ANRS "Covid-19 Sud" call for projects: 7 projects from Montpellier win prizes

7 projects co-sponsored by Montpellier-based teams are winners of the ANRS call for projects Covid-19 South " for 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) launched a call for projects to provide urgent support for research into the epidemic at Covid-19 "in countries with limited resources". Each project had to propose an association of at least one research team based in the South with a French team. 32 projects out of the 92 received were selected for a total grant of €6.1 million. Among the winning projects, 7 were proposed by research teams belonging to the MUSE consortium.

Following the publication of these results, Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, expressed his satisfaction with the strong mobilization of researchers in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic. What's more, " with these 7 winning projects out of 32, Montpellier research is demonstrating the quality of its scientific collaborations with developing countries, particularly on issues related to human health, where it unquestionably occupies a privileged position ". These partnerships are fundamental to overcoming a global health crisis.

This call for projects is endowed with €14.5M for 86 selected projects.

 MIVEGEC (UM, IRD, CNRS)

• Epidemiological situation, propagation risks of COVID-19 in Central Africa and contribution of point-of-care rapid tests (COVIDCent study) in partnership with the Laboratoire National de Santé Publique (Brazzaville, Republic of Congo). The project is headed 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 Infectiology Center in Laos. The project is led by Eric LEROY and Phimpha PABORIBOUNE.

TransVIHMi (UM, IRD, Inserm)

• Prevalence of Covid-19 in young children hospitalized with severe pneumonia or severe acute malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia in partnership with MUJHU Research Collaboration Philippa MUSOKE (Uganda). The project is led by Maryline BONNET and Eric WOBUDEYA
• Prevalence, genetic diversity and geographical distribution of coronaviruses in wild bats to assess the risk of future zoonotic transmissions in partnership with the Centre de Research et de Formation en Infectiologie de Guinée. The project is led by Martine Peeters and Alpha KEITA
• Mobilisations communautaires et enjeux socio-sanitaires face au COVID-19 (Sénégal, Burkina Faso) in partnership with the Centre de Research et de Formation pour le VIH et les maladies associées (Dakar, Sénégal). The project is led by Alice DESCLAUX and Khoudia SOW
• Dynamique de l'épidémie à SARS-CoV-2 à Conakry, Guinée (COVEPIGUI ) in association with the Centre de Research et de Formation en Infectiologie de Guinée. The project is led by Jean-François ETARD and Abdoulaye TOURE.

Pathogenesis and control of chronic infections PCCI (UM, Inserm, EFS)

• Evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 epidemic control measures on HIV and HCV risk behaviors and on access to prevention and care for injecting drug users in Hai Phong, Vietnam (DRIVE-COVID) in partnership with Faculty of Public Health DUONG Thi Huong (Vietnam). The project is led by Delphine RAPOUD and Thi Giang HOANG.

These 7 projects complete the list of 6 projects already selected during the ANR Flash call (on the main or complementary list) :

• DigEpi Epidémiologie digitale : analyse des réseaux sociaux pour anticiper le niveau de transmission locale du COVID-19 dans les agglomérations françaises led by Benjamin ROCHE (MIVEGEC: UM, IRD, CNRS)
• ProteoCOVID Clinical proteomics of the SARS-CoV2 Spike protein to optimize its detection and the development of serological tests led by Sylvain LEHMANN (IRMB: UM, Inserm, CHU de Montpellier)
• ZooCov Vers la mise en place d'un système de surveillance intégré des Betacorornavirus dans la filière de viande de brousse au Cambodge porté par Véronique CHEVALIER - Performances des systèmes de production et de transformation tropicaux (Persyst: CIRAD)
• Alpha-COV Implementation of a rapid, reliable test for high-throughput screening of antiviral molecules active against SARS-CoV-2 , led by Sébastien NISOLE - (Montpellier Infectiology Institute: UM, CNRS) Research
• CONFINOBS Observance et observation des mesures barrières et du confinement, une approche d'économie comportementale led by Marc WILLINGER (Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - 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)