Presentation

The Infectious Disease Center: a project to help the stakeholders involved in the cluster's field of activity and a key to regional development

The Infectious Disease Center created for this purpose will provide management, monitoring and performance of research activities that are part of the cluster's core projects. It will play a special role, forming a true interface between academics and industrial research teams.

The aim is to create a resource for public/private R&D ventures on the subject of "infectious diseases" and the development of networks.

The Infectious Disease Center will contribute to initiating new research projects and new industrial activities in the cluster's field of activity.

This center will be the true physical hub of the competitive cluster, a special place where the cluster's stakeholders from Lyon and Grenoble can come together.

It will play a complementary role downstream from the fundamental research activities carried out by the University, the ENS graduate school and Lyon and Grenoble-area research organizations.

In return, the Infectious Diseases Center will invite research topics further upstream, to be explored within the fundamental research organizations. The Lyonbiopôle competitive cluster has a single, well-defined aim; the fight against infectious diseases.

Given the economic and strategic challenges faced by Lyonbiopôle, sharing efforts and resources at a single facility will help the cluster fulfill four vital missions: 

1. Managing and coordinating collaborative projects desired by corporations and academic groups involved in cluster projects. This involves building partnerships, managing databases, developing training programs and offering market and job opportunities for young firms. 
2. An epidemiological monitoring function to be part of a research project on emerging diseases with data from Local Reference Centers, international networks and the WHO for greater responsiveness, in particular to manage the risk of zoonoses. 
3. An international network leadership function for collaborative programs that are mainly - but not exclusively - European in scale, such as the VIRGIL excellence network, which coordinates studies on resistance to antiviral treatments. 
4. An applied research activity in bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology. 

This activity will be part of a "project hotel" that will enable new or highly collaborative R&D activities to be initiated within the cluster area throughout the duration of the project (2 to 6 years). The nearby Biosafety Level 4 laboratory will enable all types of virology projects to be conducted.

This activity will focus on the following research topics:

            Skin and mucous membrane immunity

            Major diseases and public health challenges (HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria)

            Comparative disease models

            Zoonoses

            Pathogenic cell interactions.

The strength of the Infectious Disease Center, a cornerstone of the cluster, will lie in its ability to: 
 

• Bring together public and private research teams in the cluster's fields of activity
• Host cutting-edge research activities with high-level facilities
• Attract top-flight international research teams to the region
• Boost the international renown of the cluster and the region

The building permit for the Center should be filed in late 2007 and construction is scheduled for completion in 2010.