With 1,450 doctors trained in Salzburg, Armenia ranks third worldwide among the OMI fellowship recipients. From October 14-15, 2025, the OMI, in partnership with the world-renowned Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, hosted a satellite symposium at Yerevan State Medical University after M. Heratsi. Guided by the expertise of Dr. Jean-Pierre Vartanian and Dr. Pascal Pineau, the scientific event offered attendees an exceptional opportunity to explore the latest breakthroughs at the intersection of virology, genetics, stress response, and oncology, featuring insightful keynote presentations and an engaging roundtable discussion.
“During our stay, we had the opportunity to visit several institutes and research centers, and to initiate promising new collaborations. Our time there was also enriched by many insightful discussions and meetings with students, researchers, and medical doctors. We did our best to highlight both the OMI and the Institut Pasteur in Yerevan, and I truly feel we succeeded, as reflected in the enthusiasm and spirit of collaboration we encountered,” summarized Dr. Vartanian.
A special thanks goes to the OMI local coordinator Dr. Astghik Markosyan for her help in arranging the symposium and various visits, and for her warm hospitality on-site.
Featured Lectures:
- HIV and Cancer: Why the Virus Itself Is Not Oncogenic
- DNA Mutator Enzymes as Drivers of Genomic Instability in Human Cancers
- Multiple Modalities of Genetic Predisposition to Cancer in Humans
- Oncogenic Mechanisms Implemented by Hepatitis Viruses in Liver Cancer
- Diversity of Genomic Alterations in Liver Carcinogenesis
Teaching Experts:
Jean-Pierre Vartanian, PhD obtained his PhD at the University of Paris. He is the Research Director and Director of the Department of Virology at the Institut Pasteur as well as the Co-Director of the basic virology course at the Institut Pasteur. Dr. Vartanian is involved in teaching in many French and foreign universities. He recently organized two MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) entitled “Viruses and Human Cancers” and “Emerging and Re-emerging Viruses”. He is the director of a course of Molecular Cancer Genetics, developed in partnership with Institut Pasteur, Institut Curie, and ENS Ulm. Dr. Vartanian is also actively involved in the organization of courses within the Institut Pasteur Network. He has supervised numerous Master, PhD, and post-doc students. He is head of the Unit Virus and cellular stress in the Department of Virology at the Institut Pasteur. He is focused on identifying restriction factors involved during viral replication and the role of cellular RNA/DNA editing enzymes with antiviral activity against a range of human pathogens. Dr. Vartanian is a peer reviewer for multiple major journals.
Pascal Pineau, PhD is currently Research Director (~PI) at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. Dr. Pineau was born in Berlin, Germany but spent his childhood near Bordeaux in Southwest France. After moving to Paris, he was a student at the School of Pharmacy of Paris XI University (Chatenay-Malabry) in the 1980s and he completed his formation by an internship in Paris-Greater Paris hospitals. He obtained a PhD in 1998 from Paris XI University (Orsay) after conducting his thesis work at the Institut Pasteur where he took a position of permanent scientist in 2000. Dr. Pineau has published in the areas of cancer genetics and molecular virology and more specifically in the field of hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis viruses. His main research interests are dealing with the molecular epidemiology of primary liver cancer with a particular attention for chromosome instability, somatic mutations, and DNA methylation in correlation with viral infections and exposure to environmental mutagens. With the help of fellow scientists and clinicians from other research Institutions (Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Institut Pasteur of Morocco, Iran, Bangui, and Saint Petersburg, Centre Pasteur of Cameroon, Institutes Fundeni and Cantacuzino, Fudan University, National Institute for Sustainable Development, and the National Institute for Tumor Diseases in Lima, Peru), Dr. Pineau pioneered the field of somatic and/ or inherited genetics of hepatocellular carcinoma in low incidence and poorly studied areas as Northern/ Sub Saharan Africa, Central Europe/ Russia and South America. This activity enabled him to observe the impact of clinically relevant genetic, infectious, and environmental specificities of liver tumors. Dr. Pineau is a peer reviewer for multiple major liver journal. He is also involved for more than ten years in teaching activities at the Institut Pasteur and for international courses.
