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A new University-Hospital Institute in Bordeaux

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The Precision and global vascular brain health institute (VBHI) project, coordinated by the University of Bordeaux and supported by Bordeaux University Hospital, Inserm, Inria and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, is a laureate of the University-Hospital Institute 3 call for proposals within the framework of the France 2030 plan.

Photo : A genomic study with DNA samples from nearly 200,000 stroke patients @ peterschreiber.media
A genomic study with DNA samples from nearly 200,000 stroke patients @ peterschreiber.media

On Tuesday May 16th, 12 new University-Hospital Institutes (IHU) and 4 bioclusters were announced by the French government as part of the "Innovation Santé 2030" plan. The VBHI IHU is one of the 16 new programmes of excellence endorsed to accelerate research and innovation in health.

This new University-Hospital Institute, directed by Stéphanie Debette, professor at the University of Bordeaux and Bordeaux University Hospital and director of the Bordeaux Population Health research centre (University of Bordeaux, Inserm), will be dedicated to brain vascular health.

The institute will develop a new paradigm integrating population health and therapeutic innovation to fight the most common neurological diseases, stroke and dementia, and to promote healthy cerebral aging. At the heart of an emerging global dynamic focused on innovation and inclusion, this new IHU will strive to maximise the scientific, medical and socio-economic impact of cerebrovascular health research, at national and international levels.

I would like to congratulate our colleague Stéphanie Debette and the teams around her for this great collective success, which demonstrates the capacity of the University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux University Hospital and all of its partners to work together on cutting-edge research, training and innovation in health. The launch of this new IHU dedicated to brain vascular health also demonstrates the particular influence of the Bordeaux university ecosystem, which now hosts two IHUs on its campus.

Dean Lewis, President of the University of Bordeaux

By bringing together world-renowned researchers, clinicians and industrial partners in a state-of-the-art facility, the future IHU aims to establish a new paradigm for preventing stroke and dementia on a local and global scale. This is summarised in five missions:

  • Develop cutting-edge fundamental and translational science to decipher the mechanisms of cerebrovascular diseases and identify effective prevention and treatment strategies;
  • Provide a new paradigm for transforming stroke and dementia prevention through organisational and technological innovations;
  • Deliver education and training based on the real-life challenges faced by practitioners, including precision public health for stroke and research excellence;
  • Create a hub for innovation and impact in a dedicated building, hosting initiatives that promote public-private partnerships, technology watch, business creation and the emergence of innovative methods to facilitate the translation of research results into health policies and clinical practice;
  • Establish a national and international coalition, including countries in the global South, for cerebrovascular health to strengthen and broaden the impact of research and stimulate innovation.

We are extremely pleased with this result, which will enable us to develop an entirely new paradigm of precision public health applied to cerebrovascular diseases, one of the main sources of mortality and dependency worldwide. Located at the intersection of different centres of research excellence in Bordeaux, the VBHI IHU will deploy an ambitious programme aimed at maximising our impact on the health of populations by elucidating the complex mechanisms of cerebrovascular disease and proposing personalised preventive and therapeutic developments. In parallel, organisational and conceptual innovations will be deployed to reduce health inequalities in our territory and on a global scale, particularly marked in the field of cerebrovascular health. This will go hand in hand with a new and ambitious training offer anchored in an already very rich teaching pool in public health, data science and neuroscience. We expect a translational impact at several levels, through improved prevention and care for patients and the population (local and global), through accelerated technology transfer with our partners, and through cross-sectoral dialogue aimed at improving public policies.

Stéphanie Debette, director of the VBHI IHU