The Institut Pasteur Shanghai – Chinese Academy of Sciences was pleased to officially appoint Prof. Sansonetti as Head of the Center for Microbes, Development and Health, last October 10, 2019. His nomination was strongly supported by the Shanghai Municipality. Vividly involved with his new duties, Prof. Sansonetti already gathered a solid team of 12 internal and external principal investigators to better understand the maturation of human gut microbiota and its incidence on child development, health and diseases. Prof. Sansonetti gave a warm toast to thank and acknowledge the institute’s administration and professors for their involvement in the creation of this new center.