evolution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

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