Who are we ?

Since January the 4th 2017, Jean-François Delfraissy is the President of  the national ethics committee for life science and health (CCNE) of France. From 2005 to 2016, he was the director of the National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS). From 2008 to 2017, he led the Immunology, Inflammation, Infectiology and Microbiology Institute of the Inserm-AVIESAN. He is the President of the local ethics commmittee for biomedical researches and public health of Bicêtre Paris-Sud Hospital (AP-HP) and a professor emeritus at the GH Paris-Sud University. Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at the CHU Paris-Sud (AP-HP) (1996-2013), Professor Delfraissy led several research programmes and therapeutic trials of the ANRS. He published more than 450 articles on immunology, internal medicine and HIV infection. He arranged many international scientific congresses and chaired several international Scientific Board on HIV/AIDS. Professor Delfraissy has long been involved in operational research questions in countries with limited resources. He led the ESTHER Programme in Cambodge and the clinical research of the ANRS Site  “Asie du Sud Est”. He also co-chaired the scientific conference IAS/ANRS on HIV Science on July 2017 in Paris. In July 2014, he set up and coordinated the research on Ebola through the multidisciplinary network Inserm-Aviesan. The same year, he was appointed by the Prime Minister “Inter-Ministerial coordinator of all the international and national operations responding to Ebola pandemy”. He was the First President of Sidaction’s Scientific Board and he still is a member of the Executive Board. He is a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body (STAC) of WHO on HIV, Hepatitis, Ebola and Zika, and of the Scientific Board of UNAIDS. In 2010, he was appointed a the French honour ” Officier de l’ordre national de la Légion d’honneur” in 2010. From March 11th 2020 to July 31st 2022, he chaired the Covid-19 scientific board of France.

Dr Marie-Paule Kieny chairs the Governing Board of the Medicines Patent Pool Foundation (MPPF, Geneva, Switzerland). She is also the Chair of the Board of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi, Geneva, Switzerland), a member of the Board of Fondation Mérieux (France) and a Non- Executive Independent Director of bioMérieux (Lyon, France). She is a member of the scientific advisory group of several organizations working in the area of health. Until May 2022, she was Director of Research at Inserm (Paris, France), a position where she chaired the French Scientific Committee on COVID-19 vaccine. Until June 2017, Dr Kieny served as the Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation at the World Health Organization. Key successes under her leadership roles at WHO include coordinating the WHO R&D efforts during the 2014-2016 West-African Ebola epidemic and conceptualizing the WHO R&D Blueprint, a global preparedness plan against emerging diseases’ epidemics.

Before joining WHO, Dr. Kieny held top research positions in the public and private sectors in France.

Dr. Kieny received her PhD in Microbiology (1980) from the University of Montpellier. She published over 350 articles and reviews, mainly in the areas of infectious diseases, immunology, vaccinology and health systems. Marie-Paule Kieny was awarded the title of Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in France in 20021 and of chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’honneur in France in 2016. She was the recipient of the International Inserm Prize in 2017.

François Dabis is a Doctor of Medicine, Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health (ISPED) at the University of Bordeaux. He has more than 35 years of experience in research on global health, and more specifically on HIV epidemiology and prevention, viral hepatitis, sexual diseases, maternal and child’s health, and health systems.

From March 2017 to December 2020, he was the Director of the French national agency of research on AIDS and viral hepatitis (ANRS). In 2021, he became again a member of the research team “Global Health in Global South” of the INSERM Public Health Unit/Center at the Institute of Public Health (ISPED). His research programmes are being conducted in France and West Africa, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

François Dabis chairs the second roadmap (2021-2024) of the national sexual health Strategy. He also advises the French Governement on the WHO Academy and on teaching global health. To date, he has published 795 articles in international journals (Source: PubMed/Medline) and numerous book chapters and his H index is 83 (Source: Web of Science). François Dabis published at the end of 2012 as Coordinating Editor a reference book in French on Field Epidemiology.

Olivier Nay is Professor of Political Science at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, attached to the Centre d’études et de recherches administratives politiques et sociales (CNRS 8026). There, he directs the Master 2 program « Development and Humanitarian Action ». He is a member of the Institut universitaire de France.

He was Senior Adviser to the Global AIDS Coordinator at UNESCO (2003-07) and he collaborated with the UNAIDS program and the World Bank.

Olivier Nay has been a junior member of the Institut universitaire de France (2008-12), President of the Political Science Section of the National Council of Universities (2009-2015) and Vice-President of the Permanent Commission of the National Council of Universities (2011-15). He was the Vice-President of the French Political Science Association (2010-16) and  a member of the Executive Committee of the International Political Science Association (IPSA).

He was also a visiting professor at Columbia University in 2018 (New York).

He is the author of numerous scientific publications on international governance, development aid policies and global health.

Sana de Courcelles has been Health Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of France to the United Nations in Geneva since September 2019.

She has been Executive Director of the School of Public Affairs at Sciences Po, and an affiliated professor in the fields of State Reform and Health.

Since 2014 she has worked in the office of the Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), in charge of Health Systems and Innovation, in Geneva.

Previously, she was Parliamentary and Transversal Affairs advisor for the General Commissioner for Investment, in charge of investments for the future, Mr. René Ricol, and then Mr. Louis Gallois. She began her career as a strategy and organisation consultant in the public sector with Capgemini consulting.

Annabel Desgrées du Loû is a Director of Research in Demography at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD).

After studying biology at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, she completed a thesis in demography on the impact of vaccinations on the health and mortality of children in Africa. Recruited then at the IRD, she conducted research on demographic and social issues in several fields of health: family planning, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS prevention in vulnerable populations, the place of the disease in the migration process. Drawing on her dual training in biology and social sciences, she favours a multidisciplinary approach to health issues.

Currently working at the Population and Development Centre in Paris (CEPED, UMR IRD-University Paris Descartes), she is a member of the Scientific Committee of IRD and a member of the Committee for the Monitoring and Anticipation of Health Risks (COVARS).

Eric Fleutelot is the Technical Director of the major pandemics division of Expertise France’s Health Department. In this capacity, he coordinates the 5% AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis Initiative.

He was previously Regional Advisor on Global Health in Southeast Asia, based at the French Embassy in Bangkok. For the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, he supervised and monitored French investments in health in 10 South-East Asian countries, also liaising with scientific research, public health decision-makers and various French operators.

Until 2014, he was also Deputy Managing Director of Sidaction, where he contributed to the development of community programs for access to care and treatment mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Eric Fleutelot has contributed to the development of innovative programmes, such as one for drug users in Nepal, in partnership with Nava Kiran Plus. He is also part of the team that set up the largest orphan support programme in Burundi, a country with almost 2000 children orphaned by AIDS.

Eric Fleutelot was made Knight of the National Order of Merit in 2007.

Frédéric Goyet is a doctor, specialist in public health, currently HIV-STI-Hepatitis and sexual health Referent of the ARS Ile de France.

He was then Policy Advisor to the Director of External Relations of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Geneva, where he was more specifically in charge of monitoring the international processes that could affect the activity, or resources, of the Global Fund (G8, G20, post-2015 agenda, etc.), from 2014 to 2017.

Frédéric began his career as a doctor in rural Ethiopia, Sudan and Cambodia for humanitarian organizations. In France, he managed a network of health professionals involved in the care of people living with HIV. He joined the Ministry of Health in 1996, and worked as a departmental medical inspector, in charge of HIV/AIDS prevention and care programmes, care for prisoners and the most vulnerable populations.

From 2001 to 2007, then from 2011 to 2012, he was seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as advisor for HIV/AIDS and then as head of the health office at the Directorate General for Globalization. From 2008 to 2010, he was seconded to the European Commission, Directorate for Development Cooperation, as advisor for HIV/AIDS, access to medicines and relations with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. From 2012 to 2014, he was advisor for the international strategy of the director of GIP ESTHER, a French public organization for bilateral cooperation in the field of HIV/AIDS and health, which operates mainly through hospital partnerships.

Professor Kazatchkine has dedicated the last 30 years to the fight against AIDS and global health as a physician, researcher, diplomat and administrator.

The Professeur Kazatchkine is a doctor and a professor emeritus at l’Université Paris-Descartes. He was the director of the National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS) in France from 1998 to 2005, and the Ambassador in charge of the fight against HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases from 2005 to 2007.

The Pr Kazatchkine war the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) from 2007 to 2012. He then was appointed Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

From January 2020, the Professor Kazachtine is the Special Adviser of the Europe Bureau at WHO. He is a ‘Senior Fellow’ of the Centre mondiale de l’Institut des Hautes Etudes en Affaires Internationales et Développement à Genève, and he is a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policies.

He has been a member of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response of during Covid-19.

Professor Kazatchkine holds Honorary Doctorates from the Imperial College in London, the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Catholic University of Leuven. He is an Officer of the Legion of Honour and the National Order of Merit.

Mathieu Lamiaux is an Associate Director in the Paris office of the Boston Consulting Group. He is responsible for the Healthcare center of expertise in Western Europe and South America. Mathieu Lamiaux is also a key member of the Marketing, Sales & Pricing and Global Advantage Committee.

He also coordinates BCG’s Global Health activities in Europe and works closely with the WHO, the Global Fund and private partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

A graduate of HEC Entrepreneurs, Mathieu Lamiaux previously worked for the Agence Française de Développement in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

Lelio Marmora has worked in international development for more than 30 years. He is a member of the Board of the MTV Foundation (London, UK), a Non-Executive Independent Director of Orasure Technologies (Bethlehem, USA), and sits in several public and private strategic advisory groups in global large-scale investments. Since 2022, he is also a guest lecturer at the Peking University (Beijing, China).

He served as Executive Director of Unitaid in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2014 to 2020. Prior to that, he worked 8 years at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, first in charge of the Latin America and the Caribbean region, and then as Director for Africa and the Middle East. Earlier in his career, Lelio Marmora worked in various capacities for the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and several United Nations agencies.

A lawyer graduated from the Universidad de Belgrano of Buenos Aires; he holds a DESS in International Administration of the University Paris II Panthéon-Assas.

Benoit Miribel is the Secretary General of Une Santé Durable pour Tous since June 2020.

From May 2021, he is a member of the Economic, Social and Environnemental Council (ESEC).

He chairs Bioport, a humanitarian logistic platform, and the association Earthwake (plastic recycling).

He chaired the French Center of Fondations Founds (CFF) (2015-2022).

He was the Chief Executive of the Fondation Mérieux (2007-2017) and, then, the Health Director of the public Institute Mérieux (2018-2020).

He is the Horonary Chairman of Action contre la Faim (ACF), an association he chaired (2010-2013) and he led (2003-2006). He chaired the Bioforce Institute (1997-2002)

He co-founded the Alternatives Humanitaires journal and the Forum Espace Humanitaire (FEH). He is a member of the Think Tanks Santé mondiale 2030 and Re-Sources (WASH). He is a member of the Friendship France’s board of directors (Bengladesh).

He is a former member of the European Foundation Center’s board of directors, and of VOICE (the European network of humanitarian NGO).

Louis Pizarro, a doctor, also holds a degree in international relations from Sciences Po Paris and an MBA from EHESP. He served as Head of Mission of Solthis in Niger before becoming Director General at the organization’s headquarters until 2020. Nowadays, he works in Geneva in an international organization.

He is also a lecturer in global health at Sciences Po Paris and Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Currently Head, Division of Health and Social Protection at the AFD, Agnès Soucat has been director of Governance and Financing of Health Systems at the WHO. She previously worked at the African Development Bank and the World Bank. She has developed an expertise for more than 20 years on issues of poverty reduction, health financing and social protection in more than 70 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. She holds an MD a Master in Nutrition from University of Nancy and an MPH and Ph.D in health economics (doctorate) from Johns Hopkins University.

She was co-author of the 2004 World Bank report “Making Services Work for Poor People” and the Lancet Commission report “Global Health 2035: a world converging within a generation”. She has also written on innovative health financing (community-based health insurance schemes, performance-based financing) and on health labour market dynamics in Africa etc.).

Amélie Schmitt has been Counselor for Social Affairs at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in Geneva, in charge of Global Health, since October 2021.

Previously, she worked at the WHO Office for Europe, at the regional level as Senior Advisor in the Office of Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control and at the country level as Senior Health Systems Advisor in the WHO Moscow Office.
Before joining the WHO European Office, she was Senior Advisor to the WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Universal Health Coverage in Geneva.

Formerly in charge of European international affairs at the French Ministry of Health’s Directorate General for Health, she represented France on the OECD Health Committee, the WHO Executive Board, WHO/Euro and EU governing bodies.

She began her professional career in international NGOs and joined the French government to support the first French ambassador for HIV/AIDS. Her training in public policy and political science at the Paris Institute of Political Studies also led her to cross-sectoral action, and she worked for ten years as a senior technical advisor at the International Labour Organization, providing technical assistance to national government decision-makers, employers’ and workers’ organizations worldwide on occupational health and safety, social exclusion and youth employment, and as a focal point on HIV/AIDS.

Clara Ruault is an alumnus of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris. She holds a master’s degree in environmental philosophy from Paris 1 and a master’s degree in contemporary health history from Sciences Po Paris.

She is the author of two books on political ecology and a regular contributor to the Fondation Jean-Jaurès.

After a spell at Columbia University and the National Ethical Advisory Committee on Life Sciences and Health (CCNE), she joined the think tank Santé mondiale 2030 in September 2023.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, a researcher involved in retrovirology research since the early 1970s, is known for her contributions in the field of AIDS, particularly the discovery of HIV in 1983. Honorary President of Virology Departement and of the Pasteur Network, Honorary President of the international network of Pasteur Institutes, she has led work on the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS, in particular on the mechanisms necessary to control HIV / SIV infections and/or the inflammation and deleterious activation of T lymphocytes induced in response to these infections.

Beyond her research activities, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi is an activist of multidisciplinary and translational research, and of international collaboration in response to the expectations of patients wherever they are in the world. In accordance with her commitments to capacity building and training in Africa and Southeast Asia, she has a long experience of collaboration with countries with limited resources, in relation to the international network of the Institut Pasteur and the coordination of ANRS AIDS research programs in Cambodia, Vietnam and in Africa. In 2010, she launched the International AIDS Society (IAS) initiative “Towards a cure for HIV infection” as part of her strong involvement in advocacy to accelerate evidence-based public health interventions.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi is author and co-author of more than 300 original publications and more than 125 articles in books. Invited to more than 400 international conferences and/or meetings, she was President of the IAS from 2012 to 2014 and remains a member and/or chair of numerous international scientific councils or advisory committees. Since 2009, she has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences in France. She has also received more than 40 national and international awards and distinctions, including the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2008 for her contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS.

Officially retired, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi remains active on the international scene. President of Sidaction since November 2017, she currently chairs the ANRS Scientific Council and is still co-chair of the IAS initiative “Towards an HIV Cure”. Honorary President of the International Network of Pasteur Institutes, she will continue to play a major role in addressing global health challenges.

Paul Benkimoun is a general practitioner. He has taught health policy and risk management at Sciences Po Paris and Sciences Po Bordeaux. Since 1999, he has been a medical journalist with Le Monde newspaper.