Socio-Life Science Interdisciplinary Seminar: Stakes of Covid-19 Vaccination

Moderator: Prof. Anavaj Sakuntabhai (Director, IPJO / Specially Invited Professor, Kyoto University)
Closing remarks Prof. Makoto Yano (Chairman, RIETI)
Speakers: MATSUDA Fumihiko (Director of the Center for Genomic Medicine, Kyoto University), Christiane GERKE (Institut Pasteur), Jeremy K. WARD (INSERM/CERMES3), FUJII Daisuke (RIETI, Tokyo University)
Moderator: Anavaj SAKUNTABHAI (Institut Pasteur)
Organization: IFRJ-MFJ, Institut Pasteur, Fondation Pasteur Japon, Center for Genomic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, RIETI
Patronage: The Embassy of France in Japan and The Institut Pasteur

The world is currently going through a crisis unprecedented in its history. Not only is it a challenge for the life sciences community in search of new cures and a vaccine, but it is also disrupting many aspects of human society. Its health, economic, political, environmental and anthropological consequences will have a lasting impact on contemporary societies. However, the objective of this seminar is not only to examine the case of Covid-19, but to build on current debates, stimulated by the magnitude of the crisis, to propose an interdisciplinary reflection on the respective contributions of, on the one side, the humanities and social sciences, and on the other side, of life sciences, in the field of public health. This seminar will also favor a comparative approach, in particular between Japan and France, concerning vaccination, from social science and life science perspectives. Indeed, an international comparison allows us to highlight social determinants in the way epidemics manifest themselves.