CIRMF - History

The Idea and the Project

In early 1970s, the President of the Republic of Gabon, Omar Bongo Ondimba, announced that he wanted to create a medical research centre, primarily aimed at improving human fertility in his country. This desire led in 1974 to the joint decision of the Gabonese presidency and the president of oil company Elf Aquitaine, under the auspices of a Sponsorship Committee headed by Professor Robert Debré, a leading global medical researcher, and a Scientific Board chaired by Professor Emile E. Beaulieu, to create a Centre for Medical Research in Franceville, in Upper Ogooué.
 
During this development period, in 1975, an epidemiological survey involving researchers and clinicians was undertaken on fertility in Eastern Gabon, with 875 men and 673 women. The sample was exceptional due to the number of individuals examined, and because the men had agreed to participate. 23 other research projects, including 18 on fertility, were also completed.
 
The project culminated on December 5, 1979 with the inauguration of the International Centre for Medical Research in Franceville (CIRMF) headed by the President of the Republic of Gabon, Mr. Omar Bongo. This remarkable research organization based in Central Africa was equipped with the most advanced technical and material resources in the world at the time. This was followed by the first Medical Conference of Libreville. Upon opening, the laboratories of the CIRMF, occupying 2000 sq. m, included five research divisions: Microbiology, Immunology, Anatomical Pathology and Reproductive Biology, plus a biological testing laboratory. The facilities also included a primate centre for the study of great apes and their diseases similar to those of humans. This combination of technological and naturalist resources was unique.

Inauguration of CIRMF on December 5, 1979

Disagreements ...

From the very beginning, even before the opening of the CIRMF, the project drew criticism. Some objections were merely the manifestation of a jealous resentment of wealthy individuals in the North (for example “so many financial resources for such a small country in Africa!... “).
Other critics were more rational and reasonable, such as Dr. Anne-Rethel Laurentin, a prominent researcher from the CNRS in African ethno-medicine, who had been studying subfertility in Central Africa for 25 years (in 1979). She stated that the problem was a lack of hygiene and sanitary facilities. She pointed out “the close co-variations between sterility (...), genital infections and sexually transmitted diseases,” with historical causes related to the slave trade and its consequences. She advocated collective treatment, as had been done between 1950 and 1960 in the low-fertility regions in southern Cameroon, the Black Volta the future Burkina Faso, and in central and south-west regions of the former Belgian Congo. She finished by saying: “(...) the resurrection of the Gabonese population is a pressing public health problem, which can be treated without great expense (...)” (Le Monde, January 16, 1980).
But, at the same time as the CIRMF, new infectious agents and deadly epidemics (Ebola and HIV) appeared in Central Africa, whereas the eradication of infectious diseases had been announced thanks to antibiotics and new treatments (WHO declared on October 29, 1979 that smallpox had been eradicated). In 1982, the Pasteur Institute began studying the new sexually transmitted disease in Central Africa, even before the discovery of HIV. The CIRMF was there, with its cutting-edge tools ready to be used in research on emerging infectious agents and the serious diseases they can cause. But the timing was not yet ripe for the CIRMF to intervene.

Initial assessment

In 1984, an assessment was done after the CIRMF’s first period of operation. It was positive in terms of the research projects initiated ten years earlier (1974). Specialized journalists came to Gabon for the International Seminar on Human Fertility and Sexually Transmitted Diseases which took place in Franceville, from 27 February to 8 March 1984: One such journalist wrote:
 “Considered a daring and courageous achievement by some, and an unrealistic project by others, the CIRMF, in four years, has proven the first group to be right. (...) The medical research currently underway in the CIRMF laboratories covers sexually transmitted diseases (especially in connection with gonorrhoea and Chlamydia), parasite immunology, fetomaternal immune relations in malaria and filariasis, reproduction physiology with the study of sperm biology, in vitro fertility and the study of adrenal puberty versus gonadal puberty in primates. (...) Scientific interns are welcomed and help is given to students of the CUSS (now USS) of Libreville (...). Contacts are maintained with the Faculty of Sciences. (...) Truly international, the CIRMF employs researchers of eight different nationalities.” (Liliane Laplaine-Monthéard, Le Quotidien du Médecin, April 4, 1984).
 Observers also emphasized the magnitude and quality of the health care system and medicalization in Gabon.

An innovation in Africa

The CIRMF Primate Centre housed and still houses hundreds of monkeys (Primates), including two of the three species of African apes, gorillas and chimpanzees, monkeys (including the sun-tailed monkey, a new species) mandrills and macaques from Asia, playing from the start an important role, providing scientists with several potential research avenues, in particular, behavioural studies and the development of innovative therapeutic strategies against viral and parasitic diseases, with clinical and biological monitoring of projects.
One small event delighted the CIRMF scientific community. For the first time in Africa a baby gorilla was born in captivity on September 16, 1983: a female who was named Caroline. This birth was important because it was a gorilla, and it survived. Colonies of monkeys were formed progressively, and the biological and genetic studies conducted on them were an essential contribution to the knowledge of the wild animals closest to man.
 But research on primates in captivity also required the study of primates in their natural environment. To this end, at the end of 1980, Dr. Caroline Tutin, primate researcher, and her assistant Michael Fernandez, undertook a demographic study of the great apes of Gabon, in particular gorillas. The results indicated that the country was a gorilla sanctuary, with a population greater than what was thought.

Gorilla and Chimpanzee Research Station of Lopé

Therefore, the CIRMF decided in 1983 to open a permanent field research station, with these two scientists in charge. The place chosen was the Lopé Reserve (existing since 1946), in the basin of Middle Ogooué, south of the Portes d’Okanda. In addition to the institutional funding organizations, international scientific bodies gradually joined the project, including the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York, which financed a permanent researcher in 1989 and partnered with the CIRMF in 1993 in a joint management agreement through 2005.
“The initial objective of the station was to study the behaviour of wild chimpanzees and gorillas in sympatry.”(Caroline Tutin). The researchers quickly broadened the interests of the Research Station to include other aspects of the lives of great apes and the environment in which they live (the study of vegetation and other large mammals). In the area of protection, the work of eco-guards was developed with the WCS to minimize poaching and educate visitors about the Park (the reserve was made a national park in August 2002). The station also received numerous international research collaborations in areas as diverse as archaeology, molecular genetics, botany, the study of pollen and forestry.
 The Research Station has become a great station and a international control site for biodiversity in the humid tropics. The Research Station also uses spatial analysis, through the Global Positioning System and Geographical Information System. It works in this field with NASA and the University of Maryland, USA. It is also involved in studies on global warming and carbon sequestration. Finally, the Station also trains young national and international researchers.
 “Today, the  Gorilla and Chimpanzee Research Station, thanks to its history (...), offers new and unique opportunities for research in several areas such as ecological approaches to the emergence of zoonotic diseases (...), the understanding of inter-species transmission of pathogens and disease outbreaks in humans and wild animals and the determination of ecosystem services (...) in tropical forests of Central Africa.” (Caroline Tutin, Katryn Jeferey, Bourgarel Mathieu and Jean-Paul Gonzalez - 2009).  

Emergence…

“There will be new diseases.” And “(...) we will never know how to detect them from their origin. ”(Charles Nicolle, 1932)
The concept of emerging diseases was established in Washington DC, USA, in 1989, under the leadership of Nobel Laureate for Medicine Joshua Lederberg (he wrote that viruses are “the only predators of man”) at a meeting organized by the Fogarty Foundation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Rockefeller Foundation on the theme of new diseases. The idea had taken shape since the onset of AIDS in the early 1980s.
“At this meeting, three key issues were debated: Would it have been possible to prevent this epidemic? Can other germs reproduce similar situations? What means should we use to prevent such outbreaks?”(Jean-Francois Saluzzo, Pierre Vidal, Jean-Paul Gonzalez, Emerging Viruses, Paris, IRD Editions, 2004).
The first outbreak of a deadly new virus (hantavirus) occurred in the USA in 1993. Responses to the attack of Nature were quick and efficient, thanks to new methods used by research organizations. Similarly, other pathogens have emerged since. For example: West Nile in 1999, SARS in 2003, H5N1 (bird flu) in 2004, H1N1 (swine flu) in 2009, etc. People travel more, for business and/or tourism, and viruses “take advantage” of this to travel in humans and animals, despite all the health measures taken.
The idea of creating, particularly in the tropics, a network of fast response “health watchtowers” responsible for monitoring, studying and analyzing new microbiological hazards, developed during the 1990s. An institution such as the CIRMF perfectly met these criteria because of its location, its facilities, laboratories and its skilled and efficient workforce. Moreover, Gabon found itself in the presence of viral attacks, fortunately very localized, such as those caused by Ebola virus in 1994, and dengue and chikungunya  in 2007. The CIRMF could clearly play a role as one of these health watchtowers dedicated to monitoring viral hemorrhagic diseases. New infections and microbial threats are becoming a growing concern for human health.

Turbulence…

After fifteen years of positive operations in the field of medical research, with national and international partnerships and educational work done with students and young researchers, the CIRMF experienced a turbulent period. This situation is inherent in any large and important organization. The reasons for this turmoil were both institutional and directional, far more than operational. And then, opposition to the existence of the CIRMF, in Gabon and abroad, had never disappeared, or disarmed.
The situation of the CIRMF – and perhaps its fate  - was hotly debated in the national press, and even the international press. A major Paris newspaper, Le Figaro, ran a headline in early 1998: “An African Research Centre in the Eye of the Storm!” The article's author paid tribute to the scientific work accomplished: “This centre of excellence that attracts researchers from around the world publishes key results in major journals on emerging diseases, human and simian retroviruses and malaria vaccine research.” But the author added that it was necessary to find a director general, whom he defined as: “The ideal Director General will be a rare bird: and (...) he will have to be a vigilant administrator as well as a visionary scientist.”

CIRMF keeps its focus on science ...

However, the CIRMF, supported by the Gabonese government and the President of the Republic, and its main contributor, Total Gabon (formerly Elf, whose parent company was sold in France to Total), continued on its path, although the crisis persisted for several years. The research work and health support continued in Gabon and elsewhere.
The initial research theme was focused on improving fertility and pre- and post-natal health, especially in the tropics. With the arrival of new research partners, such as the French Ministry of Cooperation, the Pasteur Institute in Paris, the French Institute of Research for Development, the French National Research Agency against AIDS, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (South Africa), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), the Royal Society (Great Britain) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (USA), the CIRMF focused its work on important goals: comparative studies between retroviruses in humans and non-human primates; the incidence of viral hepatitis; trials of vaccine or antiviral treatment/prophylaxis; explanatory research on viral hemorrhagic fevers; severe malaria; the diagnosis of filariasis, brain damage from human trypanosomiasis; genetics of ecosystems.
Since the late 1990s, new targets and subjects of research have emerged: the study of arboviruses, in particular dengue and chikungunya, the biodiversity of parasites (Plasmodium and Toxoplasma), and the creation of the Ecology and Health Research Unit.

CIRMF continues ...

The various CIRMF research units continued to increase their production. A new Research Unit was developed in 2000-2001, dedicated to hemoglobinopathies. It is composed of the Sickle Cell Disease Diagnosis Laboratory, located at the Faculty of Medicine in Libreville, and the Hemoglobinopathies Genetics Research Laboratory, located on the CIRMF campus in Franceville. Other new units include the Medical Biology and Public Health Unit, consisting of a medical analysis laboratory on the CIRMF campus and a health observatory in the rainforest in Dienga.
The CIRMF, resolutely turned towards the future with its advances in medical research (over 500 publications in prominent scientific journals) and its interactions with the Gabonese research and training institutes (more than 45 doctoral students trained through 2009), continued its primary objectives of medical research, education and support to public health by broadening its research activities to include current issues such as the environment and ecology applied to health. Although the production of knowledge through medical research remains the driving force for the CIRMF, it is through excellence and research training programs that young Gabonese and foreign students produce this knowledge. Not to mention the indispensable international cooperation.
CIRMF became a true “flagship” of medical research in Africa. It acquired two high security laboratories, and then, in 1995 inaugurated a very high security laboratory, just above the Primate Centre. This high-tech biosafety lab is located in a beautiful African rainforest.

Then some 30 years later ...

Since autumn 2008, the CIRMF has had a new Director General who, without underestimating the work of his predecessors, is undoubtedly exactly the person the Le Figaro science journalist had defined a decade earlier. He is a leading international scientist in research areas addressed by the CIRMF. His career as a researcher, laboratory head and research professor has been and continues to be exemplary. And for him, each CIRMF staff member, from the most humble to the most highly skilled, is indispensable, and everyone knows it. He undertook to renovate the CIRMF, and has reinvigorated the Centre, with support from the Gabonese management team and the heads of research units, as well as the managers of the services and maintenance department. And for the first time, the CIRMF finances are balanced.
Dr. Jean-Paul Gonzalez was one of the main researchers in the hunt for the Ebola virus. He had been running the IRD research unit for a dozen years, when one of its teams within the CIRMF solved the mystery of the Ebola reservoir and method of transmission, via certain species of bats. When these bats drop partially-eaten fruit, other mammals, such as monkeys, chimpanzees or even humans, feed on the fruit and contract the virus. In the fall of 2009, Dr. Eric Leroy, the head of the Emerging Viral Diseases team that made the discovery, was awarded the international Christophe Merieux Medical Research prize, a leading scientific award of the Institut de France, in the presence of representatives of the five academies. This award came at a perfect time to celebrate the renewal of the CIRMF.
Thus, the 30th anniversary of the International Centre for Medical Research in Franceville, a Gabonese institution well supported internationally, was enthusiastically celebrated on Feb. 5, 2010, attended by the President of the Gabonese Republic, Mr. Ali Bongo, the successor of the late Omar Bongo, founder of the CIRMF. And a few weeks later, on February 24, 2010, alongside the President of the Gabonese Republic, Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic, visited the CIRMF, thereby signalling France’s continued support of our fine institution, an institution that works for the health of Gabon, Africa and all of humanity with constant attention to sustainable development.
The CIRMF Primate Centre housed and still houses hundreds of monkeys (Primates), including two of the three species of African apes, gorillas and chimpanzees, monkeys (including the sun-tailed monkey, a new species) mandrills and macaques from Asia, playing from the start an important role, providing scientists with several potential research avenues, in particular, behavioural studies and the development of innovative therapeutic strategies against viral and parasitic diseases, with clinical and biological monitoring of projects.
One small event delighted the CIRMF scientific community. For the first time in Africa a baby gorilla was born in captivity on September 16, 1983: a female who was named Caroline. This birth was important because it was a gorilla, and it survived. Colonies of monkeys were formed progressively, and the biological and genetic studies conducted on them were an essential contribution to the knowledge of the wild animals closest to man.
 But research on primates in captivity also required the study of primates in their natural environment. To this end, at the end of 1980, Dr. Caroline Tutin, primate researcher, and her assistant Michael Fernandez, undertook a demographic study of the great apes of Gabon, in particular gorillas. The results indicated that the country was a gorilla sanctuary, with a population greater than what was thought.