ANRS | Emerging Infectious DiseasesCoordination of the ‘Be Ready’ project (June 2022 – June 2025)
Considering its international engagement for global pandemic preparedness and response, the European Commission has decided to entrust ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases with the coordination of the Coordinating and Supporting Action (CSA) ‘Be Ready’(Building a European strategic Research and Innovation Area in Direct Synergy with EU and International Initiatives for Pandemic Preparedness), starting on June 1 for a period of three years.
The objective of this CSA is to improve the European Union’s preparedness and response capacities to emerging infectious threats. As part of this initiative, ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases will be specifically responsible for the definition of the Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda, leading a group of 20 organizations and public institutions from 16 different countries, that have a key role in preparedness and response activities in their respective countries.
Monkeypox Outbreak Monitoring
ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases has set up a crisis unit to respond to the ongoing epidemic of monkeypox in non-endemic countries. The unit is based on three pillars including continuously-updated monitoring of scientific literature, the epidemiological situation, national and international recommendations as well as social media. The second pillar involves convening an expert group to define research priorities for monkeypox. This has led to the deployment of a flash research grant launched mid-June, which is open to collaborative projects between French and LMIC research teams. As a key player in scientific coordination, the Agency has been involved in initiating 2 top-down research cohorts to evaluate the efficacy of treatments and vaccines. Finally, the third pillar is a media relations team to respond to enquiries and to prepare scientific publications as well as articles to inform the general public.
Modeling New International Partnerships on Infectious Diseases
With more than 30 years of strong partnerships in LMICs, ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases is developing innovative ways to facilitate international research cooperation. In May 2022, the Agency launched its first international platform for global health research (PRISME) in Guinea, along with two other French research institutions (the French Research Institute for Development – IRD; and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research – INSERM), and three Guinean institutions (the Guinean Research and Training Center in Infectious Diseases – CERFIG; the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene; and the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation of Guinea).
The aim of this platform is to promote the identification of infectious disease research themes and priorities and the implementation of clinical studies, research projects and training activities. These collaboratively designed projects will then be financed by ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases, INSERM and IRD, among others, in cooperation with local and international partners.
