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PASTEURDON 2025
Science in Action - For Every Life.
PASTEURDON 2025: THE 19th EDITION OF A LANDMARK FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
The Institut Pasteur is launching the 19th edition of its annual fundraising campaign — a nationwide movement to support the vital work of our scientists as they tackle the defining health challenges of the 21st century.
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This year’s campaign focuses on two urgent priorities:
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The rise in cancers among young people, and
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The emergence of drug-resistant microbes and infectious threats.
Your support is essential to help our researchers continue their groundbreaking work, advance medical knowledge, and protect lives around the world.
For the first time this year, Pasteur Foundation UK is delighted to support Pasteurdon in welcoming UK donors to make a tax efficient gift to Institut Pasteur via the foundation.
THE UK JOINS PASTEURDON: POWER SCIENCE, SAVE LIVES
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This year, Pasteur Foundation UK is taking part in Pasteurdon for the first time!
We are aiming to raise £5,000 to support a Pasteur-Oxford PhD student undertaking vital research tackling antimicrobial resistance and powering the science that protects us all.
Donate now and be part of this first UK-driven Pasteurdon effort.
TWO MAJOR HEALTH CHALLENGES IN 2025:
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND CANCERS IN YOUNG PEOPLE
Drug-Resistant Microbes and Emerging Epidemics
Climate change is accelerating the emergence of new pathogens that no longer respond to existing treatments. To counter this threat, our scientists are developing innovative alternatives such as bacteriophages and molecular “scissors.”
Meanwhile, epidemiological surveillance remains crucial as we face pathogens like avian influenza (H5N1) and the return of diseases such as measles, as well as the long-term impacts of infections such as long Covid, which affects 4% of French adults. Our teams work tirelessly to anticipate tomorrow’s epidemics and to develop pioneering solutions against antimicrobial resistance.
Rising Cancer Rates Among Young People
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The growing incidence of early-onset cancers, particularly glioblastomas and colorectal tumours among adolescents and young adults, is increasingly alarming.
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Our scientists are investigating the molecular mechanisms behind these especially aggressive diseases, including diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, the leading cause of cancer-related death in children, and exploring the role of the gut microbiome in the development of colorectal cancers linked to modern diets.
PUBLIC FIGURES STANDING UP FOR RESEARCH
​Once again this year, Kad Merad and Julia Vignali are lending their voices to the Pasteurdon campaign, helping the Institut Pasteur raise public awareness about the vital importance of medical research. Their commitment and testimony amplify our message and inspire generosity across France in support of science.
KAD MERAD
ACTOR AND GODFATHER OF THE INSTITUT PASTEUR
“I’ve been proud to serve as an ambassador for the Institut Pasteur since 2024. Research is a bit like cinema; it takes time, creativity, and perseverance. Supporting research means enabling the discovery of new treatments that heal and save lives. Supporting research means protecting life itself, and investing in our shared future.”
JULIA VIGNALI
TV PRESENTER AND GODMOTHER OF THE INSTITUT PASTEUR
“As a woman, a mother, and a presenter of programmes that speak to everyday life in France, I know how crucial medical research is to all of us. That’s why I’m so pleased to be the Institut Pasteur’s ambassador for a second year running. Every day, Pasteur’s scientists are working to protect us and those we love. It’s our duty to stand with them.”
A MAJOR MEDIA MOBILISATION
Each year, Pasteurdon benefits from the outstanding support of more than 50 media partners who come together for five days to amplify the voice of research. National TV networks, news channels, general and specialist radio stations, journalists, and presenters all unite to raise awareness of the Institut Pasteur’s scientific advances and encourage public support.
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It’s a powerful show of solidarity for medical research!
PASTEUR FOUNDATION UK PROJECT FOR PASTEURDON 2025:
TACKLING ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is rising rapidly worldwide, becoming one of the most urgent global health and development threats. In 2019, the World Health Organization estimated that bacterial AMR caused 1.27 million deaths and contributed to 4.95 million more. It affects all countries and income levels, putting many achievements of modern medicine at risk. Without action, routine procedures such as dental work or childbirth could once again become life-threatening.
Beyond its human toll, AMR carries a huge economic burden. The World Bank estimates that by 2050 it could add US$1 trillion in healthcare costs, and by 2030 cause US$1–3.4 trillion in annual GDP losses.
The Pasteur-Oxford PhD
To stop the spread of resistant pathogens, we must accelerate the development of innovative drugs, including antibiotics, antiparasitics, antifungals, and antivirals, and create new therapeutic strategies for sustainable infection control.
The Pasteur- Oxford joint PhD provides doctoral candidates with the opportunity to tackle collaborative projects between the Institut Pasteur and the University of Oxford Chemistry Department to fight AMR. The PhD gives students the opportunity to work with scientists at the Institut Pasteur who specialise in biomedical research into how microbes are becoming resistant to antibiotics and researchers at The University of Oxford who focus on developing chemical inhibitors to antibiotic resistance.
Students therefore learn to understand the biological processes at the Institut Pasteur, which will allow development of more efficient chemicals and drugs at The University of Oxford, which can in turn be tested and applied in the biological systems developed back at the Institut Pasteur.
Dr Paola B. Arimondo - CNRS Director of Research, Head of Epigenetics Biological Chemistry Unit, Institut Pasteur
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"The Pasteur-Oxford PhD program allies the excellence in biology of infection and the mechanisms of AMR of the Institut Pasteur with the strength in drug discovery of the Department of Chemistry of the University of Oxford to foster collaborative interdisciplinary projects aiming at the discovery of innovative therapeutic strategies against AMR”
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Professor Christopher Schofield - Head of Chemistry Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford
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"Students of the Pasteur- Oxford PhD arrive in our chemistry labs with a deep and unique understanding of the biological processes of AMR which help us to identify new leads for the development of urgently needed chemical probes and drugs. Meanwhile, through the development of new chemical probes studied in our labs at Oxford, the students take back to Pasteur a further enriched understanding of the biological process leading to AMR, creating new leads for therapeutic agents against pathogens. It is a hugely worthwhile exchange that is mutually beneficial to both research teams."
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THE PASTEUR-OXFORD PHD