Our objectives
Developing knowledge sharing Improving public health on a global scale begins with skills development. The Mérieux Foundation has placed knowledge sharing at the heart of its mission since it was founded, aiming to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and strengthen global health security.
The Mérieux Foundation brings together experts and decision-makers from around the world, creating a unique space for open dialogue, without boundaries between disciplines and regions of the world, to strengthen the collective response to infectious diseases. Through its advanced courses and events, the Foundation promotes the emergence of common solutions to health crises to protect the most vulnerable communities.
Every year, the Mérieux Foundation brings together a wide range of policymakers, researchers, scientific experts, clinicians, and representatives of public institutions, international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector. Developing dialogue between disciplines, sectors and regions of the world that rarely meet is at the heart of our approach, breaking down the barriers that all too often continue to hinder responses to health crises. This fosters the emergence of a truly global network of experts focused on the same issues.
Our immersive courses, high-level conferences, and international events provide a fertile setting for deepening knowledge, debating emerging challenges, and building lasting relationships.
All our events are designed by a scientific committee consisting of recognized experts. They evolve continually to reflect changing scientific data, needs on the ground and public health priorities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
From the 1960s onwards, the Pensières property, then a family home, became a place for meetings and exchanges where experts from all disciplines gathered: researchers, biologists, doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists etc. Together, they shared the latest scientific advances in the field of infectious diseases, identified new avenues of research and the best prevention strategies, and ways to make them available to the populations that need them most. In 2003, the Mérieux family transferred the estate to the Mérieux Foundation, strengthening its public health mission. Today, Alain Mérieux continues the tradition with an ever-expanding range of training courses and conferences on public health topics relevant to low- and middle-income countries.
The Mérieux Foundation organizes a number of advanced training programs every year to ensure that research findings and innovations translate into public health policies. Developed with leading academic and scientific institutions, these courses are aimed at healthcare professionals and policymakers involved in responding to health crises, whether in laboratories, ministries, international institutions or research centers.
Each program is based on an interdisciplinary approach, interactive formats, complete immersion, and discussion between participants. This teaching method integrates theoretical knowledge with on-the-ground experience, enabling experts from a variety of backgrounds to compare their realities and develop appropriate solutions. Our courses increasingly emphasize interdisciplinarity, immersion, interactivity, and exchanges between peers.
Since 1999, this course has offered an overview of vaccination issues to facilitate decision-making at all levels.
Launched in 2009, this course aims to improve knowledge of the latest advances in the field of diagnostics among policymakers and scientists.
Since 2019, this course has promoted a One Health approach to combating AMR effectively
Launched in 2023, this course aims to strengthen epidemic surveillance and response using a One Health approach.
Derived from ACDx and the WHO’s GLLP program, Afro-ACDx has been responding to the specific needs of professionals in French-speaking Africa in relation to diagnostic challenges since 2021.
Recognizing that access to training is a key factor in strengthening health systems, one of the Mérieux Foundation’s essential commitments involves ensuring that health professionals, and particularly those from resource-limited countries, can access these discussion forums that are so crucial for their practice. To achieve this, it nurtures a number of financial partnerships enabling it to offer scholarship programs.
These scholarships enable professionals, especially from resource-limited countries, to benefit from the training essential to their practice and advancement. This is a fundamental aspect of our mission – enabling local players to increase their autonomy and pass on the knowledge they have gained to their communities.
By supporting these training programs financially, our partners contribute directly to building fairer, more robust health systems.
Nearly
people participate each year in conferences organized or co-organized by the Mérieux Foundation internationally.
