HISTORY

The Lille Center for Infection and Immunity is located on the campus of the Institut Pasteur of Lille (IPL). IPL was built at the end of the 19th century following a diphtheria epidemic. It was at IPL that Albert Calmette, its first director, developed the BCG vaccine in collaboration with Camille Guérin at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, IPL conducts biomedical research focused on various aspects of public health. In particular, it carries out fundamental and applied research in molecular and cellular medicine, with a strong emphasis on infectious and inflammatory diseases, as well as several non-communicable diseases (asthma, COPD, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, obesity, and diabetes). Before 2010, all teams working in the field of infection and immunity were spread across nine research units/teams on the IPL campus.

  • 2010-2019

    In 2007, all scientists working in the field of infection and immunity began discussions (facilitated by Frank Lafont) to bring all these teams together within a single center. This bottom-up initiative aimed to create a sustainable and attractive environment in the field of infection and immunity, in order to foster collaboration between teams and increase the visibility of this research area at the regional, national, and international levels. This led to the creation of CIIL in 2010, with Camille Locht as Director (2010–2019) and Jean Dubuisson (2010–2014), followed by François Trottein (2015–2019), as Deputy Directors. CIIL then received excellent evaluations from the French Agency for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education as a joint research unit involving two universities (Law and Medicine), INSERM (U1019), CNRS (UMR8204), and the Institut Pasteur of Lille.

  • 2020-2025

    In 2020, Jean Dubuisson was elected Director, with Nathalie Mielcarek as Deputy Director. Together, they successfully proposed to the High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES) the renewal of CIIL as a joint research unit of the University of Lille, CNRS (UMR9017), INSERM (U1019), Lille University Hospital, and the Institut Pasteur of Lille.

  • 2026-2030

    CIIL enters its fourth term in 2026, with Frank Lafont as Director and Nathalie Mielcarek as Deputy Director, building on its international reputation and its level of excellence recognized by HCERES and its supervisory institutions. In 2026, CIIL is composed of the following teams:

    1- Sandrine Belouzard & Karine Séron (Deputy): Molecular & Cellular Virology – MCV
    2- Damien Devos: Evolutionary and Environmental Microbiology – E2M
    3- Mathieu Gissot: Biology of Apicomplexan Parasites – BAP
    4- Alexandre Grassart: Mechanobiology of Host–Microbe Interaction – MoHMI
    5- Ruben Hartkoorn: Antibacterial Drug Discovery and Development – AntiBac
    6- Oleg Melnyk: Miniproteins & Therapeutics Team – MINT
    7- Nathalie Mielcarek: Research on Mycobacteria and Bordetella – RMB
    8- Muriel Pichavant: Targeted Immunomodulation for Infections and Lung Diseases – TIILD
    9- Fernando Real & François Trottein: Viral Infection & Chronicity – VICI
    10- Florent Sebbane: Plague & Yersinia pestis – PYP
    11- Jean-Claude Sirard & Laurye Van Maele (Deputy): Bacteria, Antibiotics & Immunity – BAI

    Unit Core Facilities:

    1- Alexandre Grassart: BioFabs & Mechanobiology (BFM)
    2- Cécile Lecoeur: Biostatistics Facility
    3- Oleg Melnyk: Chemical Systems Biology
    4- Muriel Pichavant: Lung Functional Exploration (LFE)