Governance
Board of Directors
President
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Alain MÉRIEUX
Alain MÉRIEUX
Alain Mérieux is President of Fondation Mérieux, created by his father in 1967.
He is also President of Fondation Mérieux and Fondation Christophe et Rodolphe Mérieux, which he created with his wife in 2001. The two independent family foundations are dedicated to the fight against infectious diseases in developing countries. In 1994, Fondation Mérieux created the "P4 Jean Mérieux" BSL4 maximum-security laboratory in Lyon, which is managed today by Inserm.
In addition, Alain Mérieux is Chairman of Institut Mérieux, a bioindustrial group comprising 5 companies dedicated to global public health: bioMérieux, Transgene, Mérieux NutriSciences, ABL, Inc. and Mérieux Développement.
The Mérieux family has over a century of experience in infectious diseases in the field of vaccines and in vitro diagnostics. Alain Mérieux was born in 1938. He holds a doctorate in Pharmacy and is a former intern of the Lyon Hospitals and a graduate of the Harvard Business School (PMD).
In 1963, with Becton Dickinson, he created BD Mérieux, specialized in in vitro diagnostic solutions. He became majority shareholder in 1974 and changed the name to bioMérieux. The company is present today in more than 150 countries with over 7,700 employees. From 1968 to 1994, Alain Mérieux was Chairman and CEO of Institut Mérieux, taking the group to the position of world leader in the field of human and veterinary vaccines. He acquired Institut Pasteur Production in France in 1985 and Connaught Laboratories in North America in 1989.
From 1986 to 1998, he was also the First Vice President of the Rhône-Alpes Regional Assembly (France), in charge of International Relations, Economic Development, Research and Higher Education.
Honors and Awards:
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National Order of the Southern Cross of Brazil (1974)
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Commander of the National Order of Merit of France (1994)
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Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1998)
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Commander of the National Order of Mali as a Foreigner (2004)
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Commander of the Legion of Honor of France (2004)
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Officer of the National Order of Burkina Faso (2014).
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Honorary member
Representatives of the founding members
Qualified Persons
Government Representative
Scientific Advisory Board
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Prof. Abdullah BROOKS
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
(United States) -
Dr. Kevin DE COCK
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(Kenya) -
Dr. Valérie D’ACREMONT
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
(Switzerland) -
Prof. Hubert ENDTZ
Erasmus University Rotterdam
(Netherlands) -
Dr. Rana HAJJEH
WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
(Egypt) -
Prof. Francine NTOUMI
Congolese Foundation for Medical Research
(Congo) -
Prof. Jean-William PAPE
GHESKIO Centers
(Haiti) -
Dr. Firdausi QADRI
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research, Bangladesh, icddr,b
(Bangladesh) -
Dr. Voahangy RASOLOFO
Institut Pasteur
(Madagascar) -
Dr. Wenhong ZHANG
Huashan Hospital of Fudan University
(China)
Management committee
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Sandra ANGÈLE
Director of Les Pensières Center for Global Health
Sandra ANGÈLE
Director of Les Pensières Center for Global Health
Sandra Angèle has been Director of Les Pensières Center for Global Health since June 1, 2024. Her mission is to promote exchanges and knowledge-sharing among experts from around the world by organizing events that advance public health and research. Her role is to manage and promote this venue, while contributing to the objectives of the Mérieux Foundation.
Between 2018 and 2024, as International Course Project Manager within the Medical and Scientific Department of the Mérieux Foundation, Sandra ensured the quality of educational programs and the organization and smooth running of events such as the Advanced Course in Vaccinology (ADVAC), the Advanced Course on Diagnostics (ACDx) in France and French-speaking Africa (Afro-ACDx), and the Advanced Course on Epidemiology (EpiCourse), in collaboration with the Course Directors and members of the Scientific Committees.
Before joining the Mérieux Foundation, Sandra worked for 13 years at bioMérieux in the global customer service and regulatory affairs department. She led a team of technical experts responsible for customer support and training on the molecular biology product range, participating in product development projects.
After earning a PhD in human biology, Sandra conducted research for five years at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon.
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Dr. François-Xavier BABIN
Director of Development
Dr. François-Xavier BABIN
Director of Development
François-Xavier Babin is Director of Development at the Mérieux Foundation since May 2024.
Previously he held roles at the Mérieux Foundation as Diagnostics and Health Systems Director from 2018 to 2024, Director of International Development from 2010 to 2018 and Asia Regional Manager based in Cambodia from 2004 to 2010. He implemented clinical biology and scientific cooperation projects, in Cambodia, Laos, China and India.
He started his international work in 2002 on hemoglobinopathies at Institut Pasteur in Cambodia. He did his residency in biomedical and industrial pharmacy at Hospices Civils de Lyon (France). Sent on temporary assignment to the French Embassy in Afghanistan, he implemented a program for the development of clinical biology laboratories. He was also an expert for the Ministry of Health in the reform of the policy on biology laboratory development.
Doctor of Pharmacy, he presented a dissertation on the implementation and the autonomy of biomedical research laboratories in developing countries.
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Marie ENGEL
Director International & Laboratories
Marie ENGEL
Director International & Laboratories
Marie Engel is the Director International & Laboratories for Fondation Mérieux. With over 20 years of experience at the United Nations (UNICEF and UNAIDS), she has held leadership roles across programmatic and management areas, including directing UNAIDS efforts in Central America, and serving as Senior Advisor at the Executive Director’s Office in headquarters. Her work spans Africa, where she coordinated community health initiatives and development partner collaborations. At UNICEF, she focused on resource mobilization and corporate partnerships. She holds an MBA from HEC Paris in France, and Monterrey Tech in Mexico. -
Nicolas ZELLER
Medical & Scientific Director
Nicolas ZELLER
Medical & Scientific Director
Nicolas Zeller has been Medical Director of Fondation Mérieux since September 1, 2023. Born on January 1, 1976, he entered the Ecole du Service de Santé des Armées in Lyon in 1994. Following his training at the Ecole d'Application du Service de Santé des Armées du Val de Grâce in Paris, he served in various army units before being posted to a special forces unit and then to the Special Operations Command headquarters as medical advisor. After a year's study at the Ecole de Guerre, he joined the central directorate of the armed forces health service, as head of the studies and foresight office in the anticipation and strategy division. During his military career, he took part in numerous operational deployments in war zones. Nicolas Zeller is a Doctor of General Medicine, with emergency medicine and disaster medicine qualifications. He is an officer of the Légion d'Honneur and holds six commendations.
