Renaud Piarroux

Renaud Piarroux (born 27 September 1960) is a French pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases and tropical medicine. From 2008 to 2017, he has been a full professor of parasitology and mycology at the University of Aix-Marseille in Marseille, France, and head of parasitology and mycology at Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille. Since 2017, he has been a full professor of parasitology and mycology at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, and Head of Parasitology and Mycology at Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris. Over the years, Piarroux has taken part in several missions and research projects in Africa, including the study of the dynamics of cholera epidemics in Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea, prevention and management of parasitic diseases in Morocco, and a program to fight against waterborne diseases in Ivory Coast.

Piarroux has been the Regional Representative of the Franche-Comté region of France and responsible for various missions with Médecins du Monde (MDM) (Doctors of the World) in Grand Comoros and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He also worked on the analysis of risks of epidemics and assessing health priorities after natural disasters and conflicts including: * Zaire (later Democratic Republic of Congo), 1994 and on-going since 2002 * Herat, Afghanistan, 1995 * Honduras, 1998 * Haiti, (see below) In these risk analyses he studied how cholera spreads through regions and communities.

In November 2010 he was called in by the Haitian government and French Embassy to investigate the origin and course of the world's largest cholera epidemic of recent times, and to assist authorities in creating an effective control program. These activities were highlighted in the book ''Deadly River''(Cornell University Press, 2016), authored by Ralph R. Frerichs. Piarroux related the end of the story and related scientific controversies in the book ''Choléra. Haïti 2010-2018 : histoire d’un désastre'' [Cholera. Haiti 2010-2018, a disasters' story]. (CNRS editions, 2019).

Piarroux is an ongoing member of the travel-related and imported diseases committee of the French Ministry of Health. He is a founding member of the Global Alliance Against Cholera (GAAC), started in the eastern part of DR Congo, that has since expanded to other cholera-affected countries. He has been awarded the French Legion of Honour in 2017. Provided by Wikipedia