ANRS “Covid-19 Sud” Call for Proposals: Seven Projects from Montpellier Selected
7 projects led by teams from Montpellier were selected in the call for proposals ANRS call for proposals “ Covid-19 South ” to provide urgent support for Covid-19 research in resource-limited countries.
In April 2020, the ANRS (French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis) issued a call for proposals to provide emergency support for research on the COVID-19 pandemic “in resource-limited countries.” Each proposal was required to involve a partnership between at least one research team based in the Global South and a French team. Of the 92 proposals received, 32 were selected for a total grant of €6.1 million. Among the winning projects, 7 were submitted by research teams that are members of the MUSE consortium.
Following the publication of these results, Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, first and foremost commended the strong mobilization of researchers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, “with these 7 winning projects out of 32, Montpellier’s research demonstrates the quality of its scientific collaborations with countries in the Global South, particularly on issues related to human health, where it undoubtedly plays a leading role.” These partnerships are essential for overcoming a global health crisis.
This call for proposals has a budget of €14.5 million for 86 selected projects.
MIVEGEC (UM, IRD, CNRS)
- Epidemiological situation, risks of COVID-19 transmission in Central Africa, and the role of point-of-care rapid tests (COVIDCent study) in partnership with the National Public Health Laboratory (Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo). The project is led by Avelin AGHOKENG FOBANG and Fabien Roch NIAMA
- Epidemiological investigation of SARS-CoV-2 in Laos using a One Health approach in partnership with the Christophe Mérieux Center for Infectious Diseases in Laos. The project is led by Eric LEROY and Phimpha PABORIBOUNE.
TransVIHMi (UM, IRD, Inserm)
- Prevalence of COVID-19 among young children hospitalized with severe pneumonia or severe acute malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, in partnership with the MUJHU Research Collaboration, Philippa MUSOKE (Uganda). The project is led by Maryline BONNET and Eric WOBUDEYA
- Prevalence, genetic diversity, and geographic distribution of coronaviruses in wild bats to assess the risk of future zoonotic transmission, in partnership with the Center for Research Training in Infectious Diseases in Guinea. The project is led by Martine Peeters and Alpha Keita
- Community Mobilization and Social and Health Issues in Response to COVID-19 (Senegal, Burkina Faso), in partnership with the Center for Research Training on HIV and Related Diseases (Dakar, Senegal). The project is led by Alice DESCLAUX and Khoudia SOW
- Epidemiological Dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak in Conakry, Guinea (COVEPIGUI), in collaboration with the Guinean Center for Research Training in Infectious Diseases. The project is led by Jean-François ETARD and Abdoulaye TOURE
Pathogenesis and Control of Chronic Infections (PCCI) (UM, Inserm, EFS)
- Assessment of the impact of measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic on behaviors that increase the risk of HIV and HCV infection and on access to prevention and care for people who inject drugs in Hai Phong, Vietnam (DRIVE-COVID), in partnership with the Faculty of Public Health, DUONG Thi Huong (Vietnam). The project is led by Delphine RAPOUD and Thi Giang HOANG
These 7 projects round out the list of 6 projects already selected during the ANR’s Flash Call ( either on the main list or the supplementary list):
- DigEpi Digital Epidemiology: Social media analysis to predict local COVID-19 transmission rates in French urban areas, led by Benjamin ROCHE (MIVEGEC: UM, IRD, CNRS)
- ProteoCOVID: Clinical proteomics of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to optimize its detection and the development of serological tests, led by Sylvain LEHMANN (IRMB: UM, Inserm, Montpellier University Hospital)
- ZooCov : Toward the establishment of an integrated surveillance system for betacoronaviruses in the bushmeat supply chain in Cambodia, led by Véronique CHEVALIER – Performance of Tropical Production and Processing Systems (Persyst: CIRAD)
- Alpha-COV: Development of a rapid and reliable assay for high-throughput screening of antiviral molecules active against SARS-CoV-2, led by Sébastien NISOLE – (Montpellier Institute for Research : UM, CNRS)
- CONFINOBS: Compliance with and monitoring of public health measures and lockdown restrictions—a behavioral economics approach led by Marc WILLINGER (Center for Environmental Economics – Montpellier: UM, CNRS, INRAE, MSA)
- PHYEPI: Integration of sequence and incidence data to analyze and control viral epidemics, led by Samuel ALIZON (MIVEGEC: UM, IRD, CNRS)