The International Vaccine Institute (IVI announced the appointment of Dr. Christian Loucq as the organization’s next Director General. Dr. Loucq will take up his new role in November. Ragnar Norrby, chairman of the IVI’s board of trustees, commented, “Christian Loucq is well-versed in the management and leadership of private- and public-sector organizations in the vaccine arena, and he has extensive experience in working with public-private partnerships and private collaborations. His distinguished track record and background in global public health and business makes him an ideal leader to effectively set the course for the IVI’s continued success and further growth and development as an institute.” Most recently, Dr. Loucq was the Director of the Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), a product development partnership based at PATH in the U.S.
Dr. Loucq commented, “I am honored and very enthusiastic to be joining the IVI team as Director General. From research and development to epidemiology, from local manufacturing to access, the IVI has been a pioneering organization in many aspects of vaccinology when applied to preventing infectious diseases among the worlds poorest children. I look forward to working with the IVI team, its board and advisors, the many generous donors, and the IVI’s collaborators throughout the world to help the IVI have an even greater impact.”
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) describes itself as “the world’s only international organization devoted exclusively to developing and introducing new and improved vaccines to protect the world’s poorest people, especially children in developing countries. Established as an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme in 1997, the IVI operates as an independent international organization under a treaty signed by 40 countries and the World Health Organization. The Institute conducts research in 30 countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America on vaccines against diarrheal infections, bacterial meningitis and pneumonia, as well as Japanese encephalitis and dengue fever, and develops new and improved vaccines, routes of delivery and adjuvants at its headquarters in Seoul, Korea.”
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