INSERM head visits IVI Prof. Christian Brechot, Director General of INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale), the French National Institute for Health and Biomedical Research, paid a visit to the IVI on Tuesday, February 21. Prof. Brechot, a virologist and international authority in hepatitis and liver diseases, has led INSERM since 2001 after working with the Pasteur Institute. He visited South Korea to seek ways to expand research cooperation between France and Korea. During his two-hour visit, Prof. Brechot discussed with Dr. Cecil Czerkinsky, IVI Deputy Director General for Laboratory Science and other IVI scientists ways in which France and the IVI could collaborate on biomedical research. His visit also included a briefing and a guided tour of IVI's laboratories. INSERM promotes research in health and biotechnology as a government-owned institute under the French Ministry of Research and the Ministry of Health. The institute includes 13,000 research professionals, 360 research units and 24 clinical research centers, and has an annual budget of about 500 million euros.