BNP Paribas’ commitment to health and medical research benefits both researchers and patients throughout the world. The Group contributes through its many foundations, as well as via its subsidiaries and business lines, in the many countries in which BNP Paribas operates.
Innovative Medical Research that Brings Hope to Many
The researchers and projects that BNP Paribas has supported for more than twenty years are laying the foundations for the medicine of tomorrow. They are working on two fronts: medical research and its clinical applications. These researchers and BNP Paribas share an appetite for innovation, the driving force behind future advances.
A Robotic Orthosis to Restore the Mobility of the Human Upper Body in Disabled Individuals
A blend of biology, computer science and robotics, the objective of the robotic orthosis project led by Jean-Marie Cabelguenne and Jean-René Cazalets is to discover the principles that govern the operation of the axial system in humans. How does the human trunk, which is highly articulated in humans, receive instructions from the networks of neurons that innervate it?
The ultimate aim of this research is highly ambitious: to use an “intelligent” robotic orthosis to restore mobility to the trunk, and to restore the trunk’s role in postural stability when walking, for the benefit of disabled individuals.
This project is supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation’s Scientific Innovation Award, created in partnership with the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (the Foundation for Medical Research). The aim of this award is to support highly innovative research.
Infectious Diseases: the Institut Pasteur Continues the Fight
World renowned for its research into and the prevention of infectious diseases, the Institut Pasteur has developed an international scientific network and collaborates with laboratories in many countries.
This global network allows scientists to conduct high-level research into major infectious diseases. Significant research is currently being conducted into a combined vaccine against measles and HIV (France), on hepatitis C (Japan, Spain), malaria (Brazil), tuberculosis (the Netherlands), polio (Russia) and dengue fever (Hong Kong).
Since 2008, BNP Paribas Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) has supported these programmes through a partnership with the Institut Pasteur and its network. CIB has now donated more than 1.3 million euros to support this research.
Australian Research: a Driver for More Effective Treatments against Breast Cancer
Professor Chris Ormandy is Group Leader of the Cancer Research Program at the Garvan Institute, a pioneering Australian institute in the field of biomedical research.
With his team, he works to discover and understand the genetic programming at the root of physiological processes governing the production of mammary and prostate glands and to control their functions. These same genes can be used to produce cancerous cells and may therefore be useful in designing faster and more reliable treatments.
Professor Ormandy’s team is particularly interested in genes that respond to prolactin. If produced in excessive amounts, this hormone may increase the risk and the dangers of breast cancer. With the support of BNP Paribas Australia, the team hopes to reach its ultimate goal - the development of safer and more effective treatments in the fight against breast cancer.
