On 12-16 March, the Ukrainian Anti-Plague Station Design Identification Mission to European Commission and advanced microbiological Institutions of France has been organized by the STCU.

12 Mar 2012 - 16 Mar 2012

On 12-16 March, the Ukrainian Anti-Plague Station Design Identification Mission to European Commission and advanced microbiological Institutions of France has been organized by the STCU. STCU sponsored a delegation of the specialists from the Ukrainian Anti-Plague Station (UAPS, Simferopol, Crimea) leaded by the UAPS Director Prof. Alexandr Khaytovich along with STCU Deputy Executive Director (EU) Michel Zayet and STCU Senior Specialist Vlada Pashynska.

The Mission was aimed at gathering external additional expertise on the Conceptual Design of the new UAPS facility which is planned to be constructed in the framework of the EU-funded STCU project "Bio-safety and bio-security improvement at the Ukrainian Anti-Plague Station in Simferopol”.
On March 12 a meeting of the STCU delegation took place with Mr. Philippe Servais, Project Manager from European Commission DG DEVCO took place in EC DEVCO Office, Brussels (Belgium). At the meeting the STCU project progress and problems were discussed, including the discussion of the Conceptual Design of the new UAPS facility. STCU Chairman of the Governing Board, Director of the European Commission DEVCO Directorate D, Mr. Kristian Schmidt also welcomed the Delegation in his office.

Later on the same day the meeting of the UAPS/STCU specialists with Prof. A. Syrota, INSERM Director was held at the INSERM, Paris (France). Dr. Herve Raoul, Director of BSL-4 laboratory in Lyon (France) participated in the meeting along with other INSERM experts. The UAPS and INSERM presentations concentrated on possible areas of future collaboration. One idea was identified to consider a collaborative INSERM/STCU project in investigation of Crimea Congo hemorrhagic fever and study of other especially dangerous infections of international importance.

On March 13-14 the Institut PASTEUR of Paris hosted the UAPS/STCU delegation. The visit included a roundtable discussion on the new UAPS facility in accordance with modern international biosafety/biosecurity standards and also on possible topics of scientific collaboration between the specialists of Institut Pasteur Paris possibly including avian influenza problems, as well as other directions. The French experts organized the visit of the BSL-3 laboratory for the Ukrainian specialists.

On March 14-15, the Institut Pasteur of Lille was visited by the UAPS/STCU delegation. The delegation met with the Scientific Director, Dr. Camille Locht and other experts of the Institution on 14 of March. The UAPS was the first Ukrainian Bio-Institution with which a contact in microbiology area was established by Institut Pasteur Lille. A fruitful roundtable discussion started during which possible collaborative projects were discussed in areas of tularemia and avian influenza investigations. The visit of the Ukrainian specialists to the BSL-3 laboratory was organized on March 15. The investigation and technical units of the laboratory have been visited where the Ukrainian specialists had possibilities to get acquainted with the French experience of the BSL-3 laboratories construction. Following a roundtable discussion of the Conceptual Design scheme of the new UAPS facility with the French experts, a series of important remarks were suggested allowing improving the draft scheme more in accordance with the European biosafety/biosecurity standards.