Dr  Juliet Bryant

Research Director, Laboratory of Emerging Pathogens, Fondation Mérieux, Lyon, France

[Host: Dr Virginie Rozot]

Juliet Bryant joined the Fondation Mérieux (FMx) in 2017 as Research Director of the Laboratory of Emerging Pathogens (LPE) in Lyon, France. FMx is a not-for-profit independent family foundation that maintains an international network of clinical diagnostic laboratories in lower income countries, and conducts projects and activities aimed at improving access to laboratory diagnostics for infectious diseases among vulnerable populations.   Prior to joining FMx, Juliet worked for eleven years in southeast Asia on infectious disease research, first for the Institut Pasteur in Lao PDR (2006-2009), and then for Oxford University Clinical Research Unit-Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City (2009-20013) and Hanoi (2013-2017).  With an academic background in animal science and virology, her past work addressed the ecology and evolution of viral zoonotic pathogens, with particular focus on molecular genetic and antigenic determinants of avian influenza.  As Research Director of the LPE, she works to develop new initiatives to strengthen the GABRIEL network of FMx (http://gabriel-network), including multicentric studies of novel diagnostic platforms, and studies to investigate the impact of vaccines and public health interventions.   New initiatives under development comprise cross-country evaluations of (1) Tuberculosis immunodiagnostic assays and community-based programs for contact tracing; (2) S. pneumoniae carriage studies; and (3) one-health approaches to monitoring antimicrobial resistance (Tricycle protocol of WHO).