By Hakim Djaballah
What began as a yearlong cover-up by Christian Brechot, Marc Jouan, and Roberto Bruzzone, ended with a big blowout. Brechot confessed about misleading the public by attesting that the MERS virus brought to Paris posed no health risks; while, Bruzzone denied that MERS virus was taken to Paris, as we await the overdue results of the Korean CDC investigation. MERS samples were deliberately stolen by the Korean virologist Ji-Young Min. As she did not document her theft and Brechot conveniently destroyed the samples, it is impossible to assess the level of threat.
Instead of publicly denouncing Min's actions, Brechot chose to condemn her dismissal, and begun a witch-hunt against me; In a colonial fashion, he interfered in a sovereign institute governed under Korean laws, an act of ingerence. Cover-up, dishonesty, and lies all around the Pasteur table. How can we trust them with their "one health" initiative for outbreak investigations, when they are incapable, to investigate and report on incidents happening on their own campuses? First SARS, then MERS, then ZIKA, what next?
Two suicides: a female researcher who was sexually harassed by Marc Windisch, a German national, and believed to be pregnant. A male chemist who was bullied to his death by Jinhwa Lee, a Korean national. A pregnancy case ending with a baby girl involving Kevin Pethe, a French national who left for the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. All of these incidents were carefully buried under IPP's eyeful watch. Brechot has no compassion; he seems to enjoy such indecency and criminal behavior.
Brechot and Jouan expressed that the Koreans are paying for the name and they only provide in-kind contribution, when confronted about honoring their executed agreements. They went further to suggest that, the Koreans will have no choice but to sign another ten-year agreement with similar provisions. Brechot stated that pressure from French diplomacy always prevail. The Korean prime minister travelled to Paris in Sept. 2015 and the French president visited Seoul in Nov. 2015, but the resilience of the Koreans prevailed at the Dec. 2015 IPK board of directors meeting with a clear position of no renewal, a humiliating result.
Observing Brechot at work was a rollercoaster; a constant reminder of the godfather trilogy. In Dec. 2014, he spoke of research misconduct on his campus. Instead of dismissing the culprit, researcher Thierry Rose, he asked to host Rose in Korea until the dust settles, and the misconduct somehow goes away. Rose and his wife were hosted for several months. It turns out that Rose is also Brechot's golf partner. Brechot's hypocrisy goes beyond common decency.
The newly established IPP board of directors has deliberated - no second term for Brechot; citing in part, what can only be interpreted as his shortcomings: effective cooperation with IPP partners (China, Korea, Iran), good communication (Korea, Philippines, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia), honoring partnership agreements (Korea), budget management (Korea), and finally, compliance with safety regulations (Senegal, China, Korea, Brazil). These are more compelling arguments to dismiss him, than the original debate over his age.
Brechot's reign as IPP president has come to a humiliating end. His first humiliation from office was ten years ago, when he was forced to resign from the top job at the French medical research agency, INSERM. The sheer incompetence of his administration, whether brought in or promoted from within, especially the international division and human resources, is just unprecedented. Unfortunately for all of them, Brechot's house of cards has crumbled and judgment day is only few months away.
Dr. Hakim Djaballah is former CEO, Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK). The contents of this column — second in a two-part series — were not fully independently confirmed by The Korea Times and therefore those unconfirmed belong to the author alone. Still, the French authorities started a probe into the smuggling of the MERS sample from Institut Pasteur Korea to Institut Pasteur Paris, thanks in large part to the Times' reports based on Dr. Djaballah's testimonies. — ED.
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Instead of publicly denouncing Min's actions, Brechot chose to condemn her dismissal, and begun a witch-hunt against me; In a colonial fashion, he interfered in a sovereign institute governed under Korean laws, an act of ingerence. Cover-up, dishonesty, and lies all around the Pasteur table. How can we trust them with their "one health" initiative for outbreak investigations, when they are incapable, to investigate and report on incidents happening on their own campuses? First SARS, then MERS, then ZIKA, what next?
Two suicides: a female researcher who was sexually harassed by Marc Windisch, a German national, and believed to be pregnant. A male chemist who was bullied to his death by Jinhwa Lee, a Korean national. A pregnancy case ending with a baby girl involving Kevin Pethe, a French national who left for the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. All of these incidents were carefully buried under IPP's eyeful watch. Brechot has no compassion; he seems to enjoy such indecency and criminal behavior.
Brechot and Jouan expressed that the Koreans are paying for the name and they only provide in-kind contribution, when confronted about honoring their executed agreements. They went further to suggest that, the Koreans will have no choice but to sign another ten-year agreement with similar provisions. Brechot stated that pressure from French diplomacy always prevail. The Korean prime minister travelled to Paris in Sept. 2015 and the French president visited Seoul in Nov. 2015, but the resilience of the Koreans prevailed at the Dec. 2015 IPK board of directors meeting with a clear position of no renewal, a humiliating result.
Observing Brechot at work was a rollercoaster; a constant reminder of the godfather trilogy. In Dec. 2014, he spoke of research misconduct on his campus. Instead of dismissing the culprit, researcher Thierry Rose, he asked to host Rose in Korea until the dust settles, and the misconduct somehow goes away. Rose and his wife were hosted for several months. It turns out that Rose is also Brechot's golf partner. Brechot's hypocrisy goes beyond common decency.
The newly established IPP board of directors has deliberated - no second term for Brechot; citing in part, what can only be interpreted as his shortcomings: effective cooperation with IPP partners (China, Korea, Iran), good communication (Korea, Philippines, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia), honoring partnership agreements (Korea), budget management (Korea), and finally, compliance with safety regulations (Senegal, China, Korea, Brazil). These are more compelling arguments to dismiss him, than the original debate over his age.
Brechot's reign as IPP president has come to a humiliating end. His first humiliation from office was ten years ago, when he was forced to resign from the top job at the French medical research agency, INSERM. The sheer incompetence of his administration, whether brought in or promoted from within, especially the international division and human resources, is just unprecedented. Unfortunately for all of them, Brechot's house of cards has crumbled and judgment day is only few months away.
Dr. Hakim Djaballah is former CEO, Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK). The contents of this column — second in a two-part series — were not fully independently confirmed by The Korea Times and therefore those unconfirmed belong to the author alone. Still, the French authorities started a probe into the smuggling of the MERS sample from Institut Pasteur Korea to Institut Pasteur Paris, thanks in large part to the Times' reports based on Dr. Djaballah's testimonies. — ED.
