7 min read

Governance

Published the Updated

The governance of the Institut Pasteur combines rigorous management and the ability to adapt quickly in response to scientific and health challenges.
Bâtiment Metchnikoff

Senior management team and Executive Board

Professeure Yasmine Belkaid, Directrice Générale de l'Institut Pasteur depuis janvier 2024.
Professeure Yasmine Belkaid, Directrice Générale de l Institut Pasteur depuis janvier 2024. Institut Pasteur/François Gardy

The senior management team and the Board of Governors work closely together to set clear goals for the Institut Pasteur and provide it with the budget it needs to implement a strategy to achieve them.

The Institut Pasteur's governance structure also includes a Scientific Council, which guides scientific choices, and a unique body known as the General Meeting board, which rules on the Annual Report and votes on certain key decisions.

Professor Yasmine Belkaid is the Institut Pasteur's President and legal representative. She works with the management team to prepare and implement the strategic framework. 

In 2025 she launched the "Pasteur 2030" Strategic Plan to consolidate the Institut Pasteur's role as the world's leading institute for research into life sciences, infectious diseases and population health, while firmly defending free, inclusive and independent science.

  1. Yasmine Belkaid is an internationally renowned researcher and scientist who graduated with a PhD in Immunology from Paris-Sud University and the Institut Pasteur in 1996.
  2. Her research focuses on links between microbes and the immune system. After her PhD, she moved to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship in intracellular parasite biology at NIAID's Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases (NIH).
  3. In 2002, she joined the Molecular Immunology Division at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Ohio) before returning to NIAID in 2005 as Head of the Mucosal Immunology Unit in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases.
  4. She became Head of the Department of Host Immunity and Microbiome in 2021.
Yasmine Belkaid - prise de fonctions - mozaique

Her scientific career encompasses a wide variety of fields including

  • parasitology, microbiology, medical entomology, virology, tissue immunity, microbiome and human immunology.
  • Yasmine Belkaid has received numerous awards and honors, including the Robert Koch Prize in 2021, the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences in 2019 and the Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Prize in 2016.
  • She is a member of several scientific committees and advisory boards, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, as well as the Microbiome Technical Advisory Group at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the NIH Anti-Racism Steering Committee, the American Society of Microbiology and the Genentech Scientific Resource Board.
  • Working closely with the Senior Executive Vice-President and the Vice-President Scientific Affairs, she develops and implements the Institut Pasteur's strategy, with the support of a management team composed of an Executive Board and a Senior Management Board.
  • This organizational structure underpins the effective management of the Institut Pasteur's activities, combining scientific ambition and operational rigor under the authority of the Board of Governors.
Institut Pasteur senior management team

President

Prof. Yasmine Belkaid

Senior Executive Vice-President

Alban Hautier

Vice-President Scientific Affairs

Patrick Trieu-Cuot

Vice-President Applications of Research and Relations with Industrials

Isabelle Buckle

Vice-President Communications and Public Affairs

Henri Pitron

Director of Philanthropy

Antoine Bogaerts

Vice-President International Affairs

Odette Tomescu-Hatto

Vice-President Legal Affairs

Antoine Lekieffre

Vice-President Corporate Social Responsibility and Technical Resources

Nathalie Denoyés

Vice-President Financial Affairs

Françoise Perriolat

Medical Director

Jean-Michel Molina

Vice-President Human Resources

Alban Hautier (acting)

Vice-President Technology

Michael Nilges

Vice-President Information Systems

Stéphane Fournier

Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Mariana Mesel-Lemoine

Vice-President Education

Monica Sala

Vice-President Scientific Careers and Assessment

Didier Mazel

Director for Internal Audit and Control

Eric Laclide 

Delegate for Safety and Security

Romain Girod

Board of Governors

Visite de Madame Karin Herrera Aguilar, Vice-Presidente du Guatemala.

The Board of Governors, chaired by Yves Saint-Geours since October 28, 2022, makes decisions on all Institut Pasteur matters. It gives its opinion on the strategic policies proposed by the President. 

Yves Saint-Geours, an associate professor of history, has pursued a career combining academic and diplomatic responsibilities and leadership roles in major public institutions.

  1. He has held positions as a lecturer at the French School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and a senior official in the French Foreign Ministry (1990-1993), Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and Ministry of Education (1993-1996).
  2. He then served as French Ambassador to Bulgaria, Brazil and Spain. His knowledge of multilateral diplomacy and international scientific networks has proven invaluable in his role as head of a global institution.
  3. As the former President of the Etablissement Public du Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées (2007-2009), the GIS Institut des Amériques (2017-2023) and the French National Commission for UNESCO (2017-2024) – and current Chair of the Management Committee of the Institut des Hautes Études d'Amérique latine, since 2023 –, he has extensive experience in governing scientific and cultural institutions.
Cérémonie de présentation des lauréats de la première levée de l’appel à projets « Chaires d’excellence en biologie/santé ». Yves Saint-Geours, Président du conseil d’administration de l’Institut Pasteur.

The Board of Governors:

  • adopts the Annual Report on the Institut Pasteur's activities and the Internal Regulations, and submits them for the approval of the General Meeting board;
  • establishes a framework for assets management, especially endowment assets; determines employees' status, recruitment conditions and remuneration;
  • authorizes legal proceedings;
  • appoints the President by a two-thirds majority after consulting the members of the Scientific Council and the heads of scientific departments, and sets his/her remuneration;
  • appoints members of the senior management team and directors of scientific departments on a proposal by the President;
  • appoints scientific managers to the rank of professor; approves the establishment or dissolution of research units;
  • enters into contracts with companies to optimize the Institut Pasteur's activities;
  • appoints one or more auditors and their deputies.

This governance structure guarantees that strategic decisions are in keeping with the Institut Pasteur's public service mission, while maintaining its scientific excellence and financial viability.

Composition of the Board of Governors
Board of Governors

Yves Saint-Geours

Chair – Diplomat

Stéphanie Fougou

Vice-Chair – General Counsel of HBX Group PLC, President of the European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA), independent board member of the Compagnie des Alpes

Jean-Claude Manuguerra

Vice-Chair – Head of the Environment and Infectious Risks Research and Expertise Unit, Laboratory for Urgent Response to Biological Threats (CIBU) and National Reference Center (CNR) for Hantaviruses, Institut Pasteur

Ex officio members

Nacer Boubenna

PhD, Scientific Director, Head of the A4 Biology/Health Department, SSRI (Research and Innovation Strategy Department), Directorate General of Research and Innovation, French Ministry of Higher Education and Research

Yoann Geneslay

Deputy to the Deputy Director, 3rd sub-directorate, Budget Directorate, French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial Sovereignty

Julie Lagrave

Sub-directorate for Research and Innovation, French Ministry of Health and Access to Care

Antoine Petit

University Professor – Chairman and CEO of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)

Didier Samuel

Chairman and CEO of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm)

Member representing the partner university

Edouard Kaminski

President of Université Paris Cité

Members chosen for their scientific expertise, at least three of whom work at the Institut Pasteur

Sandrine Etienne-Manneville 

Head of the Cell Polarity, Migration and Cancer Unit, Institut Pasteur 

Jean-Claude Manuguerra 

Head of the Environment and Infectious Risks Research and Expertise Unit, Laboratory for Urgent Response to Biological Threats (CIBU) and National Reference Center (CNR) for Hantaviruses, Institut Pasteur 

Florence Niedergang

PhD, Institut Cochin, Director, Inserm U1016 – CNRS UMR8104 – Université Paris Cité

Christophe Zimmer

Head of the Imaging and Modeling Unit, Institut Pasteur 

Members from Institut Pasteur non-scientific staff with at least ten years' service

Beatrice Jacquelin

PhD in HIV, HIV, Inflammation and Viral Persistence Unit, Institut Pasteur 

Agnès Raymond-Denise

Head of the Scientific Information Resources Center (CeRIS) 

Members chosen for their general, scientific or medical expertise, at least two of whom work or have previously worked in scientific institutions or departments

Sebastian Amigorena

CNRS Distinguished Director of Research – Head of the Immunity and Cancer Unit, Institut Curie – Inserm Unit 932, Immunity and Cancer, Cancer Immunotherapy Center

Patrick Charnay

Inserm Emeritus Director of Research – Professor at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS), Department of Biology

Claire Rougeulle

Director of the Research Center, Institut Curie

Fabiola Terzi

Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Institut Necker-Enfants Malades

Members chosen for their financial, industrial, business, legal or management expertise

Delphine d’Amarzit

Chair and CEO of Euronext Paris

André Choulika

CEO and Co-Founder of the Cellectis Group

Stéphanie Fougou

General Counsel of HBX Group PLC, President of the European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA), independent board member of the Compagnie des Alpes

Stéphane Pallez

Chair and CEO of FDJ Group (Française des Jeux)

Yves Saint-Geours

Diplomat

Catherine Touvrey

CEO of Harmonie Mutuelle

Board of Governors Bureau

Yves Saint-Geours 

Chair 

Jean-Claude Manuguerra

Vice-Chair 

Stéphanie Fougou 

Vice-Chair

Sandrine Etienne-Manneville 

Secretary 

Yoann Geneslay

Treasurer

Patrick Charnay

Permanent guest of the Bureau

Appointments and Remuneration Committee
Catherine TOUVREY Chair
Jean-Claude MANUGUERRA  
Stéphanie FOUGOU  
Finance and Audit Committee
Delphine d’AMARZIT Chair
André CHOULIKA  
Yoann GENESLAY  
Agnès RAYMOND-DENISE  
Board representatives on the Investment Advisory Committee
Delphine d’AMARZIT
André CHOULIKA
Board representative on the Ethics and Compliance Committee
Claire ROUGEULLE

Scientific Council

The Scientific Council advises on all issues and matters related to scientific policy, organization, and research and teaching programs. The Council is consulted on all research and teaching unit establishment, dissolution and merger decisions.

Pasteurian Members

Elected

Position

Term

Caroline Demangel (Chair)

Head of the Immunobiology and Therapy Unit

End of first term: March 2027

Arnaud Echard

Head of the Membrane Traffic and Cell Division Unit

End of second term: March 2027

Ivo Gomperts Boneca

Head of the Biology and Genetics of the Bacterial Cell Wall Unit

End of first term: March 2029

Louis Lambrechts

Head of the Insect-Virus Interactions Unit

End of first term: March 2029

External Members

Appointed

Position

Term

Monica Bettencourt Dias

Director of the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal

End of first term: June 2029

Ana Fernandez-Sesma

Professor and Chair of the Microbiology Department, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA

End of first term: June 2028

Elodie Ghedin

Senior Investigator and Director of the Systems Genomics Section (NIH), USA

End of second term – June 2029

François Guillemot

Senior group leader of the Neural Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

End of second term: June 2027

Janet Kelso

Group leader of the Minerva Research Group for Bioinformatics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany

End of first term: June 2029

Anne O’Garra

Senior group leader of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation and Infection, Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

End of second term: June 2026

Tracy Palmer

Professor of Microbiology and Lead for the "Microbes in Health and Disease" Theme in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Newcastle, UK

End of first term: June 2029

Federica Sallusto

Professor of Medical Immunology at ETH Zurich and USI Lugano and group leader at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona, Switzerland

End of first term: June 2028

Ari Waisman

Chair and Professor of Immunology, Institute for Molecular Medicine, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany

End of second term: June 2029

Xiadong Zhang

Professor of Macromolecular Structure and Function, Imperial College London & Francis Crick Institute

End of first term: June 2027

Institut Pasteur General Meeting board

Serre et jardin

The Institut Pasteur General Meeting board is convened at least once a year by the Chair of the Board of Governors. It rules on the Board of Governors' Annual Report on the Institut Pasteur's activities. It adopts the Institut Pasteur's Internal Regulations and votes on changes to the articles of association upon proposal by the Board of Governors.

Members

All members (apart from ex officio members) are appointed for six years. The General Meeting board appoints a Chair and a Minutes Secretary from within its ranks.

Members of the Institut Pasteur's General Meeting board

The Institut Pasteur General Meeting board, also known internally as the Assembly or "Assemblée des 100," has between 93 and 109 members, comprised as follows:

  • 20

    ex officio or appointed members

  • 6 to 12

    directors from the Pasteur Network appointed in accordance with the Internal Regulations

  • 30

    members from among the scientific, administrative and technical managers and engineers working either full time or part time at the Institut Pasteur and elected by their peers

  • 6

    representatives from non-managerial Institut Pasteur staff unions, appointed by the Works Committee

  • 31 to 41

    members from outside the Institut Pasteur, chosen for their expertise or interest in the Institut Pasteur, elected by current members of the General Meeting board on a proposal from the Board of Governors or from a member of the General Meeting board

See our key publications

Our reference documents