Epicentre, Paris
Contact person
Etienne Gignoux (Training Site Representative)
Description of the Institute
Epicentre, a non-profit organisation, was created by the French section of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 1986, aiming to improve medical and operational strategies for operations targeting populations in areas where people are suffering from conflict, epidemics, disasters or where access to care is inadequate or non-existent (precarious situations). In particular, Epicentre's mission is to describe and analyse the health situations of the populations assisted by MSF to better orient programs, and to evaluate and compare new care practices to propose solutions in support of MSF goals. To accomplish this mission, the organisation conducts field epidemiology activities, research projects and training sessions. Its epidemiology and research activities focus on infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, cholera, Ebola, yellow fever, neglected diseases - visceral leishmaniasis, human African trypanosomiasis, Buruli ulcer - but also on chronic diseases that are on the rise in African countries such as cancer. Since its creation, Epicentre has contributed to the development of several diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic solutions. The organisation has also developed strong expertise in the development of software applications for health information management (e.g., EPITRYPS and FUCHIA for the monitoring of trypanosomiasis and HIV/AIDS programmes, respectively). Apart from MSF, Epicentre developed partnerships with other institutions to increase the impact and reach of its studies. In 2024, Epicentre was financed 50% by funds raised by MSF and 50% by external donors, with its annual budget reaching about 20 million euros. As of 2024, 115 projects are ongoing.
Epicentre is governed by a Board of Directors. It has its headquarters (HQ) in Paris, and employs 299 staff members, of which 53% are scientific, including 52 epidemiologists, but also clinical researchers, statisticians, pharmacists, data managers etc. There are also two satellite offices within the respective MSF operational sections, one in Geneva (with 3 Epicentre epidemiologists) and one in Brussels (with 2 Epicentre epidemiologists). In addition, there are two research centres in the field, one in Mbarara, Uganda with 50 staff members and one in Maradi, Niger with 20 staff members, both including epidemiologists, clinical researchers, statisticians and data managers. The research centers have one laboratory each. The HQ consist of two departments (i.e., Intervention Epidemiology & Training (DEIF), and Research department) and a support unit including Administration and Finances. The research department focuses on clinical trials and longterm projects (e.g. research on malaria vaccine, testing of new products for malnutrition).
Training opportunities
The training site offers many opportunities in term of training in the field of epidemiology and the fellow will be able to collaborate with the training department for at least one of the Epicentre training like a training programme in intervention epidemiology in humanitarian context (FETCH) targeting MSF epidemiologists in the field, mostly local staff. The programme includes an 8-day face-to-face introductory course and four additional online modules covering R, surveillance, outbreak investigation and surveys.
Additional trainings include i) Population in Precarious Situations (PSP), a two-week training targeting MSF medical, project, or emergency coordinators, delivered four times a year ii) Response to Epidemics/Emergency (REPEPI), a one-week course targeting MSF medical staff covering surveillance, outbreak investigation, basic epidemiology and response to measles cholera, viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) and malaria outbreaks and iii) Epistat, a one-week basic epidemiology and statistics course for MSF Staff.
Training supervision
General supervision is provided by Jessica Sayyad group coordinator and Francesco Grandesso former EPIET Alumni. Supervision of specific projects will be provided by senior epidemiologists or statisticians in the Department.
Language requirements
French and English