History

The institute is named after an 18th century French physician, Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis, who is considered the spiritual father of evidence-based medicine (EBM) and who notably introduced the digital method in medicine.

The Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health was created in January 2014 as a single laboratory bringing together all of Sorbonne University's research strengths in epidemiology and public health, in order to increase our visibility and attractiveness, facilitate inter-team collaborative work, and ensure a more efficient allocation of administrative or operational staff.

Today the institute is directed by Professor Fabrice Carrat, a public health specialist in biostatistics, professor at the Sorbonne University Faculty of Medicine and hospital practitioner at the Saint-Antoine Hospital. His research activities are mainly devoted to the epidemiology of infectious diseases, in particular influenza (and now COVID-19) and chronic viral hepatitis. He is responsible for the Master of Public Health at Sorbonne University, coordinates the DIU CESAM, and co-coordinates the teaching of biostatistics in the first year of health studies. On the hospital level, his missions are essentially devoted to supporting clinical and biological research activities in the hospital group. He is head of the public health department at the Saint-Antoine and Tenon hospitals, deputy medical director and research correspondent for the ESPRIT DMU.