The Government of the State of São Paulo, the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Pasteur Institute, from France, signed an agreement last Monday (4th) to create a unit of the French research institution in Brazil. During the ceremony, which also celebrated the 60th anniversary of Fapesp, the Foundation renewed its support for the Pasteur-USP Scientific Platform (SPPU) for another year, a group of laboratories that will house the Brazilian unit of Pasteur.
Also during the event, a bust of Louis Pasteur was inaugurated as a gift from the French, in commemoration of the scientist’s 200th birthday.
Installed at USP for three years, SPPU houses research aimed at developing diagnoses, treatments and vaccines against emerging and neglected infectious diseases, transmitted by pathogens that cause complex immune responses and produce disorders in the nervous system, such as zika virus and SARS-CoV -two.
“USP, Fapesp and Instituto Pasteur are the sponsors of the initiative, but, in addition to the support we have already provided, we have opened an international call to attract young researchers from all over the world. We must also celebrate the addition of the new sponsor, which is the government of São Paulo”, said Marco Antonio Zago, president of Fapesp.
The G4 Program, as it is called, aims to attract young talents who are not affiliated with a Brazilian or foreign institution. There will be three editions. In addition to the one released now, there will be one more in 2023 and the third one in 2024.
At the end of the four years of the project, each principal researcher will be able to apply for a teaching position, offered by USP or the Pasteur Institute to work permanently on the platform.
“Even though the Pasteur-USP Scientific Platform is in its third year, the transformation to a unit of the Pasteur Institute in Brazil, which should take place in the next six months to a year, will make our participation in the Pasteur network full. means that we will be able to interact with the other 32 institutes of the international network, promote the mobility of researchers from one side to the other, from the five continents, and the complementarity of research”, explained Paola Minoprio, executive coordinator of SPPU, to Agência Fapesp. .
For Luis Carlos de Souza Ferreira, who coordinates the platform alongside Minoprio, “we are building something that will continue for generations to come, building stronger support for the health of Brazilians and the education of students who come in the future”, he said during the opening of the ceremony.
In a video statement, the president of the Pasteur Institute, Stewart Cole, recalled that, through its contribution to public health during the pandemic, the platform has become an integral part of the scientific scenario of the State of São Paulo.
“This is a constant reminder of the importance of collaboration in an increasingly fragmented world. This fragmentation weakens us all. Therefore, it is essential to maintain and develop strong bilateral and multilateral collaborations in the interest of global public health,” said Cole.
Affonso Massot, the executive secretary for International Relations of the Government of the State of São Paulo, was also present, who stressed that the signing of the agreement “demonstrates the political will around the creation, more than a platform, of a unit of the Instituto Pasteur,” he said.
On the same occasion, the president of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Nísia Trindade de Lima, and the executive vice-president of the Pasteur Institute, François Romaine, signed an agreement to create a joint scientific platform in Fortaleza, Ceará.
The first part of the event can be watched here.
Research on Covid-19
During the second part of the event, researchers linked to the SPPU presented the efforts made during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the study that showed that SARS-CoV-2 can stay in the body for longer than recommended for quarantine, coordinated by Minopri.
Edison Durigon reported the first isolation of the Sars-CoV-2 virus in Brazil, conducted by his team, which made it possible to carry out tests in the country at the beginning of the pandemic.
In addition, he spoke about research focused on neutralizing antibody responses to vaccines in use in the country and the demonstration of the safety of convalescent serum as an emergency treatment against Covid-19.
Jean Pierre Peron presented the results of research on the effect of coronavirus infection on the brain, more specifically on the metabolic impacts of Covid-19 on the central nervous system. The researcher’s group showed, for example, that Sars-CoV-2 increases the energy expenditure of brain cells to replicate.
Another SPPU researcher, Patrícia Beltrão Braga, spoke about the work carried out in her laboratory using mini-brains to study neurodevelopmental disorders and the possible inflammatory pathways in common between them.
Helder Nakaya presented different bioinformatics tools used by his group to study Covid-19.
Finally, Ferreira showed the efforts of his team, which tests different vaccine technologies.
