Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ProNanovoVax (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Pathogenic bacteria pose significant threats to the global healthcare and the economy. Amid growing concerns over antimicrobial resistance, many healthcare programs have pivoted to vaccine development, while new vaccine platforms are in a high demand for disease control and swift responses in the case of health emergencies. A major type of bacterial immunogen is transmembrane beta-barrel (TMB) proteins, which are found on the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and play key roles in virulence. The native folding and trafficking of TMBs requires specific machineries that do not exist in eukaryotic cell membranes. Consequently, there has been few vaccine platforms for TMB immunogens. To address this need, I aim to construct protein nanocage-scaffolded proteoliposomes (PNC-PL) that can act as highly potent nanoparticle vaccine platforms for TMBs. Such nanomaterial will be developed using two cutting-edge strategies in vaccine formulation: multivalent presentation and immune targeting. Combining my strong background in PNC engineering and my host lab’s expertise in TMBs and their computation-assisted design, (1) I will multivalently present computationally engineered TMB immunogens on PNCs in a well-controlled manner, resulting in vaccines composed of PNC-PL nanoparticles that mimic the structures of enveloped viruses. (2) I will design transmembrane anchors using computation-assisted methods to host soluble protein ligands that recognize immune cells. The resultant complexes will be subsequently co-presented with TMB immunogens on PNC-PLs for immune targeting, which will further increase the vaccine potency. (3) With my co-host lab’s rich immunological resources, I will assess immune cell activation induced by the vaccines as a criterion of potency. This novel nanosystem will hold great promise to advance vaccine design with challenging immunogens and serve as a versatile technology for biomaterial design in drug delivery, artificial cells, and other applications.

Mots clés : membrane protein, protein nanocage, proteoliposome, computational protein design, nanoparticle, immune targeting

Participants :
- Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 200400.0 €
Projet EvoDCode (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Vertebrate genomes consist of tens of thousands of genes and yet they produce only a limited number of stable cell types. Our understanding of how cell types are encoded in the genome is still lacking. The expression of genes is controlled by gene regulatory elements, which are evolutionarily much less conserved than genes are and can be located far away in the genome. My main goal is to better understand how the genomic sequence underlies cell identity in the pallium across vertebrate species and I hypothesize that gene regulatory logic can be directly learned from the genomic sequence and used to predict cell types. Recent advances in the field of single cell sequencing have made the generation of large epigenomic datasets possible, while novel machine learning models like DNA language models are providing unprecedented insights into the regulatory logic of the genome. In addition, for many non-model species high quality reference genomes are becoming available as there is an increased awareness for the need to preserve biodiversity. I will conduct single cell multiome sequencing, supplemented with low-cost single-cell ATAC-seq using the HyDrop platform - developed in the host-lab - to profile regulatory elements across cell types in the pallium from multiple species, including mammals, birds, lizards and fish. My experience in generating and annotating single cell data from the brain will aid in the analysis and alignment of the generated datasets. Next, I will use this data to study the relationships between the genome of a species and the identified cell types by training species-aware DNA language models and using these models to identify species-specific and conserved regulatory logic. These models will not only be interesting from an evolutionary perspective, but also aid in ongoing efforts to develop synthetic enhancers used to target highly specific cell types, which can be applied in many therapeutic applications.

Mots clés : machine learning convolutional neural networks phylogeny single cell sequencing scatac seq single cell multiomics molecular neurobiology enhancers gene regulatory network

Participants :
- Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 200400.0 €
Projet SESAHME (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

A global understanding of therapy response and therapy resistance in haematologic malignancies, including multiple myeloma and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, in which cancerous cells accumulate in the bone marrow, is still lacking. This is due to the complex nature of the bone marrow. Therefore, the goal of SESAHME is to determine the difference of the bone marrow microenvironment in healthy individuals and patients suffering from multiple myeloma and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. This will help to understand under which conditions cancerous cells can accumulate and proliferate in the bone marrow which could lead to advanced immunotherapy approaches in the future.  To achieve this, the objectives of SESAHME are to 1) establish a method that allows to determine the immune microenvironment composition in human formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples of the bone marrow, which has the potential for high-throughput screening and being cost effective at the same time; and 2) to use this method to characterise a healthy and dysfunctional bone marrow microenvironment that can contribute to multiple myeloma/acute lymphoblastic leukaemia development and progression.  SESAHME will allow the fellow to independently carry out a project which will set the ground to build upon an own, individual research profile to eventually become an independent researcher. Key transferable training will further improve the employability and career prospects of the fellow, as well as increase the fellow’s communication abilities. The host offers a multi-disciplinary environment that is well connected with experts in the field enabling the fellow to develop a new mindset and approaches. The fellow brings international and specialised wet-lab experience that will facilitate knowledge exchange and increase R&I capacity. Finally, SESAHME will increase the global attractiveness of the host via concrete dissemination activities.

Mots clés : bioinformatics, systems biology, cancer and its biological basis, rare diseases, anticancer therapy, personalised medicine, stem cell biology, myeloma, bone marrow, haematology, microenvironment

Participants :
- University Hospital Heidelberg (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 173847.36 €
Projet Embodied Scenes (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Prepositions play a critical role in communicating spatial relations that involve real-world physical entities (e.g., The keys are on the dresser) and abstract concepts (time after time), yet teaching their usage patterns can be tricky (Tyler, 2012). The research question addressed by this project deals with how we can teach prepositions in a systematic way. The purpose of this study is to address five scientific problems surrounding the teaching and learning of prepositions by bridging the divides between: (1) psychology and linguistics, (2) the laboratory and the real world, (3) native speakers and students, (4) educational professionals and accessible tools, and (5) disciplines by bridging a methodological gap via a novel theoretical framework. We can bridge these divides by implementing principles from cognitive psychology that tap into the mechanisms that scaffold thought processes. The main objective is to produce profiles for high frequency prepositions, to build lessons combining these profiles with an Embodied Scenes (ES) framework, and to test the lessons in the classroom. While new methods in preposition teaching are slow to be adopted, research is moving fast. An ES approach that is compatible with Cognitive Linguistics (CL) research may increase traction for preposition course materials. This study would provide data about real world behavior and provide an accessible tool for students.

Mots clés : cognitive linguistics

Participants :
- Université d'Oslo (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 226751.04 €
- Université d'Umeå (Suède) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet CCU Structure (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) is receiving increasing interest due to the continuously increasing CO2 emission, where one pathway is to mineralize carbon in concrete building material. Compared with Portland cement, reactive magnesia cement (RMC) has the potential advantage of higher CO2 sequestration during early age curing and its service life. Still, the inadequate carbonation depth limits its application. Another approach to reducing carbon emissions is recycling and reusing components in construction. The key to realizing component reuse and concrete material recycling is the proper demountable connection. However, the sudden slippage and labor-consuming problems of bolts were reported and might hinder the popularity of reusable structures. Therefore, this project will introduce hollow natural fibers (HNFs) with large lumens to enhance CO2 penetration and overcome the carbonation depth limitation. The participants will co-develop a mix design of HNF-reinforced RMC-based concrete that achieves a compressive strength of 50 MPa and a one-way carbonation depth of 60 mm. Besides, a novel demountable bolt-wedge system for dowel-based connectors will be proposed to realize excellent mechanical behavior and efficient construction of CCU composite structures. The shear behavior of the demountable connectors with the bolt-wedge system will be investigated by conducting push-out tests and finite element modelling. For the scientific community, the mix design will provide a solution for CCU structures, and the bolt-wedge system may initiate new research on prefabricated and reusable structures. Regarding societal and economic impacts, the proposed CCU composite structure could reduce emissions by CO2 sequestration and lower the net costs of reducing emissions due to the enormous scale of infrastructure. Reusing structural elements after their first design can decrease construction time and material costs. This project is in line with the "European Green Deal" goals.

Mots clés : composite structures carbon capture and utilization reuse and recycle shear connectors demountable connection

Participants :
- Université des sciences et technologies de Hong Kong (Hong Kong) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Aalto (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199694.4 €
Projet EPASS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Spider silk is a material with remarkable biological and mechanical properties. Unfortunately, the cannibalistic nature of spiders makes it impossible to harvest natural silk at large quantities, whereas artificial silk production has historically suffered from poor quality, low yields, and environmentally harmful protocols. Overcoming these limitations, Prof. Anna Rising (host) has recently developed a biomimetic spinning setup for generating high quality artificial silk fibres that uses water as the sole solvent and scales volume for economically feasible mass-production. Although remarkable, the fibres generated still require improved mechanical and electromagnetic properties to achieve their full potential in the envisioned biomedical and soft electronics applications. By combining the host’s expertise in protein biochemistry and biotechnology with my (Dr. Greco, fellow) skills in mechanical and materials engineering, EPASS aims to improve the mechanical and electromagnetic properties of artificial silk fibres by spinning fibres from protein solutions containing carbon nanotubes and magnetic nanoparticles. After establishing an optimized spinning protocol for the introduction of nanomaterials, a new generation of modified silk fibres will be spun and analysed morphologically, mechanically and electromagnetically, delivering a novel strategy for generating silk fibres with custom-made properties that are highly needed in the area of soft electronics. With additional expertise gained from a secondment and short-term visit, EPASS will create a strong foundation for state-of-the-art research and extensive knowledge sharing between researchers and organisations. In summary, EPASS will integrate novel methodologies to create a new generation of scalable green materials with breakthrough potential in soft electronics, while simultaneously shaping a new research line - functionalized spider silk - which I will pioneer, thus boosting my future career as research leader.

Mots clés : spider silk mechanical properties nanomaterials biomimetic soft electronics green electronics

Participants :
- Research Institutes of Sweden (Suède) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université suédoise des sciences agricoles (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 206887.68 €
Projet VIRUPS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is the primary eukaryotic pathway for selective protein degradation and plays a central role in various cellular processes, including plant immunity and antiviral defense. The UPS is a double-edged sword as it provides important services to viral infections but likewise is part of orchestrating a proper immune response, both driving virus evolution towards UPS manipulation and exploitation. Despite this exiting constellation, the interplay between UPS and plant viruses has remained poorly studied. Along increased globalization in agriculture and the ongoing climate change, new viral diseases affecting various crops have emerged globally with negative socioeconomic impacts. The VIRUPS project will be conducted at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) under Dr. Hafrén's supervision, aiming to address the knowledge gap in the UPS-virus interplay in plants. Our preliminary data shows that plant viruses enhance proteasome activity and induce different changes to UPS components and ubiquitination, together conveying a detailed response of the UPS to viruses. The project will characterize plant ubiquitinome dynamics upon infection with three different viruses in comparative virology to identify virus common and specific responses with details on differentially ubiquitinated proteins (DUPs) and targeted cellular pathways. A parallel approach will exploit one of our viruses (CaMV) capacity to activate the proteasome, because this phenotype shows wide variation among Arabidopsis natural accessions. This offers an exceptional opportunity to address correlations between proteasome activation and various disease intensity parameters, in addition to forming the basis for a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for identifying UPS regulators. UPS regulators, components, and targets obtained through this diverse set of approaches, will fuel the discovery of novel UPS-related mechanisms in disease and crop protection strategies.

Mots clés : plant viruses, ubiquitin preteasome system, ups, arabidopsis natural variation, ubiquitination, proteasome, genome wide association study, gwas, plant resistance

Participants :
- Université suédoise des sciences agricoles (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 206887.68 €
Projet ROSCURE-O2 (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The evolving landscape of medical research demands innovative breakthroughs to enhance disease treatments. Smart drug delivery systems (DDS) are at the forefront of these innovations, offering precise drug release while combatting oxidative stress and harmful species. ROSCURE-O2 (Radical Oxygen Species (ROS)-responsive drug delivery systems to prevent and cure inflammatory and hypoxic diseases), is a pioneering proposal focusing on engineering ROS-responsive DDS with anti-inflammatory and anti-hypoxia properties.Inflammation profoundly affects global health, contributing to various skin and wound conditions, including radiation-induced skin injuries (RISI). RISI arises from healthy cells' exposure to ionizing radiation used in cancer radiotherapy, leading to issues ranging from mild skin reactions to severe burns, ulcers, infections, and necrosis, impacting the quality of life for over 95% of radiotherapy patients.  ROSCURE-O2 aims to develop innovative treatments for inflammatory conditions by targeting ROS and hypoxia precisely. The hypothesis posits that multifunctional DDS can (1) scavenge ROS, (2) selectively release anti-inflammatory drugs, and (3) deliver oxygen in ROS-rich environments, thus preventing and curing inflammatory diseases. This triple therapeutic approach seeks to overcome the limitations of conventional treatments.  Within ROSCURE-O2 the development of a Smart DDS platform that can synergistically address ROS and hypoxia. This involves polymeric DDS with ROS-responsive properties, provided by sulfur-based chemistries and/or antioxidant crosslinkers and the incorporation of oxygen-releasing and ROS-scavenging nanoparticles, like Cerium Oxide. These nanoparticles can be combined with anti-inflammatory active pharmaceutical ingredients to increase treatment efficacy and reduce costs. ROSCURE-O2's outcomes have the potential to advance our understanding of ROS-responsive drug delivery and tissue regeneration through oxygen delivery.

Mots clés : drug delivery, stimuli responsive drug delivery, ros quenching, antioxidant treatments, oxygen delivery

Participants :
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165312.96 €
Projet AquaDrugs (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The increasing production and release of pharmaceutical pollutants into waterways is now a leading threat to aquatic wildlife and ecosystems around the world. Despite this, knowledge on the hazards these contaminants cause in complex natural ecosystems is still extremely poor and thus considered an urgent research priority. AquaDrugs will harness new developments in underwater animal tracking and computer automation to identify how pharmaceutical waste in the environment can induce behavioural changes in animals that lead to high-order ecological effects. Through a series of well-integrated experiments, and using fish as a model system, AquaDrugs will trace the impact of pharmaceuticals across biological scales to address four novel and ambitious objectives: (1) test how environmentally relevant concentrations of two globally pervasive pharmaceuticals (clobazam an tramadol), both in isolation and in a mixture, influence ecologically important wildlife behaviours and variability; (2) identify whether, and how, such changes impact animal collectives; (3) determine how pharmaceutical-induced behavioural changes at the individual and group levels scale up to shape aquatic communities; and (4) uncover how exposure shapes the ecological interactions of multiple species. The project will deliver urgently needed data for chemicals regulation leading to improved policies that safeguard Europe’s aquatic ecosystems and wildlife from pharmaceutical impacts. The interdisciplinary approaches and theory in AquaDrugs—from integrative ecology, ecotoxicology, and analytical chemistry—also promises to yield pioneering results and experimental innovations that will advance these scientific fields and boost the expertise and academic career of the research fellow, Dr Marcus Michelangeli. Importantly, the research in AquaDrugs directly addresses key research priorities in Europe including the European Green Deal and the EU’s Mission for ‘Healthy Oceans, Seas, and Inland Waters’.

Mots clés : pharmaceutical pollution, movement ecology, collective behaviour, animal personality, behavioural variation, aquatic toxicology

Participants :
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université suédoise des sciences agricoles (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 222727.68 €
Projet NExIA (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Anapoles are nonradiating states of light, in which optical fields are trapped by destructive interference of outgoing radiation. They have recently attracted significant interest due to their potential in resonant nanoscale light confinement, which could be used in lasers, sensors, quantum computers and other areas of light-based research and technology. However, ideal anapoles have never been experimentally achieved, because making them perfectly decoupled from external radiation would prevent their excitation and observation. The proposed project will resolve the above issues. Advanced theoretical modeling tools will be used to design the ideal anapoles that can be excited through second-harmonic generation. In this process, the incident light would illuminate the anapolar nanoresonators and nonlinearly induce local optical fields matching the anapole's excitation at twice the incident light frequency. Second-harmonic optical fields may form configurations that can not be induced through linear interactions with external optical fields, hence allowing these local fields to be fully decoupled from external radiation. These local nonradiating fields will then induce photoluminescence at optical wavelengths detuned from the anapole's resonance. Detecting this photoluminescence will enable probing the anapole excitation. To demonstrate this concept in experiments, resonant photonic samples will be fabricated in the silicon nitride (Si3N4) material platform, integrated with molibdenium disulfide (MoS2) monolayers which can simultaneously support efficient second-harmonic generation and photoluminescence. The samples will be excited by time-controlled ultrashort laser pulses, enabling investigation of the temporal dynamics of the anapole's local optical fields and retrieving their Q factors. Demonstration of the ideal anapoles is an ambitious and challenging goal with breakthrough potential for the research on confined states of light and their possible applications.

Mots clés : ultrafast optics, optical anapoles, second harmonic generation, interferometry, nanophotonics, photonic nanostructures, optical nanocavities, optical multipoles, nonlinear optics

Participants :
- Université Aalto (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 215534.4 €