Pasteur Gillings Day: a celebration of visionary philanthropy

April 21, 2015

Drs. Mireille and Dennis Gillings

The Institut Pasteur, in Paris, hosted Dennis and Mireille Gillings on April 20 for “Pasteur Gillings Day,” a special event with activities including scientific presentations and tours of the Pasteur Museum, the Global Health Center and other important facilities.

The celebration followed the formalization of a long-standing partnership between the Institut Pasteur’s United States affiliate, the Pasteur Foundation, and the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.

The day’s events also recognized the establishment of the Dennis and Mireille Gillings Global Public Health Fellowships, designed to produce leaders who can navigate successfully the complexity of partnering money and medicine. Awarded annually, the fellowships will support post-doctoral scientists who will join one of the Institut Pasteur’s 33 international network sites, based in 26 countries on five continents.

In his welcoming remarks, Professor Christian Bréchot, president of the Institut Pasteur, stressed the importance of U.S.-French relations and scientific exchange.

“I would like to recognize the Gillings’ leadership in strengthening scientific collaboration through these fellowships,” said Bréchot. “Mireille and Dennis are to be commended on their visionary philanthropy.”

Mireille Gillings, PhD, founder, president, chief executive officer and executive chair of HUYA Bioscience International, responded to Bréchot’s comments.

“Future public health leaders will rely on dynamic collaboration spanning continents and cultures, along with skills in setting strategy, identifying measurable targets and managing budgets,” she said. “Our goal is to train leaders who can help society address threats posed by pandemics and chronic diseases by improving the accessibility of modern diagnostics and treatments for all.”

“We are enthusiastic to do our part to drive future public health advances on the scale seen with innovative vaccines and biopharma therapies,” said Dennis Gillings, PhD, founder and executive chair of Quintiles. “It is groundbreaking to partner with prestigious organizations such as the Institut Pasteur and the Gillings School of Global Public Health to accelerate progress.”