Inequalities in the face of the virus, a virus that creates inequalities

As part of the " Covid Initiative " , professors at the Collège de France have been working for several months to shed light on the many facets of the systemic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, beyond strictly medical issues.

In order to broaden and deepen this reflection, the Collège de France and the Collège Belgique of the Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, which have maintained fruitful links for many years, have decided to join forces and bring a European and interdisciplinary dimension to this contribution, taking the time to reflect in depth on the multiple issues at stake in the pandemic. The first concrete elements of this joint action consist of a series of webinars bringing together professors from both institutions to compare their thoughts in the form of dialogues on cross-cutting themes.

The first of these dialogues will be on the theme of " Covid-19 and inequalities " and will take place live on January 15, 2021, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm in the form of a webinar broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium.

It is organized under the responsibility of Philippe Sansonetti, Professor Emeritus at the Collège de France (Chair of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2008-2020) and Michel Goldman, Professor Emeritus at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Co-Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Healthcare.

This will be followed, in 2021, by two further dialogues, one devoted to the economic lessons to be drawn from the pandemic, under the responsibility of Philippe Aghion, Professor at the Collège de France (chair Economics of Institutions, Innovation and Growth) and Mathias Dewatripont, Professor of Economics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Solvay Brussels School, ECARES and I3h). Theother will focus on human rights in the context of Covid-19, under the responsibility of Samantha Besson, Professor at the Collège de France (International Law of Institutions Chair) and Justine Lacroix, Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Attendance is free and open to all: members of the public, journalists, students or researchers, without prior registration.

Program

9:00 - Introduction: Philippe Sansonetti

9:10 - Genetics: Michel Georges and Lluis Quintana-Murci
Moderator: Philippe Sansonetti

9:40 a.m. - Age and gender: Alain Fischer and Arnaud Marchant
Moderator: Michel Goldman

10:10 a.m. - Break

10:20 - Precariousness: Didier Fassin and Andréa Réa
Moderator: Philippe Sansonetti

10:50 - The North-South divide: Deborah Guha and Dominique Kerouedan
Moderator: Michel Goldman

11:20 - Access to vaccines: Marie-Paule Kiény (guest speaker)
Moderator: Philippe Sansonetti

11:50 a.m. - Conclusion: Michel Goldman

Presentation of the speakers

Didier Fassin is a physician, sociologist and anthropologist, Social Sciences Chair at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study and Director of Studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales. In 2019-2020, he will hold the annual Public Health Chair at the Collège de France.

Alain Fischer is a physician, professor of pediatric immunology and biology researcher. Professor emeritus at the Collège de France, he held the Experimental Medicine chair from 2013 to 2020. He was awarded the Inserm Grand Prix for medical research (2008) and the Sanofi-Institut Pasteur prize (2013). On December 4, 2020,he was appointed Chairman of the Conseil d'orientation de la stratégie vaccinale, reporting to the French Ministry of Solidarity and Health.

Michel Georges is Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biomedical Research at the University of Liège (GIGA). His contributions to animal and human genomic medicine earned him the Wolf Prize in 2007 and the Francqui Prize in 2009. He has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2013.

Michel Goldman is an immunologist and Professor Emeritus at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he co-directs the Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h) with Mathias Dewatripont. He has shared the Lucien Steinberg Prize with Peter Piot, held the Spinoza Chair at the University of Amsterdam and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lille.

Debarati Guha-Sapir is Director of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) and Professor at the School of Public Health of the Catholic University of Louvain. Her research on the human impact of disasters and conflicts is conducted within the framework of several international programs supported by the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the European Commission.

Dominique Kerouedan is a doctor, researcher and independent expert in international health. She is founder and scientific advisor of the "Global Health" specialization at Sciences Po's Paris School of International Affairs , and held the annual Knowledge against poverty chair at the Collège de France in 2012-2013.

Marie-Paule Kiény is a virologist, vaccinologist and public health expert. She headed the Department of Vaccine Innovation at WHO, and is currently Director of Research at Inserm and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, and recipient of the 2018 Inserm International Prize.

Arnaud Marchant is Director of the Institute of Medical Immunology at the Free University of Brussels. His research on childhood immunity and vaccine strategies to protect newborns is the subject of a recent study published in the journal Science.

Lluis Quintana-Murci is a population geneticist and winner of the CNRS bronze and silver medals. Professor at the Institut Pasteur and Collège de France, where he has held the Human Genomics and Evolution chair since 2019, he also heads the Human Evolutionary Genetics unit at the Institut Pasteur.

Andréa Rea is Professor of Sociology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he heads the Study Group on Ethnicity, Racism, Migration and Exclusion (GERME). He is the author of several books on social inequalities, and is currently studying their links with Covid-19 disease.

Philippe Sansonetti is a microbiology researcher and infectiologist, professor emeritus at the Collège de France and the Institut Pasteur, member of the Académie des Sciences and foreign member of the Royal Society, the US National Academy of Sciences and the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine. He has received several scientific awards, including the Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine, the Robert Koch Prize and the Inserm Grand Prix.