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The FéRI gathers

Three hundred researchers, teacher-researchers and other permanent staff of the Centre-Val de Loire county and other neighboring universities having research activities related to infectious diseases.

The FéRI favors the exchanges to help the researchers to understand together the interactions that the pathogen agents (bacteria, viruses or parasites) create with their hosts and to set up, in collaboration with private companies, new diagnostical, therapeutic and preventive approaches.

The ambition of the FéRI is to strengthen the continuum between fundamental research and therapeutic application in the fields of human and animal health according to the One Health concept.

The FéRI is funded

by the Centre-Val de Loire county since march 2010.

The FéRI is also recognized by the higher education and research ministry since 2012 (FED 4225) and gathers 26 units or research teams working on infectious diseases in the universities of Tours, Orléans, Poitiers, Angers and Limoges.

The FéRI is co-headed by

Denys BRAND (Joint Research Unit UMR INSERM 1259, University of Tours) and Nathalie WINTER (Director of the Infectious Diseases and Public Research unit UMR INRA 1282, Centre INRA Val de Loire) and relies on a steering committee composed of :

Philippe ROINGEARD (UMR INSERM 1259, University of Tours), Jean-Michel DREZEN (UMR CNRS 6035, University of Tours), Mustapha SI-TAHAR (UMR INSERM 1100, University of Tours), Valérie QUESNIAUX (UMR CNRS 7355, University of Orléans), Luigi AGROFOGLIO (UMR CNRS 7311, University of Orléans), Charles BODET (EA 4331, University of Poitiers), Stéphane ABRIOUX (Experimental Infectious Diseases Platform – PFIE) , Centre INRA Val de Loire), Marie-Cécile PLOY (UMR INSERM 1092, University of Limoges) and a representative for pharmaceutical cluster Polepharma.

The FéRI relies on

several experimental platforms certified IBiSA and high-tech centres :

- Infectious Diseases Experimental Platform (PFIE), Centre INRA Val de Loire

- Surgery and Imaging Platform for research and education (CIRE) located at Centre INRA Val de Loire. This platform is shared by the University of Tours and the Regional University Hospital (CHRU) of Tours,

-  Genotrans Plateform and Functionnal Exploration (UMR CNRS 7355, University of Orléans),

- Mass spectrometry and proteomics Platform (Molecular Biophysics Centre, CNRS, Orléans),

- Imaging Centre and Infectious Diseases (UMR ISP, Centre INRA Val de Loire),

- Multi training program" Biological system analysis" (University of Tours).

The FéRI accommodates also the National Reference Centre of the human immodeficiency virus (CHRU of Tours) and the Microbial Resources International Centre dedicated to pathogenic bacteria (INRA Val de Loire).

This group represents a remarkable national research pole in infectious diseases with an original bivalence in animal and human health.