The center, based at USP’s “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture in Piracicaba, will be the first international unit of France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAe)
USP and France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAe) have signed an agreement to create the International Research Center (IRC) for Planetary Health. The joint international laboratory will explore the interconnections between human, animal, plant, and environmental health. The signing ceremony took place on October 28 at INRAe’s headquarters in Paris, France.
The center will bring together more than one hundred French and Brazilian researchers specializing in the natural, medical, social, and political sciences. It will be the first international research center established by INRAe at USP’s campus in Piracicaba and the fourth of its kind at the University. USP already hosts international centers in partnership with the Pasteur Institute of São Paulo, the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), the Latin American Medical Mycology Center (CMM Latam), and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB).
Fernando Consoli, dean of the Department of Entomology and Acarology at USP’s “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture (ESALQ), and Anne-Nathalie Volkoff, research director and specialist in agricultural pests at INRAe, will coordinate the center.
The center’s mission is to develop integrated scientific approaches connecting agriculture, environment, food, and health; strengthen the Franco-Brazilian research network between the two institutions and their partners; support joint training and mobility for young researchers (PhD and postdoctoral); and promote innovative solutions for sustainability, food security, and health risk prevention.
Research activities will focus on five main areas: Sustainable production systems: agroecology, biocontrol, and functional biodiversity; Adaptation to climate change: genetics, modeling, and carbon management; Responsible use of resources: water, soil, and the circular bioeconomy; Food systems and preventive nutrition: healthy and sustainable diets; and Digital agriculture and food systems: data, robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital twins.
The program builds on long-standing collaborations between USP and INRAe – one of the world’s leading research institutions in agriculture, food, and the environment. Since 2017, the partnership has produced more than 430 joint scientific publications in areas such as ecology, environmental science, microbiology, food science, and forestry.
Shared commitment
“Through the collaboration of our French and Brazilian teams over the past 15 years, the IRC for Planetary Health has become an open platform for research and innovation in ecological, food, and health transitions, as well as in adapting agriculture to climate change. It represents the shared commitment of INRAe and USP to working together for the health of the planet,” said INRAe Chair Philippe Mauguin.
USP President Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior stated, “This new center marks an important partnership with INRAe, one of France’s leading agricultural research institutions. The center will promote cutting-edge research in collaboration with USP’s ‘Luiz de Queiroz’ College of Agriculture (Esalq), INRAe’s main partner in Brazil, as well as with the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (Cena), the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (FMVZ), and the School of Animal Science and Food Engineering (FZEA). Other USP schools and research units involved in food science will also participate, including the School of Public Health (FSP) and the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCF)”.
According to Carlotti, “This initiative will create an international environment for our researchers and enable the development of new collaborative projects. I am confident that this joint effort with INRAe will be highly enriching and will further showcase our University’s strengths in scientific production and in developing solutions aligned with the five pillars of the new center.”
Recognition of the IRC for Planetary Health by the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp) is expected at a later stage. The foundation anticipates an investment of R$3 million over five years to support the center’s operational launch in 2026. The funding will cover joint projects, researcher mobility programs, and the organization of summer schools and international symposia.
English version: Nexus Traduções, edited by Denis Pacheco
