Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ECONOMY (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Despite decades of research, cancer remains the second leading cause of death globally. Amongst all cancers, lung cancer is the deadliest in both men and women worldwide. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) recently emerged as promising cancer therapy. While extremely successful in hematopoietic cancers and melanoma, success in lung cancer is very limited. We are therefore in desperate need to devise novel treatment strategies. One approach would involve remodelling the lung cancer immune landscape to improve clinical response to ICB. A so far overlooked non-hematopoietic component of the immune system which potentially greatly contribute to tumor immunity are endothelial cells (ECs). Most intriguingly, tumor EC (TEC) subsets expressing diverse immune markers were identified, in parallel with the discovery of diverse metabolic phenotypes in TECs. The host lab identified TECs with transcriptional signatures related to antigen processing and presentation (MHCII+). However, the functional significance of MHCII+ TECs in tumor immunity and whether their immune-related functions could be regulated by underlying metabolic programming is unknown. Given the strategic "first line" location of TECs in the tissue, the question is whether, ICB’s effectiveness can be partly attributed to TEC immunity. I therefore propose to investigate the interactions between MHCII+ TECs and T cells and the effects of such interactions on tumor immunity using state-of-the-art inducible EC-specific MHCII knock-out mice. Moreover, I will assess metabolic signatures in immune-TECs and test potential metabolic regulation of TECs’ immune functions. Such metabolism-driven regulation could open new therapeutic possibilities, utilizing already available pharmaceutical inhibitors to remodel the tumor immune landscape in order to create a favourable context for immunotherapy. Thus, the proposed research is expected to pave the way for exciting new combination treatment strategies for lung cancer.

Mots clés : cancer, tumor endothelial cells, immunology, endothelial cell metabolism, metabolic regulation, antigen presenting cells, cd4  t cells

Participants :
- Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 166320.0 €
Projet TELOSPERM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Despite having long been overlooked, paternal effects (influence of fathers on offspring traits via mechanisms other than the transmission of alleles) are now recognized as affecting a broad range of phenotypic traits in the next generation. There is, for example, increasing evidence for transgenerational effects of paternal stress levels with consequences on offspring health. In most cases, the proximate mechanism mediating these paternal effects on offspring remains unknown. Recent studies show that these transgenerational effects might be mediated, at least in part, by telomere attrition. Telomeres are regions of non-coding DNA at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes. Telomeres shorten at each cell division or when cells are exposed to oxidative stress, resulting in telomere shortening with aging. A permanent arrest in the cell cycle occurs when telomeres are shortened to a critical length, thereby increasing risk factors in a large number of diseases. Consequently, telomere length predicts remaining lifespan, with individuals with the shortest telomeres displaying the poorest survival prospects. Telomeres are very sensitive to damage induced by oxidative stress and paternal exposure to stressors may thus affect telomere length in sperm before fertilization as well as inherited by the offspring, with consequences for aging and disease susceptibility. In this project, I propose to test this hypothesis by examining the three following aims using a captive population of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata): • Measure the effect of stress exposure on sperm telomere length through an experimental manipulation of stress levels at the time of sperm production. • Determine links between paternal sperm telomere length and offspring telomere length at birth using artificial insemination experiments. • Elucidate the effects of sperm telomere length on offspring development and disease susceptibility.

Mots clés : sperm, telomere, stress, paternal effect, immunity, oxidative stress

Participants :
- University of Exeter (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet NANOGRANITES (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Despite its critical influence on the generation and differentiation of the Earth´s continental crust, much uncertainty exists yet on the composition of primary silicate melts produced by the anatexis of crustal materials. This is due to the absence of an accurate method to obtain these primary melt compositions, as common approximations such as leucosomes, experiments and thermodynamic modeling, are associated with numerous problems. A recent breakthrough on our knowledge on this issue has been the discovery of melt inclusion in anatectic migmatites. These melt inclusions, referred as "nanogranites", have been surprisingly preserved upon the slow cooling of anatectic rocks at depth, and record the process of melting of lower crust or subducting crustal material. Nanogranites open for the first time a completely new window into the birth of crustal melts, and will provide a breakthrough toward our understanding of the generation and differentiation of the Earth´s crust. This project will provide the composition of nanogranites from a variety of crustal lithologies (metapelites, metagraywackes, metagabbros), geodynamic scenarios (lower crust, subduction zones, continental arcs) and ages (30 to 100 Ma), and their implications on the growth and differentiation of the continental crust. This will be done by conducting high-pressure piston cylinder remelting experiments on migmatites hosting nanogranites, by charactering the experimental run products by state-of-the-art analytical techniques, and by developing thermodynamic and geochemical models based on the composition of the analyzed migmatites and nanogranites. The project will be conducted at the Australian National University (outgoing host institution, Canberra, Australia), hosting a world-class experimental laboratory and state-of-the-art analytical equipment; and at the Università di Padova (return host institution, Padova, Italy), equipped with first-class analytical techniques.

Mots clés : nanogranites, melt inclusions, crustal anatexis, continental crust, intracrustal differentiation, experimental petrology, geochemistry, geochemical modeling, thermodynamic modeling, kinetics

Participants :
- University of Padua (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 250518.6 €
- Australian National University (Australie) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet COVISENSE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Despite its toxic reputation, carbon monoxide (CO) is also an important biological messenger molecule that regulates many vital cell processes, including the response to disease. Increased enzymatic generation of carbon monoxide plays a critical role in the resolution of inflammatory processes and alleviation of cardiovascular disorders. At the same time, altered viscosity levels have been associated with inflammation, including in cardiovascular disease. Since the diffusion-controlled movement of carbon monoxide is also affected by changes in the viscosity of the cellular environment, the two aspects are intimately connected. Therefore, the simultaneous measurement of both carbon monoxide and cellular viscosity would provide unprecedented information on the functioning of the cell and the state of inflammation and disease. We propose to achieve this through a new family of bimetallic ruthenium(II) molecular probes capable of monitoring both endogenous carbon monoxide (using fluorescence intensity) and the viscosity in the cellular environment (through fluorescence lifetime). These highly selective probes would show very low detection limits for CO and operate within the ‘biological window’ above 650 nm. At the same time, internal rotation of the BODIPY fluorophore would allow fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to be used to monitor the local viscosity. Through a collaboration with immune-oncologists, the probes will be used to expand the understanding of the role played by the enzyme, haem oxygenase (HO-1), that produces CO. This could help illuminate the association between HO-1 expression and poor prognosis in cancer patients. The project will combine ligand design, organometallic synthesis, fluorescence imaging and cell work, providing the opportunity to gain experience in a range of areas related to sensing in biological environments.

Mots clés : metal complexes, sensing, carbon monoxide

Participants :
- Imperial College London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet GOVTROFF (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Despite near-global consensus on Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, unresolved and politically contentious trade-offs between sustainability, economic growth, and climate adaptation and mitigation have undermined implementation. The situation is particularly vexing for policy makers , who often have incomplete knowledge about specific threats, but still bear responsibility for managing trade-offs between competing resource uses and avoiding dangerous thresholds and irreversible impacts. Despite burgeoning research on sustainability and resource governance, scholars have not yet systematically investigated how trade-offs are managed in practice. GOVTROFF will fill this gap through three objectives: (1) Development of a coherent method, which enables ‘deep diagnosis’ of collective decision-making in complex governance systems facing trade-offs. (2) To assess the method’s feasibility and validity and to get new insights about governance arrangements for effective response to trade-off situations, the method will be applied to UNESCO World Heritage Sites. (3) To enable multi-case comparative studies, meta-analyses, and cumulative knowledge, GOVTROFF establishes an empirically operable analytical scheme. The scheme is complemented by an open research infrastructure. The long-term goal of this research is to provide policy makers with effective design principles for how complex trade-off situations in resource management can be governed sustainably to meet emergent 21st century environmental and social threats. The results will contribute to one of the European Union’s main objective to ensure ‘Stable and sustainable development’ and to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The fellowship will provide the adoption of specific new skills and building the transferable strengths that will impact the employability and career prospects of the fellow significantly.

Mots clés : resource governance, trade offs, sustainable development, climate change, unesco world heritage sites, institutional analysis and development  iad  framework, networks of action situations  nas

Participants :
- Arizona's Public Universities (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Bern (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 278840.64 €
Projet ChildAct16 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Despite overall agreement that children’s voices matter in the development of policies affecting them, little effort has been made to develop cultural practices encouraging utopianism as a critical attitude to reality and a means of facilitating the expression of formative opinions on the part of children. Nor have young readers’ interpretations of utopian literature been investigated as indicating their perception of the sociopolitical arrangements around them, including the context of the EU. Notwithstanding the popularity of YA dystopian fiction, little attention has been given to utopian contents in other children’s texts. A specialist in children’s literature studies and utopian studies, Deszcz-Tryhubczak addresses these lacunae in a project examining utopianism as a significant element of discourse about children, manifesting in various cultural products addressed to them. She also conducts empirical participatory research (with children as peer researchers) aimed at creating egalitarian spaces within which young readers are not only heard but also collaborate with adults towards a better understanding of how books shape ideas for the desirable future. This approach—an innovation in children’s literature studies—has a huge potential for making children’s literature scholarship relevant to young people’s lives as a cultural practice sustaining intergenerational dialogue. Thus this project is challenge-based and integrates unprecedentedly children’s literature studies, empirical studies of literature and media, utopian studies, and childhood studies. The fellow will publish its results in one article and a co-edited a collection. She will organize a colloquium for international scholars. Her stay at Anglia Ruskin will be crucial in her obtaining full professorship and in her leading a children’s literature research center in Poland. No secondment is proposed, but the research and public outreach activities provide opportunities to expose her work to the public.

Mots clés : children s literature, utopianism, participatory reader response research

Participants :
- Anglia Ruskin University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 97727.4 €
Projet GLIA-LNC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Despite progress in acute treatment, heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Current treatments fail to prevent cellular disease processes or to promote tissue recovery after cardiac events. Since cardiac disease is accompanied by dramatic changes in neuronal integrity, understanding of the factors that regulate cardiac neuronal function and remodelling could facilitate development of novel therapies for heart disease. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) represent attractive therapeutic targets due to their highly cell type specific expression and function. Several lncRNAs were indeed shown to be causally involved in heart disease, but the vast majority of cardiac lncRNAs still await characterization. The heart is densely innervated by nerve fibres which regulate cardiac function on a beat-to-beat basis. In turn, glial cells (GCs), which cover almost all neuronal cell surfaces, locally regulate neuronal function and remodelling. While neuronal function and remodelling play a key role in heart disease, little is known about the role of cardiac GCs and their lncRNAs. My preliminary data suggest that cardiac GCs express many cell type specific lncRNAs that are deregulated in diseased conditions. To identify cardiac GC lncRNAs with therapeutic potential, I will 1) characterize cardiac GC populations that mediate neuronal remodelling in the heart, 2) identify conserved lncRNAs that determine cardiac GC identity and function, and 3) characterize their interaction partners and their ability to regulate key GC functions. These objectives will be addressed using cutting-edge techniques, including single cell sequencing and multiplexed CRISPR interference, during a fellowship at the research group of Prof. Engelhardt in Munich. To do so, I will receive extensive interdisciplinary training and benefit from world-class research infrastructure. Finally, proactive dissemination and communication will ensure that this fellowship benefits society as a whole.

Mots clés : lncrna, glial cells, cardiovascular biology, heart disease, cardiac innervation, myocardial infarction

Participants :
- Technical University of Munich (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet BioTempSense (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Despite the existence of engineered thermometers since the time of Galileo, we still do not understand how biological temperature sensors work. Engineered thermometers take advantage of simple laws in which volume or electrical resistance vary linearly with temperature. Do similarly simple laws determine the temperature sensitivity of biological temperature sensors? The major objective of this project is to understand the physical mechanisms of temperature sensing of bacterial sodium channels, a model biological temperature sensor. To understand this mechanism three approaches will be taken: a bioinformatics approach to reveal any information evolution could tell us about the directed evolution of these sensors, a molecular dynamics approach to elucidate the molecular mechanism determining this temperature sensitivity, and finally the development of a coarse-grained computational model to allow transfer of the obtained results to other temperature sensors. A better understanding of biological temperature sensors has broad implications in the understanding of the potential effect of an increase in global temperature on plants and animals as well as in the design of pain therapeutics that target temperature-sensitive protein complexes in the human body. This highly interdisciplinary work is therefore expected to set the stage for improving the general understanding of biological temperature sensing, which, due to its relevance and wide-applicability, will subsequently enable to pursue my career as independent researcher.

Mots clés : temperature, biophysics, ion channels, bacteria, coiled coil

Participants :
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet ROLLER COASTER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Despite the growing number of female-led firms in Europe, such entrepreneurial ventures tend to be smaller in size, have more limited access to finance, and show slower growth and lower profits than male-owned businesses. Because of the nature of entrepreneurship, it is postulated, in line with emotions-as-information theory, that intuition affects decision-making. How intuition affects profits and growth of female and male ventures as well as access to finance, which are crucial for survival, has not to date been objectively investigated. Applying the social-psychology theory of the stereotype content model, ROLLER-COASTER’s aim is to investigate entrepreneurs’ and venture capitalists’ (VCs) intuition and its impact on success. Three research objectives are targeted: 1) to create a solid interdisciplinary framework 2) to explore the ‘entrepreneurial gender ceiling’ 3) to enhance related theories and concepts Two study phases focus on achieving the objectives: Study 1: Does intuition among entrepreneurs facilitate profit and growth similarly for men and women? Based on Orbis data, self-reports and biophysiological, and behavioral data relating to at least 200 entrepreneurs of both sexes, it is proposed to analyze if female entrepreneurs show higher attributions to intuition but use it less effectively in realizing firm profit and growth than males do. Study 2: Does VCs’ intuition influence investment decision preferences in either female- or male-led ventures? Based on Study 1, pitches will be produced with switched genders and shown to at least 200 VCs to explore whether VCs with high attributions and use of intuition are more likely to invest in male than in female ventures. ROLLER-COASTER will support European educators and policy-makers as they develop instruments to support entrepreneurs --- in particular females as an under-exploited source of economic growth and jobs --- to use their intuition to make faster, more accurate, and more confident decisions.

Mots clés : entrepreneurship, intuition, entrepreneurs  intuition, financiers  intuition, gender differences, entrepreneurial finance, venture capital, stereotype

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 260840.64 €
- Harvard University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet SOILBIODIV (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Despite the importance of soil arthropod biodiversity for ecosystem functioning, our knowledge is extremely poor, and at the community level almost non-existent. The problem has been one of scale and logistics due to the tremendous but cryptic diversity of soil arthropods. Assigning individuals to species is unfeasibly slow using traditional approaches, and morphology itself is increasingly recognized as insufficiently variable to describe species boundaries. However, recent advances provide a tool to bridge this knowledge gap. SOILBIODIV applies novel HTS to develop new pipelines within a multidisciplinary project for the molecular characterization of soil arthropod communities. In so doing it will provide much needed molecular tools and permanent resources to quantify and monitor soil biodiversity over geographic scales relevant for both theoretical and applied soil science. In parallel SOILBIODIV will establish a milestone in our understanding of soil biodiversity structure at the landscape scale. This will be achieved by implementing the pipeline within an oceanic island setting that provides strong natural gradients of aridity and temperature to estimate: (i) soil arthropod mesofauna richness; (ii) community structure; and (iii) turnover within and among ecosystems and islands. Data generated will be used to: (i) identify introduced species and associated biodiversity risks and (ii) to evaluate the magnitude and distribution of risks for soil biodiversity under climate change by modeling biodiversity patterns in future climate scenarios and estimating the potential biodiversity loss. Thus SOILBIODIV will address European-level research priorities by assessing the vulnerabilities of soil biodiversity to global change within a European biodiversity hotspot. The complementary research profiles of the ER and HR, and their mutual interest in applying molecular tools to quantify community level biodiversity at the landscape scale, underpin the strength of SOILBIODIV.

Mots clés : soil biodiversity, high througput sequencing, metabarcoding, metagenomics, genome skimming, climate change vulnerability, invasive species

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 158121.6 €