INSTITUT PASTEUR DE DAKAR

Their core work

Institut Pasteur de Dakar is a leading West African research centre focused on infectious disease diagnostics, surveillance, and vector-borne disease control. They develop rapid diagnostic tools for viral haemorrhagic fevers (including Ebola), conduct serological surveillance for malaria and neglected tropical diseases, and maintain critical research infrastructure for insect vector studies. Their work bridges laboratory research with field-deployable solutions for disease outbreaks across Sub-Saharan Africa, making them a key partner for global health initiatives requiring on-the-ground African expertise.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2015–2018) was driven by outbreak response — Ebola diagnostics and the Zika emergency dominated, with strong emphasis on insect vector biology and Latin American–African research networks. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted toward data infrastructure, capacity building, and integrated surveillance systems, suggesting a move from reactive outbreak research to systematic disease monitoring. Their most recent and largest project (MultiSeroSurv, 2020–2025) signals a clear pivot toward algorithmic and multiplex approaches to population-level disease tracking.

Moving from emergency-driven diagnostics toward building sustainable surveillance infrastructure and data-sharing frameworks for endemic tropical diseases — a valuable direction for long-term global health partnerships.

How they like to work

Institut Pasteur de Dakar operates exclusively as a participant, never as coordinator, which is typical for African institutions in EU-funded consortia — they bring essential field expertise and local infrastructure rather than administrative leadership. With 139 unique partners across 38 countries, they are remarkably well-connected for their size, functioning as a hub that links European research networks to West African disease contexts. Their consortia tend to be large (global health alliances), meaning they are experienced working within complex multi-partner structures.

Exceptionally broad network for a Senegalese institute: 139 partners across 38 countries, spanning Europe, Latin America, and Africa. This reach reflects their role as a critical African node in global infectious disease research networks.

What sets them apart

As part of the Pasteur Network, Institut Pasteur de Dakar offers something most European labs cannot: direct access to endemic disease settings in West Africa combined with internationally recognized research standards. They are one of very few Sub-Saharan African institutions with sustained H2020 participation, making them an essential partner for any consortium needing field validation of diagnostics, real-world disease surveillance data, or vector biology expertise in tropical settings. For EU project coordinators, they solve the recurring challenge of meaningful African partnership beyond tokenism.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MultiSeroSurv
  Their largest grant (EUR 325,500) and an ERC-funded project — rare for an African institution — developing multiplex serological surveillance algorithms for multiple neglected tropical diseases simultaneously.
• VHFMoDRAD
  Directly builds on EbolaMoDRAD with expanded scope to all viral haemorrhagic fevers, demonstrating sustained diagnostic development capability and twinning for capacity building.
• RECODID
  Represents their pivot toward data infrastructure — building integrated human data repositories for infectious disease cohorts with emphasis on governance and ethics of data sharing.