Lyon Laboratory
Director: Laurent Lempereur
Deputy Director: Emilie Gay
Address: 31, avenue Tony Garnier, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07
Email: contact.lyon@anses.fr
Staff: Nearly 100, including 74 on permanent contracts, spread out across five scientific units and two departments.
The laboratory's missions
The Lyon Laboratory is a multi-purpose facility involved in five of ANSES’s strategic cross-cutting fields:
- Antimicrobial resistance;
- Epidemiology and surveillance in the fields of animal health, food safety, plant health and antimicrobial resistance;
- Exposure to and toxicology of chemical contaminants, with a focus on their link with the protein aggregation observed in animal and human neurodegenerative and neurodevelopment diseases;
- Animal health, through the issue of animal mycoplasmas;
- Plant health, by studying resistance to plant protection products.
The laboratory has several reference mandates: it is the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in animals (bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie) and coordinates ANSES's mandate as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Reference Centre for antimicrobial resistance.
It is also involved in the national epidemiological surveillance platforms for animal health, plant health and food-chain safety.
The laboratory jointly coordinates two major surveillance networks:
- Résapath, the surveillance network for antimicrobial resistance in pathogenic bacteria of animal origin;
- Vigimyc, the epidemiological surveillance network for ruminant mycoplasmas.
Lastly, it coordinates the writing and publishing of the Bulletin Epidémiologique on Animal Health – Food Safety. This French open-access scientific journal is produced jointly by ANSES and the Directorate General for Food (DGAL), and enables them to exchange information with local, regional and national players working in animal health and food safety.
The laboratory performs all its services on the basis of a quality management system and documented methods. As such, it is accredited according to the NF EN ISO/CEI 17025 standard. The scope of this accreditation is available on the COFRAC website (1-2287).
Latest laboratory news
How green peach aphids resist neonicotinoid-based insecticides
Neonicotinoids have long been used to combat aphids on crops. However, repeated use of these active substances has led to the selection of insects able to resist them. A study carried out by ANSES in collaboration with a researcher from the University of Exeter (UK) on the green peach aphid revealed that the resistance in this species was based on two distinct mechanisms. One is specific to the product's mode of action and the other is based on its degradation. The scientists' findings show that interactions between resistance mechanisms are possible, which is invaluable knowledge for adapting control strategies.
Read the rest of the news item
The laboratory's units
- Antimicrobial Resistance and Bacterial Virulence Unit (AVB)
- Epidemiology and Surveillance Support Unit (EAS)
- Neurodegenerative and Neurodevelopment Diseases Unit (MN2D)
- Joint Research Unit on Animal Mycoplasmas (MYCO UMR)
- Contracted Unit for the Characterisation and Monitoring of Phenomena of Resistance Development (CASPER USC)
Partnerships
The laboratory works to maintain its numerous collaborations with other research bodies at national and international level, particularly on calls for projects (EcoAntibio, EU-JAMRAI 2, OH AMR, AHW Partnership, Agralife, etc.), with contributions to major national and international consortia remaining the laboratory's main source of funding and research visibility.
Besides these project-based collaborations, the laboratory has also developed more formal partnerships.
It has strong ties with VetAgro Sup, mainly via the MYCO UMR supervised jointly by ANSES and VetAgro Sup. The laboratory also has close links with INRAE teams, mainly in the field of plant health with the CASPER USC, which studies resistance to plant protection products.
The Lyon Laboratory contributes to the thematic research network for animal health and welfare in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region (SAARA), set up jointly with INRAE and VetAgro Sup in 2018. The goal is to initiate and maintain a network of regional forces involved in research on animal health and welfare.
On the topic of antimicrobial resistance, the laboratory interacts regularly with the National Reference Centres (NRCs) in France. It also has a partnership agreement with the Mérieux Foundation and promotes international collaboration in terms of training and interlaboratory testing. Close cooperation has been forged with the University of Sousse in Tunisia, enabling several PhD students to be supervised jointly on the subject of antimicrobial resistance.
Located at the heart of the Lyon-Gerland Biodistrict, ANSES's Lyon Laboratory is also a member of LyonBiopole. In addition, the laboratory has been an associate member of the University of Lyon since 2015, and is involved in this university's strategic plan. This positioning is an asset for its regional presence, enabling it to build research capacities through the hosting and supervision of Master and PhD students in collaboration with doctoral schools, on disciplines in biology, as well as those in the economic and social sciences.
Within this regional ecosystem, ANSES's Lyon Laboratory is contributing to several major pivotal projects:
- Shape-MED@Lyon, an ambitious and transformative project for tomorrow's research in the Lyon region, selected under the ExcellenCES call for projects (PIA4 future-oriented investment programme),
- EUR EID@Lyon, selected under the 2021-2025 "Skills and professions of the future" (France 2030), and including the One Health Institute (IOH),
- creation in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of a European Biocluster in immunoinfectiology under the France 2030 investment plan.