Lady Mireille and Sir Dennis Gillings Global Public Health Fellowships advance the next generation of leaders

NEW YORK, and PARIS, July 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pasteur Foundation US and the Institut Pasteur are pleased to announce that the 2023 cohort of Lady Mireille and Sir Dennis Gillings Global Public Health Fellowships have been conferred. Those excelling in science will have a rare opportunity to acquire business and financial acumen and will emerge with the skills required to become successful entrepreneurs in the public health environment, influencing future generations.

The fellowships, the vision of Lady Mireille Gillings, are curated by an unprecedented group of international partners made up of the University of Cambridge, the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and Concordia University, Montreal. This collaboration, anchored by France-based Institut Pasteur, ensures a diverse and well-represented grouping of academic resources, faculty leadership, and expertise, along with unrivalled opportunity.

"Future leaders in public health must have skills across what I call the 3Ms: management, money and medicine," said Lady Mireille Gillings, "The fellowships are designed to build business acumen on top of scientific experience, which is critical for the next generation of global scientists."

The two-year post-doctoral fellowships aim to instill financial understanding and business entrepreneurship against a backdrop of research excellence, equipping participants with the skills to be successful in the public health environment. Applicants must either be graduating or have graduated with a PhD in the previous two years from the University of Cambridge, the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, or Concordia University.

"With COVID-19 we have seen that science must cross all frontiers. We have also seen how critical it is to blend science and business skills. The fellowships represent a unique cross border, multi-disciplinary collaboration," according to Professor Sir Stewart Cole, KCMG, FRS, President, Institut Pasteur. 

"The Lady Mireille and Sir Dennis Gillings Global Public Health Fellowships are funded and supported by visionary leadership from Lady Mireille Gillings. They present an exciting opportunity to establish an explicit link between scientific and business leadership that puts next generation public health leaders on a solid foundation for improving lives," according to Greg Corsico, Director of the Pasteur Foundation US.

The Pasteur Foundation US

The Pasteur Foundation supports American scientific exchange through post-doctoral fellowships, undergraduate summer internships, and related programs that advance scientific discovery.  Since 2001, thanks to the generous support of our friends and other supporters, the Pasteur Foundation US has sponsored over 200 postdoctoral fellows to work at Institut Pasteur.

Institut Pasteur

Since its creation on June 4, 1887, the Institut Pasteur has been at the forefront of infectious disease research, the neurosciences and related basic research. For over 128 years, the institut has devoted itself to the prevention and treatment of disease through research, teaching and public health initiatives. Around the globe, thousands of Pasteur-trained researchers share the values that form the core of the Institut Pasteur's community:

• An originality of scientific approach;
• A dedication to the applications of research;
• A humanist approach to global public health needs; and
• A commitment to sharing knowledge and expertise with the international community.

The Institut Pasteur is a nonprofit organization and relies on the generosity and support of the public to carry out its research programs. In addition to its 130+ laboratories, the Institut houses facilities for state-of-the-art technological platforms, a teaching center, and Biobank. A unique asset, the Institut Pasteur's International Network is a global complex of 33 research and public health labs on five continents. Each site contributes substantially to local public health surveillance and treatment, as well as to global health monitoring.

With its unique structure and its prestigious history as the cradle of microbiology, the Institut Pasteur has long been in the vanguard of innovation, adapting to the rapidly developing world of biological research and its applications.

The current priorities of the Institut include:

• A strategic focus on infectious diseases, microbiology, virology, immunology and neurology;
• A commitment to the investigation of new and emerging diseases;
• A global perspective in furtherance of the Institut's 128-year history of working on 5 continents with major public health organizations and health ministries.