Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet Social Housing (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

State-subsidized housing programs have improved the livelihood of low-income populations in Latin American cities for decades. Once inhabited, however, they do not succeed in guaranteeing these populations’ safety. When residents are rehoused from informal settlements controlled by organized criminal groups, these groups sustain influence in formalized housing complexes. What is more, new dynamics such as housing financialization increase residents’ exposure to criminal actors. This project explores such ‘weaponization’ of social housing by comparing governance arrangements between state, market and criminal actors in formal social housing condominiums to those in informal settlements. Utilizing a two-by-two ethnographic comparison, based on case studies of one informal settlement and one condominium in both Rio de Janeiro and Medellín, the project will investigate 1) how state actors redefine social housing in terms of governmental influence and private property logics; 2) how gangs and militias gain and exert control over infrastructure and (protective) services; 3) how residents protect themselves against diverse, gendered forms of violence. The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University (HU), with its renowned interdisciplinary expertise in urban governance, crime and planning provides an ideal training context for fieldwork activities and supervision (Prof Davis) of the project’s theoretical development. By bringing the Latin American perspective on the relationship between crime and housing into direct conversation with HU’s and the University of Amsterdam's research in North America and Europe, this project develops a transferable approach to urban sovereignty in the global North and South as decisive step towards an ERC Starting Grant proposal. Through dissemination of the gained knowledge, the project will bridge policy expertise between housing and crime, and support local advocacy groups’ interaction with authorities.

Mots clés : informality, security, social housing, organized crime, urban governance, resettlement, latin america

Participants :
- Harvard University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Amsterdam (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 253052.16 €
Projet ELECTRO NEEDLE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Stem cell-based therapies to cure nerve system disorders using the self-renewal and multilineage differentiation capacities of the transplanted stem cells have been drawing attention during the past decade. Especially, differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into neural cells are especially investigated since early 2000’s, thanks to their being much less prone to the ethical issues and the risk of developing teratoma. However, the critical challenges are the difficulty in: (i) guiding their proper differentiation to neural cells, and (ii) tracking their fate, distribution, and migration due to the limited tracking methods. In 2015, the Stevens Group at Imperial College London (ICL) developed high-aspect ratio, porous silicon nanoneedles (pSi nNs) for in vitro and in vivo manipulation of cell behaviour. Remarkably, the nNs penetrate the cell membrane but do not damage the nucleus, instead stimulating nuclear condensation (Published in Nat. Mater., ACS Nano, etc.). However, current nNs in the Stevens Group is degradable within 48 hrs which is not ideal for long-term biological studies, especially for detecting/monitoring the cell differentiation during the culture. Recently, the applicant (Dr Hyejeong Seong) newly developed non-porous, solid version of nNs after her joining to the Stevens Group in March 2017. The new nNs exhibited a high stability in cell culture media and buffer solutions, proving their suitability for long-term investigation of cell fate. This provides an ideal framework for manipulating and exploiting cell behaviour for longer periods as a means for understanding differentiation capacity of this promising stem cell source. Furthermore, we’re expecting that the new nNs are modifiable as conductive electronic sensors, byintegrating new nNs with non-cytotoxic electronic devices. Through these devices, cell morphologies and endogenous receptors, will be assayed without invasive immunoassay.

Mots clés : non invasive, non toxic, in situ, and reliable monitoring of stem cells using novel nanostructures to ensure the safe and reliable use of differentiated cells in the field of regenerative medicine

Participants :
- Imperial College London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet APIP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Stimulated Brillouin (SBS) and Raman Scattering (SRS) effects have led to numerous applications in fiber optics (e.g. tunable laser and amplifiers). In integrated photonics, recent progress in opto-mechanics have shown that artificial analogue to the Raman effect, namely mechanical structure resonances, can be engineered and could results in new applications. That said, a few challenges must still be addressed before fiber applications of SRS can be transposed in a µm size optical chip. In particular the frequency of the mechanical resonances -aka artificial phonons- is still too low (<10Ghz) for most applications, and the light-phonon interaction is much weaker in waveguides compared to what is obtained in cavity opto-mechanics. Moreover current approaches relying on Radio-frequency measurements do not allow investigating high frequency (>10GHz) resonances. The APIP project proposes to adapt slotted waveguides structures to support controlled high frequency mechanical resonances. Such structures were created to set the light in strong interaction with the surrounding medium –mostly for sensing applications-, and then large part of the optical mode is confined at the dielectric interface, where the mechanical resonances are precisely also localized. Therefore such slotted structures are the best suited for the investigation of artificial SRS in integrated optics as a large light-phonon interaction is expected. Moreover, experimental investigation during the APIP project -and this is the second originality of the project- will rely on all-optical measurements techniques, like the one used in material science to characterize natural Raman effect. Therefore high frequency (10GHz-1THz) resonance will be investigated, without being limited by the small bandwidth of RF measurement techniques that are currently used.

Mots clés : optomechanics, integrated photonics, nonlinear optics, artificial phonon, stimulated raman scattering, stimulated brillouin scattering

Participants :
- Cardiff University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet CoMPOSE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Stress leads to enhanced food intake and a shift in dietary choices towards more high-caloric and unhealthy food. While this serves an adaptive purpose to replenish energy stores after a physical challenge, in modern society where continuous psychological stressors are present and cheap unhealthy food easily accessible, this leads to an alarming situation where many people overeat. As a consequence, obesity levels are rising with severe consequences for our health. Especially people with an eating disorder, like binge-eating disorder, are vulnerable to this situation. Human and animal studies both point to a critical role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in coordinating stress-induced food intake. The prefrontal cortex is a highly heterogenous structure sending coordinated neuronal output to many brain regions with opposing roles in food regulation. This indicates that these circuits are under tight regulation of local interneurons. However how interneurons coordinate circuits for stress-induced feeding behavior is not known. In this project I aim to understand how Inhibitory interneurons shape output patterns of prefrontal cortical pyramidal neurons in a projection-specific manner to drive stress-induced food intake. To this aim I will use a combination of viral tracing techniques and in vivo electrophysiological recordings of identified PFC interneurons and pyramidal neurons in mice. Moreover I will use chemogenetic approaches to manipulate specific PFC pyramidal neural circuits to understand their role in stress eating responses. This will yield important insight into the circuit mechanisms underlying this maladaptive behavior. Studying how this phenomenon arises at the level of neuronal circuits will provide evidence-based targets for prevention strategies.

Mots clés : cortical circuits, prefrontal cortex, parvalbumin interneurons, pyramidal neurons, stress, feeding, in vivo electrophysiology, chemogenetics

Participants :
- University Medical Center Utrecht (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187572.48 €
Projet SUPRONICS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Stretchable electronics are highly attractive in various applications including wearable medical devices. However, most of the existing conducting materials used in electronics lack either high stretchability or high conductivity, largely limiting their applications. Inspired by the self-healing ability of skins, this project aims to develop next-generation conducting materials with combined high stretchability, high conductivity and intrinsic self-healing ability, based on novel graphene-supramolecular elastomer hybrids. The graphene-elastomer hybrids will be synthesised and investigated in depth for formulating the materials and obtaining a deep understanding of their mechanical, electrical and self-healing behaviour. Their application as stretchable electronics will be demonstrated by inkjet printing of the optimal material to form printed electrical circuits for wearable medical devices. These novel nanomaterials will significantly enhance the performance and lifetime of stretchable electronics as well as the design flexibility of future devices, whilst also facilitating the low-cost fabrication of electrical circuits through printing technologies.

Mots clés : graphene, elastomer, hybrid nanomaterials, stretchable electronics, inkjet printing

Participants :
- University of Sheffield (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet X-SUGRA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

String/M-theory provides the best candidate for a consistent description of gravity at the quantum level. Our ability to further our understanding of string theory relies heavily on the developement of advanced solution generation techiques, as well as on our control of the intricate web of dual formulations of the theory and its low energy limits. This action focuses on the formal developement and application of advanced theoretical tools that capture the U-duality groups of string and M-theory, such as exceptional generalised geometries and exceptional field theories. The main objective is to develop cutting-edge solution generating techinques for extended supergravities and string/M-theory, to construct wide new classes of explicit solutions both of the globally geometric and of U-fold type, with applications to holographic duality, to the study of exotic branes, and to (non-)geometric flux compactifications. The implementation of this action also keeps an eye on the formal development of advanced instances of exceptional generalised geometries/field theories such as ones based on affine Kac-Moody structure groups, which have the striking property of encoding the integrability of the underlying two dimensional supergravities as well as potentially capturing extra string theoretic degrees of freedom through deformation of the associated first order duality relations. This proposal also describes a detalied plan for dissemination of the research results of the action, as well as for outreach initiatives aimed at diverse audiences ranging from the general public to (under)graduate students. Training of the researcher is thoroughly planned, with focus on his developement as research leader, teacher, manager and with the main objective of enhanicng his profile to the best standards for the progress of his career beyond this action.

Mots clés : string theory, supergravity, generalised geometry, string dualities, flux compactifications

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet ARTEMIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Stroke and cognitive decline are among the leading contributors to disease burden and long-term disability worldwide. Despite their prevalence, the contributing disease processes are not fully understood. This is in part due to the lack of (early) prediction models and ways to characterize protective mechanisms, which can help to distinguish between patients and healthy individuals before symptoms manifest. Such prediction models can facilitate prevention strategies for adverse cognitive and functional outcomes, thereby enriching patients’ life quality and reduce the economic burden on society. Advanced neuroimaging techniques, such as MRI, have provided additional insight into the underlying disease biology. One major challenge when using neuroimaging techniques lies in the fact that large amounts of data are required to account for variations in clinical presentation and assessment, necessitating the use of dedicated pipelines for extracting phenotypes. However, most pipelines are developed in research settings and tend to fail when applied to real-life clinical cohorts, leading to a subpar use of rich, available patient datasets. Here, a fully-automated, translational pipeline for extracting MRI phenotypes from data acquired in clinical and research settings is developed with a particular focus on outlining white matter hyperintensities (WMH). WMH are a common phenotype in aging and across diseases; however, group differences are poorly understood. This makes WMH a prime candidate for extracting additional information, which can be used for outcome prediction. The proposed prediction models utilize newly extracted characteristics, clinical/demographic information and a latent variable construct to predict general cognitive decline and outcome after stroke. In particular, the proposed latent variable has shown promise in acting as a surrogate measure for protective mechanisms in stroke patients, where its biological meaning is assessed as part of this project.

Mots clés : stroke, cognitive scores, outcome prediction, analytical pipeline, translational

Participants :
- The general hospital corporation (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 239860.8 €
Projet MEXOM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Stroke is leading cause of long-term disability in Europe and worldwide with no effective treatment so far. Inflammation plays a vital role in brain’s response to ischemic stroke with deleterious consequences during early acute phase. Strong immunomodulatory effect of human mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) demonstrated in many preclinical stroke models, however, has failed in clinical experiments. Recent preclinical data indicate that MSCs exert their anti-inflammatory effects via secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) through microRNAs and this potential could be boosted by preconditioning MSCs ex vivo with small molecules. The aim of this Fellowship will be the determination of MSC-EVs anti-inflammatory mechanism of action specific for stroke for the first time. The Host has developed clinical-grade technology (GLP/GMP) for human cord MSC-EVs manufacturing at large scale with anti-inflammatory action. During this Project the Researcher will receive training-through-research and will investigate the small molecule potential impact on MSC-EVs cargo enrichment with specific microRNAs. Then he will study candidate microRNAs anti-inflammatory potential in vitro on the key brain inflammation cells. The Researcher will acquire transferable knowledge in regulations, quality assurance, intellectual property and entrepreneurship. Novel competences will reinforce the Researcher as mature and independent scientist in the field of regenerative medicine with new career opportunities in private sector. Communication and dissemination will be carried out with all stakeholders, including academia, industry, civil societies, policymakers and general public. The Researcher will transfer his molecular biology knowledge and skills, thus advancing the development of MSC-EVs product for treatment of stroke at the Host towards clinically applicable commercial innovation. This Fellowship will highlight Europe as world leader in innovations targeting unmet medical needs.

Mots clés : mesenchymal stem cells, extracellular vesicles, glp manufacturing, microrna profiling, immunomodulation, anti inflammation, microglia, astrocytes, lymphocytes, stroke

Participants :
- The cell-factory (Belgique) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 39753.12 €
- Exo biologics (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 121046.88 €
Projet MetaBiota (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Stroke is the second most common cause of death in Europe: accounting for almost 1.1 million deaths each year, with only 15% of stroke patients being eligible for a specific treatment. I have reported–in this year Nature Medicine’s April issue–that microbiota influences the severity of stroke injury through an impaired intestinal immune function. These findings revealed for the first time the critical implication of the microbiota as a novel and relevant prospective target for therapeutic strategies in stroke. However, the development of efficient therapies requires to identify which bacterial species and bacterial products are involved in the modulation of the immune response and thereby influence stroke outcome. To fill in this knowledge gap, my proposal aims to identify how metabolites derived from gut bacteria modulate the intestinal immune response and thereby influence the brain in the setting of stroke. To investigate this novel paradigm, I will use cutting-edge metabolomic tools to precisely analyze a large panel of metabolites, high-throughput sequencing to identify bacterial species, specific knock-out mice and mouse models of altered-microbiota available at the host institution and its established collaboration partners. This is the first attempt to discover a relationship between microbial metabolites, immune cell regulation and severity of ischemic stroke. Information derived from this project will have the potential to enable development of a “neuroprotective” microbiota–by diet intervention–and reduce the dramatic consequences of stroke. The Marie Sklodowska-Curie individual fellowship (MSC IF) will allow me to obtain the required methodological knowledge, access to critical infrastructure and collaboration partners in order to achieve this interdisciplinary and ambitious objective. My overall goal will be to gain this training fellowship to become an independent investigator and a leader in the field of stroke and microbiota biology.

Mots clés : microbiota, metabolites, tryptophan, adaptive immunity, t cell polarization, stroke

Participants :
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet PIMS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Subclinical inflammation is a key factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS), both diet and lifestyle-related, are highly prevalent causes of subclinical inflammation. A growing body of literature suggests that dietary long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn-3PUFA) may attenuate MetS-associated pro-inflammatory state. However, it remains unclear whether the different LCn-3PUFA, primarily docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), have similar effects on pro-inflammatory processes because most previous studies used them in mixture. Whether efficacy of LCn-3PUFA is influenced by sex/gender is also unknown. The objective of the proposed research is thus to compare the anti-inflammatory effects of EPA and DHA in humans with MetS through very innovative kinetics and molecular studies. We will compare in a double-blind, crossover randomized placebo-controlled study in men and women with MetS (i) the impact of EPA and DHA supplementation on the plasma in vivo kinetics of inflammatory biomarkers using stable isotopes and (ii) the anti-inflammatory molecular mechanisms of EPA and DHA at both adipose tissue and systemic levels. The role of lipid mediators specific to EPA and DHA in this process will be addressed by quantifying (i) oxygenated derivatives from EPA and DHA in plasma, (ii) their molecular targets in adipose tissue and (iii) markers of oxidative stress in plasma. The proposed research shall be one of the most comprehensive studies comparing the impact of EPA and DHA on both systemic and adipose tissue-specific subclinical inflammation to date. The in-depth understanding of their effects and possible gender differences will be extremely novel. Such data will provide much needed evidence-based justification for the use of specific dietary treatment modalities in men and women with MetS, which can further guide policy makers and health professionals for potential prevention strategies.

Mots clés : cardiometabolic health, long chain omega 3 fatty acids, metabolic inflammation, adipose and blood samples, gene expression, macrophage infiltration, proteomics, oxidative stress

Participants :
- Université Laval (Canada) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Claude Bernard - Lyon 1 (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 232160.4 €