The National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) is a public French scientific and technological institute that focus solely on human health. Inserm operates under the joint authority of the French Ministries of Health and of Research. It has a budget of 998 million euros and employs 15 000 scientists, engineers and technicians all with one shared objective, namely to promote health — by advancing knowledge about living organisms and their diseases, developing innovative treatment modalities and conducting research on public health. The Institute is distinguished by both the scientific excellence of its staff, and by its ability to provide benchtop to bedside translational research.

Inserm is the leading European academic biomedical research institution, and with nearly 12,000 publications a year, is second in the world only to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). According to the 2016 ranking by Thomson-Reuters, Inserm is also the world’s 9th most innovative public research organization. Inserm is a world leader in the health innovation sector, with 1,449 patent families held in 2015 and 200 patent application filed in 2016, leading to effective transfer to industries (24 effective contract licences and 115 R&D contracts in 2015). In addition, Inserm is at the forefront of clinical research with its 36 Centers for Clinical Investigation (CIC) bringing together, within the same research unit, researchers and clinicians alike.

Six research units from Inserm are involved in the FAIR project.