International
Institut Pasteur and University of Hong Kong: long-standing collaboration on emerging infectious diseases in the Asia-Pacific region
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, a scientific symposium was organized on November 26, 2025, bringing together researchers from Institut Pasteur, members of Pasteur Network, and their international partners. The event was held in the presence of Mr. Yves Saint Geours, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institut Pasteur, Dr. Odette Tomescu Hatto, Director of International Affairs, and Ms. Christile Drulhe, Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macao.
Integrated within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, the Pole has been recognized for 25 years as a major player in research on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in the Asia-Pacific region. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pole notably developed some of the earliest diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 and distributed them within the Pasteur Network.
The Pole also contributes to scientific training through three flagship courses – Immunology, Cell Biology, and Virology – which have trained more than 1,000 trainees, as well as through the HKU Pasteur Research Pole Fellowship, a scholarship program for PhD and postdoctoral researchers supported by the French Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macao, The Légion d’Honneur Club Hong Kong Chapter Association Limited, and the Pasteur Foundation Asia.
In 2020, the partnership between the University of Hong Kong and the Institut Pasteur was strengthened with the creation of the Centre for Immunology and Infection (C2i), supported by the Hong Kong government under the InnoHK program. Managed by Professor Leo Poon and co-led by Professors Roberto Bruzzone and Malik Peiris, the C2i is notably conducting the flagship Healthy Human Global Project, which stems from the “Milieu Intérieur” project developed at the Institut Pasteur, and carried out with Professors James Di Santo and Darragh Duffy, aiming to develop a personalized immune monitoring system adapted to the Hong Kong context. They gave us their insights on collaboration with C2i.
Interviews of Prof. James Di Santo, lead scientist, healthy human global project and Dr. Darragh Duffy, lead scientist, healthy human global project
What motivated you to take part in the C2i, and what is your role within it?
“As a member of the Labex Milieu Intérieur project, I understood the power and interest of this cohort study to provide new information on the determinants of human immunity. Creating an analogous cohort in Hong Kong comprised of healthy Hong Kong individuals aligned with the concept of the Healthy Human Global Project (HHGP) to better understand human immune response determinants in different populations around the globe. My role involves the analysis of upper respiratory tract mucosal immunity in these different individuals.”
James Di Santo
“The C2i has provided an opportunity to transfer the Milieu Intérieur approach to better understand the factors that control variability in healthy immune responses to an Asian population. While Milieu Intérieur has provided many insights on this question it is limited by the study of a homogenous population recruited in a single location. The HHGP-HK project, which I lead at the C2i, directly addresses this limitation and also allows us to directly compare immune responses between these two different populations.”
Darragh Duffy
From your perspective, how has the Healthy Human Global Project evolved, and what makes it unique in advancing human health research?
“Studying human immunity in individuals around the globe (HHGP) has obvious benefits but finding the logistic and financial support for this approach is challenging. The scientific discoveries made through the Milieu Intérieur program proved that this investment was worthwhile and extension to the HHGP model would provide important and novel information about the immune system that could benefit humanity.”
James Di Santo
“The project is constantly evolving in terms of the depth of immune response profiling that we can do as technologies evolve, with applications of single cell profiling and deep learning techniques as two specific examples. Longitudinal analysis of the cohort is also planned, again inspired by recent Milieu Intérieur studies which have shown how we can use this approach to identify immune response differences even before disease occurrence. This capability to predict increased disease risk before it occurs has huge potential for advancing human health in many areas.”
Darragh Duffy
What are you the most looking forward to in the future of the project and its potential impact on society?
“I would hope that the HHGP will continue to grow with additional cohorts created in other regions of the world. A global analysis of immunity will have an important role in shaping our international response to future pandemics.”
James Di Santo
“We have a unique opportunity to robustly compare immune response variability between European and Asian populations, in terms of both genetic and environmental factors, something that has never been done before. We are actively exploring how our findings from this project can be translated into new clinical solutions in terms of improving patient stratification and supporting healthy aging.”
Darragh Duffy
In one sentence or one word, what does collaboration with C2i mean to you?
“A tangible example of the necessity for ambitious international scientific collaboration to protect humanity through knowledge of the immune system.”
James Di Santo
“International translational collaborations.”
Darragh Duffy