The Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CIRI) is a joint research unit created in 2013 by Lyon 1 University, Inserm, CNRS and the ENS Lyon in partnership with VetAgro Sup, the Institut Pasteur and the Hospices Civils de Lyon. The CIRI gathers the scientific and medical research communities with complementary disciplinary backgrounds grouped in 3 specialties working together with the objective to understand host-microbe interactions to better fight infectious diseases.

Through a multidisciplinary approach combining microbiology (bacteriology and virology), immunology, cell biology, clinical research and epidemiology, plus a strong interface with the industry, the CIRI intends to be a research Centre opened to therapeutic innovation and to act a major player in the areas of medical prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.

The CIRI is meant to implement an essential further step of the development of the research in Infectiology in Lyon through a highly structured co-operation between academic and clinical research communities, on the Charles Mérieux campus. It will play a pivotal role by structuring the interactions between academic and private research, and by promoting socio-economic opportunities through strong partnerships with operators involved in the innovation or pre-industrial development, including the Lyon Biopôle and the IRT BioAster. The CIRI will thus constitute a strong interface with industry, with increased collaborations with key actors in the domain of human and animal health on the Lyon area and optimal potential for valorization of results.

The CIRI currently includes nearly 300 researchers, faculty members, graduate students, engineers and technicians in ca. twenty teams that have been enrolled because of their strong expertise in key basic disciplines for the study of infectious diseases (i.e., microbiology, immunology and cell biology) and also of their capacity or specific interest to translate novel knowledge, of scientific or technological nature, in translational research programs and applied research.