Collaborations & Funding-ON

A Unique Franco-Argentine Collaboration on TB Research

We are proud to highlight the unique and long-standing collaboration between our lab and the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), led by Dr. Luciana Balboa, within the France–Argentina MAC-TB/HIV partnership. Launched in 2014 under the ECOS Sud program and formalized in 2016 as a Laboratoire International Associé (LIA) between IPBS and INBIRS, the LIA was coordinated by Olivier Neyrolles and Luciana Balboa. In 2021, the collaboration was renewed as a CNRS International Research Project (IRP), coordinated by Geanncarlo Lugo and Luciana Balboa. For over a decade, our teams have combined complementary expertise in TB immunometabolism and HIV biology to decipher how the tuberculous microenvironment reshapes macrophage lipid networks and metabolism, turning them into “Trojan horses” that facilitate HIV-1 persistence and dissemination. This highly productive partnership has generated major joint publications, trained numerous PhD students and postdoctoral fellows through sustained bilateral exchanges, and significantly increased the international visibility of our work on TB/HIV co-infection. The closing meeting held at IPBS on January 16, 2026, celebrated ten years of scientific achievements while reaffirming our shared commitment to deepen and expand this strategic Franco-Argentine collaboration in the years ahead.