A look back at the international conference on "COVID-19: Advances and Remaining Challenges"

From September 29 to October 1, the Institut Pasteur, in collaboration with Inserm and the ANRS I Emerging Infectious Diseases, broadcast the international conference "COVID-19: Advances and Remaining Challenges" live from its campus in English.

The event, followed by nearly a thousand people worldwide (some in person and some remotely), was attended by global COVID-19 experts and held under the high patronage of the French President, a distinction that highlights and supports the Institut Pasteur's strategy to transfer and share knowledge.

 

To emphasize this support and reiterate the vital role of the international scientific community in improving health, Claire Giry, Director-General for Research and Innovation, representing Frédérique Vidal, French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, gave the opening address after an introduction by Stewart Cole , President of the Institut Pasteur. She pointed out that in France, "the two institutions that immediately responded to the situation are precisely the organizers of this event." Claire Giry noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had given rise to "a scientific adventure," and that "never before had so much knowledge been produced in so little time."

 

Claire Giry's address was followed by a presentation from Marion Koopmans from the Erasmus Medical Center, who had been asked by the organizers to summarize the latest findings on the origins of the virus.

 

 

Starting the following morning and over the next two days, eminent scientists and practitioners discussed both major advances and issues that remain unresolved in the fields of virology, clinical presentation and treatment, epidemiology and vaccinology for COVID-19.
The following topics were addressed:
-    The evolution of the virus and the future outlook
-    Viral entry and replication/neutralization
-    Viral persistence and long COVID
-    Treating patients and future therapies
-    Evaluating the impact of interventions
-    Transmission and control of SARS-CoV-2 in children
-    Vaccination regimens and efficacy
-    Why and how should we vaccinate the global population?

 

Among the members of the scientific community present, the following scientists spoke on behalf of the Institut Pasteur:

• Olivier Schwartz, Head of the Virus and Immunity Unit, on the topic "Delta variant replication and antiviral immune responses"

• Arnaud Fontanet, Head of the Epidemiology of Emerging Diseases Unit, on the topic "Children susceptibility and infectiousness"

• Simon Cauchemez, Head of the Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases Unit, on the topic "Anticipating the impact of vaccines on epidemic dynamics"

 

 

Finally, Olivier Véran, French Minister for Solidarity and Health, brought the event to a close. He paid tribute to the Institut Pasteur, which, "at the forefront of efforts to tackle infectious diseases for more than a century, has been a constant presence through our recent history and the many threats to public health that we have continued to face." He described how the Institut Pasteur "has contributed to France's standing on the world stage" and seen "many of its scientists decorated with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine."

Olivier Véran then listed some lessons we can take away about the role of research in the crisis that has gripped the world since 2020. He began by emphasizing that "rigorous research is a key part of the response to the epidemic" and alluding to all that has been achieved by research in the past few months. He then spoke about "the need for a global response, an international movement of solidarity that leaves no one by the wayside." Olivier Véran concluded by drawing one final lesson from the crisis: "the need for a One Health approach, because the COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the close links between human health, animal health and environmental health."

See the list of speakers and the titles of their presentations and watch the conference.

See Olivier Véran's speech (in French)

Read Olivier Véran's speech