Message from Stewart Cole : 700 days on

“Dear Colleagues,

“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.” No, surprisingly, this quotation was not from Louis Pasteur but from Marie Curie, who was inspired by our founder. Nearing the mid-point of my tenure as president her words lead me to reflect on what has been accomplished in the last six months and to indicate what will be done next. On my appointment, the Board of Governors tasked me with two main missions: to deliver and execute the 2019-2023 Strategic Plan and to return our operating account to the black by 2022.

The first year of the Strategic Plan is nearing its end. Regarding our ambition, to harness basic research to make a bigger impact on health challenges, much has already been achieved. As part of our initiative to strengthen neurosciences, we are delighted with the steady progress of the Hearing Institute which, after its inaugural symposium in September, will be operational early next year and officially opened in February. The Nanoimaging initiative has advanced well and delivered a series of atomic resolution structures for which all concerned are to be congratulated. The next step is to establish the Institut Pasteur as a world-leader in cryo-tomographic imaging of host-pathogen interactions.  

Several new U5 and G5 were launched in 2019 or approved by the board. The U5 model was welcomed by many as it opens a new career path for our internal mid-career scientists while the G5 track is open to young scientists both from within and without. It is particularly encouraging to note the strong interest from female candidates and an improvement in the gender balance among our new PIs, who bring an exciting array of highly original projects. Improving gender balance and the development of women’s scientific career, two objectives of the Strategic Plan, are of special importance to me.  

Professor Olivier Schwartz, our outgoing Scientific Director, has overseen these activities with considerable energy and altruism, for which we warmly express our gratitude. I am fully confident that his successor, Professor Christophe D’Enfert, will maintain this trend.

Our financial situation is also showing signs of improvement and, thanks to a combination of careful management and good fortune, the deficit is shrinking but prudence is still required. 2019 was a good year for philanthropy as this contributed over one third of our annual income.  We were especially lucky to have been chosen as the beneficiary of this year’s Z Event, involving French-speaking video game players, strong testimony to our standing among the public and, encouragingly, among the younger generation. Our improving finances will stimulate new in-house projects and (inter)national collaborations, and enable three more technology platforms to be created in 2020.  

The Pasteur Innovation Accelerator was launched last November and seven laboratories have been officially labelled as we ramp up our commitment to deliver new technologies, diagnostics, vaccines and therapies to improve the quality of life. Further additions to the accelerator are in the pipeline. We are confident that this initiative will result in more contracts with industrial partners and the creation of start-up companies. The resulting wealth will help to strengthen our financial resources in the medium-term and hence allow us to diversify our portfolio.

January will see Professor Bruno Hoen, the incoming Director of Medical Research, take up his post so please welcome him. His mission includes overseeing and federating our biomedical activities and catalyzing new translational research projects in order to leverage our basic research more effectively and close the gap to the clinic.  

January will also see the arrival of the freshly elected Social and Economic Committee, with which I look forward to interacting. This committee will play an important role in the development of the Institut Pasteur and continue the admirable work of its predecessor.

Many of you have had difficulty reaching work recently because of the strikes and I hope that the measures taken by our HR department, including working from home, alleviated your problems. I would like to pay special thanks to the C2RA, the staff of the animal facilities, for ensuring that the animals, which are so important for our research, continued to be well cared for during this difficult period.

In closing, I trust that you will enjoy a joyful and restful time with your family and friends during the holidays. Today, I extend to you all my seasons’ greetings - “bonnes fêtes” - in writing and will do so in person at the New Year’s reception on January 9th.

Best regards,“

 

Stewart Cole
President