Industrial Chaire VIRESP

Wednesday January 24, 2024, the Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University (UCBL), the Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL), the National Research Agency (ANR) and Sanofi officially launched the VIRESP industrial chair, a research project focusing on the development of methodologies, techniques and tools for the analysis of infection risk and disease morbidity rates in different populations, but also to determine the benefits of vaccination programs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the attention on the substantial health, social and economic impact respiratory viruses can cause to humans worldwide. Every year, however, acute respiratory infections cause a substantial burden globally, ranking on the top three causes of death and disability among children and adults. While preparedness planning is important for potential pandemics, health loss due to seasonal viral circulation should not be ignored, and efforts to improve prevention measures are needed. Collecting information on the burden of respiratory viruses, including seasonality, strain characteristics, viral evolution, populations most vulnerable to infection, and disease severity, is key to inform decision-making regarding vaccine development, recommendations for vaccination or other prevention strategies and treatment, as part of a comprehensive disease intervention policy. To achieve this, we are proposing to develop methodologies, techniques and tools to analyse the infection risk and disease burden in different populations and the benefit of immunization programs. This Chair will support a dedicated team of researchers and train highly qualified scientists to provide evidence-based and data-driven strategic direction and enhanced research capacity around respiratory infectious diseases relevant to the pipeline of vaccine products and the optimal use of vaccinations in France and globally. This program will leverage on data, infrastructures, and expertise available from several existing partners at local, national, and global level to deliver:
1. Research publications such as scientific evidence manuscripts and policy papers, as well as conference outputs.
2. Analytical tools to better understand the burden of respiratory viruses, vaccine performance against those, and insights for the development of improved or new vaccines.
3. Approaches on how to improve current passive and active surveillance systems with the aim to enhance pandemic preparedness, and increase industrial preparedness and resilience.
4. Ways to identify better respiratory viruses’ targets for research and development (R&D) to develop improved vaccines tailored to the need of the populations at risk.
5. An algorithm to identify new viral threats to society and monitor known recurring viruses.
6. A dissemination and capacity-building program focusing on epidemiology, modelling, advanced analytics, and bioinformatics.

Il n’y a pour l’instant qu’une publication issue des projets de la Chaire industrielle VIRESP. Ci-dessous quelques publications des membres de l’équipe du CERP.

Toutes les publications du CERP sont visibles au niveau de l’onglet “publications” du site.

Symposium « From diagnostic to preparedness – How to be better prepared for the next pandemic? » (21 and 22 October 2026)

The REVIDA and VIRESP chairs are organizing a symposium on October 21–22, 2026, at emlyon business school on the theme: “From Diagnostic to Preparedness: How to Be Better Prepared for the Next Pandemic?”. More broadly, the symposium will address the management of infections and epidemics: detecting, understanding, and anticipating them. The event is organized in partnership with I4ID and MabDesign.

The symposium, entitled “From diagnostic to preparedness – How to be better prepared for the next pandemic?”, is linked to two structuring projects funded under the French National Research Agency’s (ANR) Industrial Chairs call for proposals. These projects are led by Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 and co-financed equally by the ANR and their industrial partners. Together, the REVIDA and VIRESP chairs constitute a scientific continuum ranging from individual diagnosis to population-based analysis of respiratory virus transmission.

The link to register to this free symposium: REVIDA-VIRESP Symposium Inscription

Scientific Impact and Symposium Outcomes

This symposium represents a strategic forum for scientific discussion in the field of respiratory viruses. It will provide an opportunity to present the latest advances, identify emerging challenges for the future, and showcase the results generated by the two industrial chairs. In particular, the symposium will offer:

• dissemination of recent scientific findings, including novel data on diagnostic biomarkers, severity prediction, and the evolution of respiratory viruses;
• opportunities for dialogue between complementary disciplines (virology, immunology, epidemiology, public health, and modeling), fostering the emergence of new scientific synergies;
• the structuring of a national and international network dedicated to pandemic preparedness, in line with the objectives of REVIDA and VIRESP;
• the promotion of public–private partnerships, which are at the core of the Industrial Chairs framework, by demonstrating how academic research and industrial innovation can jointly address public health needs;
• the acceleration of knowledge transfer toward stakeholders involved in surveillance, diagnostics, vaccination, and infectious risk management.

Symposium Registration

The first day of the symposium will be organized as a side event of the 10th Congress on Immunotherapies and Innovations for Infectious Diseases organized by I4ID. A half-day session dedicated to respiratory infections will be integrated into the I4ID Congress program.

Atelier sur les tableaux de bord de surveillance internationale des virus respiratoires
(31 Mars au 1er Avril 2025)

Le Centre d’Excellence en Pathogènes Respiratoires a organisé un workshop à Lyon (La Doua, Université Lyon 1) les 31/03 et 01/04 dédié aux
« Tableaux de bord de surveillance internationale des virus respiratoires ».

Durant ces 2 jours, la volonté était de représenter ceux qui construisent et ceux qui utilisent les tableaux de bords afin d’avoir une vision complète de ces tableaux de bord de surveillance internationale des virus respiratoires.

• Jour 1 : Ceux qui construisent les tableaux de bords

Nick Bundle (ECDC)
Presentation of The European Surveillance System (TESSy) and the European Respiratory Virus Surveillance Summary (ERVISS) 

Jeremy Herring (Public Health Ontario)
Public Health Ontario and the Ontario Respiratory Virus Tool

Jean-Sébastien Casalegno (HCL)
Presentation of BEHcl   

Nivel team
Presentation of FluCov 

ReSViNet team
Presentation of ReSViNet

Aby Ba Diallo (CERP)
Presentation of EpiLive

Robin Durand (Teamwork)
EpiLive: from the developer point of view

Cédric Mahé (Sanofi)
Presentation of Aiolos  

Katharina Lauer (AirFinity)
Forecasting the Flu-ture – From achoo to action

• Jour 2 : Ceux qui utilisent les tableaux de bords

Siddhi Hirves (WHO)
What information does the WHO look for in dashboards on Flu, RSV and COVID?            

Anna Maisa (Santé Publique France)
What standards do public health authorities set for surveillance of acute respiratory infections?

Alexandre Descamps (Direction générale de la Santé)
What does the Ministry of Health seek for in dashboards? When is a dashboard a good dashboard?

Bronke Boudewijns (Nivel Institute)
Expert consultation: IVPP surveillance paper     

Adrienne Halley and Caroline Schneeberger (Nivel Institute)
Who are the users of the dashboards and what do they need? Important questions to ask.        

Marco del Riccio (Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence)
Saverio Caini (Institute of Cancer Research and Prevention, Florence)
From data to outputs to Insights: A journey toward dashboard building 

Cédric Mahé (Sanofi)
What does industry seek for in dashboards on Flu, RSV and COVID?

Katharina Lauer (AirFinity)
Sick of surprises? Smarter insights for safer populations           

• Les différentes présentations ont été rassemblées au sein d’une playlist YouTube disponible ci-dessous :