Launch of the Inception project on October 13

In February 2016, the French Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research and the Investment Commission launched the "Instituts Convergences" call for proposals, a new initiative within the second Investing in the Future program.

The five projects selected by an international panel out of a total of 36 submissions include the INCEPTION project for research into the emergence of pathologies through individuals and populations, led by the Institut Pasteur and jointly directed by Olivier Gascuel, Head of the C3BI, and Thomas Bourgeron, Head of the Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions Unit.

This project is closely related to the notion of biological big data. The rise of biological big data, including clinical, genomic, imaging and environmental data, implies a profound and irreversible change for Biology and Medicine, which is expected not only to impact basic research, but also the economic and social sphere. Modern Biology will consider the individual and his/her environment (social, infectious, microbiota) as an ecosystem, and diseases as Darwinian evolutionary processes. This new paradigm will allow the development of a predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory medicine, where the individual background and ecosystem are integrated. In this context, the INCEPTION project aims to synergize different fields of expertise (biology, medicine, computer science, mathematics, statistics, physics, and social sciences), to develop innovative solutions to the worldwide societal challenge of disease emergence in population and individuals.

The official presentation of the project, including organizational details, calls for proposals and the first funded activities, will take place on the morning of Friday October 13, 2017, morning, in the auditorium of the François Jacob building. We hope that lots of you will come along to find out more about this wide-ranging project, which covers a variety of different fields and areas of research.

The full program for the launch event will be published shortly.