Fiocruz intensifies partnerships during visits to the United States

President of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira led a mission to the United States between April 15 and 17 seeking to strengthen collaborative ties and promote significant advances with partners in priority areas for the institution. Also taking part in the mission were the vice president of Health Production and Innovation, Marco Aurélio Krieger, the director of the Immunobiological Technology Institute (Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz), Maurício Zuma, and the senior researcher at the Fiocruz Global Health Center (Cris/Fiocruz), Luiz Augusto Galvão.

Mario Moreira met  the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Jeanne Marrazzo

On the first day of their agenda in Washington (4/15), the group met with the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Jeanne Marrazzo. During the meeting, joint activities were discussed, with a special focus on research to prevent pandemic risks, develop vaccines and improve diagnostic tests. Additionally, interest was reinforced in maintaining and expanding the collaborations already established, including those conducted by the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI/Fiocruz) and the National Institute of Women, Children and Adolescents Health Fernandes Figueira (IFF/Fiocruz).

The first day of the visit was also marked by a meeting with the deputy director of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Lawrence Tabak. During the conversation, opportunities were explored to broaden collaboration in areas such as disease therapeutics and to expand cooperation with the various NIH institutes and centers.

Mario Moreira was also at the National Academy of Medicine, where he was received by the institution's president, Victor Dzau. The meeting, which was also attended by the UN Foundation's health director, Cecília Mundaca Sha, highlighted the activities of Fiocruz and the National Academy of Medicine in the areas of pandemic prevention and risk response, innovation, advances in therapeutics and climate, health and equity, with the expectation of joining efforts and expertise in these agendas.

The second day in Washington was dedicated to a visit to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Throughout the day, Mario Moreira met with the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, the director of PAHO's Department of Innovation, Access to Medicines and Health Technologies (IMT), Judit Rius Sanjuan, the executive manager of PAHO's revolving funds, Santiago Cornejo, and the head of the regional innovation and production platform unit, Tomás Pippo.

"The talks, which were very productive and promising, continued the negotiations that began in 2023 on opportunities for collaboration between Fiocruz and PAHO," said the president of Fiocruz.

Among the topics discussed was partnership in mapping Latin America's productive capacities, in order to strengthen the region's health infrastructure and promote scientific cooperation between Latin American countries. Fiocruz's key role in supplying yellow fever vaccines to Latin America was also highlighted, opening up the possibility of an expanded role for other immunizers and the supply of medicines, diagnostics, such as HPV, and high-cost treatments.

On the last day of the trip, the president of Fiocruz visited the Brazilian embassy in Washington, where he spoke with Ambassador Maria Luiza Viotti about the results of the mission to the country.