Kyoto University has concluded a Letter of Intent (LoI) for research and innovation collaboration with the Institut Pasteur (Pasteur Institute), France. The agreement was signed by KyotoU President Nagahiro Minato on 16 November 2023 and by Institut Pasteur President Sir Stewart Cole on the 24th.
The two institutions have vigorously conducted research collaboration since the forming in 2016 of a joint research unit between the KyotoU Graduate School of Medicine’s Center for Genomic Medicine, as represented by its director, Professor Fumihiko Matsuda, and the Institut Pasteur’s Ecology and Emergence of Arthropod-borne Pathogens unit. The newly signed LoI is expected to further strengthen the partnership and advance collaboration in a broader range of fields.
The document specifically provides for efforts to establish in Japan a Pasteur Aging Research Center (PARC), with which the two institutions — as global leaders in the field — aim to promote cutting-edge research in biomedicine as well as the humanities and social sciences with a focus on addressing aging-related challenges. The LoI also represents a step forward in the planned establishment of the Institut Pasteur du Japon, potentially contributing to greater French-Japanese cooperation.
The agreement was announced on 4 December at the French Embassy in Tokyo with the attendance of the following: Professor Philippe Kourilsky, honorary president of the Institut Pasteur; Professor Tadashi Isa, dean of the KyotoU Graduate School/Faculty of Medicine; Professor Anavaj Sakuntabhai, representative director of Fondation Pasteur Japon; Professor Matsuda; and French Ambassador Philippe Setton.