Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet MAGSPEC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Electronic spectroscopy is one among several types of spectroscopy employed to study molecules in stellar objects. Strong magnetic fields, as in white-dwarfs and neutron stars, can severely distort these spectra. To accurately interpret the data, we must understand the forces shaping the spectra in situations so far removed from terrestrial conditions. Such strong fields also imply a breakdown of the perturbative mechanism commonly used for studying magnetic phenomena in the pertinent regimes on earth. We shall focus on the intermediate regime of field strengths (~10^5 T), where, neither the magnetic field nor the inter-particle interaction can be treated as a perturbation leading to novel physics and chemistry, that remains little explored for molecules. This project seeks to develop the methodology to compute excitation energies and potential energy surfaces in the presence of strong uniform and non-uniform magnetic fields, included non-perturbatively, at varying levels of theoretical complexity (Hartree-Fock, Density Functional Theory, Random Phase Approximation, SRCC and MRCC) and study the distortion of these spectra across a range of magnetic field strengths. We shall focus on analysing the source of these distortions at the microscopic level, ie. which of orbital effects, spin effects, correlation effects and relativistic effects play the determining role. This project is multidisciplinary using principles of quantum chemistry in tackling astrochemical problems. The study is fundamental and is expected to reveal interesting results relevant even for the weaker fields on earth. The benchmarking of the standard DFT exchange-correlation functionals against CC in the regime of strong magnetic fields will have a long-term impact as most existing DFT approximations have been formulated within DFT or collinear spin DFT (SDFT); practical DFT functionals to describe molecules in magnetic fields (e.g. at the CDFT or non-collinear SDFT level) are much less developed.

Mots clés : molecules in magnetic fields, electronic excitation, electron correlation, response properties

Participants :
- University of Oslo (Norvège) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 208400.4 €
Projet E-Waste Challenge (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Electronic waste (E-waste) or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world today. It is a complex stream of waste as it contains both hazardous chemicals and valuable/precious metal components. A major challenge for the research community, therefore, is to find effective (policy) solutions for addressing the environmental and health problems caused by E-waste management in low and mid-income countries while, at the same time, enhancing the recovery of precious metals to reuse these resources. During my Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship, I will analyse why emerging economies adopt E-waste policies that seem inadequate and ineffective in their local contexts and identify alternative approaches. In a first step, I will develop a novel analytical framework to analyse the effectiveness of E-waste policies in emerging economies and, as a second step, I will seek to explain the degree of effectiveness of E-waste policies in India and South Africa. The research aims to make conceptual, empirical and policy-relevant contributions: I strive to contribute to the academic literature by developing a novel analytical framework that helps evaluate E-waste policies in non-Western countries. Current literature on E-waste is largely based on assumptions derived from Western policies, polities and societies. By analysing the cases of India and South Africa, my research will focus on two countries whose E-waste policy has hardly been analysed. The findings of the project will provide insights that both the EU and non-European policymakers can use in their decision- making. The EU has a keen interest in supporting non-EU countries tackle their E-waste challenges through effective policies, especially since parts of the E-waste that causes problems in those countries originates from the EU and is a direct result of European consumption. I will contribute to the understanding of how such EU support could be designed.

Mots clés : electronic waste, e waste, india, south africa, policy, emerging economy, circular economy, policy effectiveness, policy change, policy transfer, legal transplants, conspicuous consumption

Participants :
- KU Leuven (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 178320.0 €
Projet GPR84 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Elevated local and systemic inflammation has been shown to play a central role in multiple diseases. An important cellular mechanism leading to chronic increased inflammation is dysregulation of the innate immune system. A drug that modulates macrophage function, suppressing the pro-inflammatory response while maintaining pro-repair function would represent a major breakthrough in the treatment of multiple degenerative diseases. Our host group very recently identified a biased agonist of an immunometabolic receptor, GPR84, which failed to induce chemotaxis (pro-inflammatory response) while stimulating phagocytosis (pro-repair response) in both murine and human macrophage (ACS Chem. Biol. 2019). This is an important discovery of a small molecule along with a defined molecular target and cellular mechanism which, for the first time, is capable of blocking a pro-inflammatory response while stimulating a pre-repair response in both mouse and human macrophage. These results are extremely exciting and demonstrate the translational potential of our approach, but the small molecule they identified, while a useful in vitro tool which we have shared with the scientific community, cannot be progressed to in vivo proof-of-concept experiments because it is too metabolically unstable. We are therefore applying to the MSCA IF to seek medicinal chemistry support to drive a hit-to-lead project to evolve our small molecule hit into a lead candidate with appropriate properties for progression in vivo to carry out key proof-of-concept experiments in animal models of inflammation. This in vivo efficacy data will be pivotal to underpin a future funding application to support drug discovery and development campaigns.

Mots clés : g protein coupled receptor  gpcr, biased agonism, free fatty acids, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, inflammation, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, adme, murine, human macrophage, in vitro, in vivo

Participants :
- University of Oxford (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet EmbPatristics (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

EmbPatristics seeks to develop an interdisciplinary model for the study of emotion manipulation in ritual contexts. To this end, it applies analytical instruments developed across the Historical, Social, and Cognitive Sciences to a particularly well-documented case study, namely the annual celebration of a martyr’s death or ‘martyr panegyris’, as celebrated in Asia Minor (Anatolia) in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. The experience gained from the analysis is used to develop an adaptable model, with implications for the history of emotion, the history of religion, ritual studies, and the Cognitive Sciences. In terms of content, EmbPatristics opens the discussion and provides the instruments for further research on the role emotion played in the spread of Christianity among Romans. Finally, by showing in a comprehensible manner how external stimuli elicit emotional responses, the initiative contributes to contemporary society, where emotion manipulation through media outlets has become increasingly popular in the past years Keeping with the goals of the MSCA, EmbPatristics involves a bidirectional knowledge transfer and the strengthening of European research networks. The researcher will enrich his expertise in the staging of religious experiences with competences in Patristic text analysis and in the Cognitive Sciences—area of study in which the University of Vienna is the leading European centre—while also improving his scientific networking, communication, and project management skills. The University of Vienna will have its Cognitive Science research enriched with a new focus—i.e. the study of Patristics from an embodied perspective—housed within the Department of Christian History, Art and Archaeology.

Mots clés : patristics, late antiquity, panegyris, emotion, embodied

Participants :
- University of Vienna (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 186167.04 €
Projet INVASIMMUN (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are an increasing threat to global health and there is an urgent need to understand the processes involved in their spread. The majority of EIDs originate from wildlife, for example the recent outbreaks of ebola, zika virus and lassa fever. One of the primary drivers of EIDs is human intervention via host or parasite translocations. A unique opportunity to study the processes involved in EIDs, currently exists in Ireland due to the introduction of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), via Germany in the 1920’s. The continuing range expansion of the bank vole within Ireland presents a natural large-scale perturbation experiment, with empirical data and known expansion routes already available. This knowledge, which is based in part on data I am currently collecting, combined with bank voles being an established model species for studying disease dynamics, creates an ideal and rare system to study the factors that influence the invasion process and the emergence of infectious diseases. The primary objective of the proposal is to conduct a spatiotemporal study analysing the infection dynamics of native and invasive species in relation to immune phenotype. A temporal study will allow the process of adaptation, as the invasive species becomes established, to be observed for the first time. I will be mentored by and collaborate with world leaders in disease ecology in Ireland and other European countries to accomplish my goals. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship would enable me to build on my disease ecology research experience and to develop a unique bio-invasion model system in Europe. It will enable me to develop expertise in the emerging field of ecoimmunology, establishing my position as a key scientist in this innovative field of research.

Mots clés : infection dynamics, emerging infectious diseases, eco immunology, invasive species

Participants :
- Trinity College Dublin (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187866.0 €
Projet NOVENA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Enacyloxin IIa is a polyketide antibiotic with activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria that targets ribosomal elongation factor Tu. It has recently been identified as metabolite of Burkholderia ambifaria AMMD and shown to have clinically-relevant activity against Acinetobacter baumannii, a problematic pan-resistant Gram-negative pathogen. Despite its promising biological activity, enacyloxin IIa has not been used in the clinic, presumably due to stability issues. Preliminary experiments have provided evidence for an unusual mechanism of modular polyketide synthase chain release in enacyloxin biosynthesis, involving intermolecular condensation of an acyl carrier protein (ACP)-bound thioester with the C-3 hydroxyl group of (1R, 3R, 4S)-3,4-dihydroxycyclohexane carboxylic acid (DHCCA). The resulting intermediate undergoes epimerisation at C-1 of the DHCCA moiety. This project aims to explore the ability of the chain release enzyme to catalyse the acetylation of a variety of DHCCA analogues with an acetyl-ACP analogue of the polyketide thioester intermediate. It also aims to identify the enzyme responsible for epimerising C-1 of the DHCCA moiety. DHCCA biosynthetic genes will be deleted in B. ambifaria and enacyloxin analogues, with a stable amide group in place of the labile ester group and other modifications to the DHCCA-derived moiety, will be produced via a mutasynthesis strategy.

Mots clés : polyketide synthase, nonribosomal peptide synthetase, specialised metabolism, enzymology

Participants :
- University of Warwick (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet breast cancer dormancy (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Endocrine therapy has clearly improved outcomes for estrogen receptor alpha positive (ER+) breast cancer patients, however the cumulative incidence of recurrence and death continues at a steady rate . The majority of ER+ breast tumours treated with neoadjuvant letrozole in respond quickly and are generally excised after three months. A minority of tumours maintain a stable size by becoming dormant, these tumours continue to receive extended letrozole treatment and therefore represent the best currently available clinical model to investigate dormancy. We have previously performed a number of dynamic molecular studies of cancer treatment by taking pre- and post-treatment tumour biopsies utilising the "window of opportunity". In this study, for the first time, the dormant cancer cells from breast tumour biopsies that have received extended (1-3 years) neoadjuvant endocrine therapy will be studied. This study aims to characterise the ER+ breast cancer dormancy and letrozole resistance using expression profiling technologies of this unique series of breast tumour biopsies. The genome- and proteome-wide expression data will be analysed and compared with data for the same patients at diagnosis, at two weeks and at three months following treatment and with the clinical outcomes. Our study will be the first to characterise extended growth suppression in letrozole-treated dormant-state breast cancer. This knowledge will be very valuable to extend ER+ breast cancer patients' survival and quality of life by preventing metastasis and also contribute to the economy and society by introducing a individualized therapy that is tailored in accordance with cancer patients’ expression profiles. This multidisciplinary project combines both clinical and academic aspects along with exposure to the non-academic sector, in order to provide the fellow with great competence in cancer genomics through training in advanced integrative bioinformatics analysis of high-throughput data.


Participants :
- University of Edinburgh (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet Host Sweet Home (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Endosymbiotic bacteria are usually not infectious, they have been thought to exclusively transfer vertically from the host mother to her offspring. Consequently we do often observe congruence between the phylogenetic trees of endosymbiotic bacteria and their host species, but not always. Evidences for the horizontal transfer of endosymbiotic bacteria between highly divergent host species have recently been accumulating, especially from studies in Insects. My own research on this topic led me to hypothesise that endosymbiotic strains not transferring horizontally may have lost the ability to do so and to establish into naïve hosts, contrasting to strains found in divergent host species. Instead of transferring, these strains would transit from a generalist state, able to jump and establish into naïve hosts, towards a more specialist state found in only few host species. Using Wolbachia bacteria-butterfly host associations and a multidisciplinary approach, I aim at (I) testing the evolutionary relevance of horizontal transfer of symbionts, (II) phenotypically characterizing generalist and specialist symbionts, and (III) identifying the molecular bases to the establisment of symbiosis. The novelty of this project lies into solving the dilemma associated to the endosymbiotic lifestyle: to maintain the mechanisms allowing transfer between hosts or to transit towards a specialised relationship with the host. ‘Host Sweet Home’ will to unravel the evolutionary history, and the constraints and outcomes of endosymbiosis. I will produce a large amount of genetic data, which analysis will result in highly significant research in the field of symbiosis, with a potential impact beyond the field of Evolutionary Ecology.


Participants :
- Lund University (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 185857.2 €
Projet ECSiTe (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Endothelial cells (ECs) specialize towards tissue-specific needs by shaping their phenotypes in response to microenvironmental stimuli, becoming a highly heterogeneous population. Overlooking the EC heterogenic nature most likely underlies the low efficacy and side-effects of broad-spectrum treatments for vascular bed-specific diseases. However, little is known on the interplay between the factors regulating the EC signatures, and tissue engineering research has essentially used standard and poorly differentiated ECs. The objective of this proposal is to investigate the mechanisms by which tissue-specific mechanical, biochemical and genetic factors interact to regulate EC signatures. To do so, brain and aortic valve ECs –non-standard and highly specialized EC types– will be used. First, by using custom-made hydrogels and a flow chamber device, a combination of different levels of tissue stiffness and shear stress will be applied to ECs in culture. The impact and interaction of both mechanical forces on EC features will be determined by analysing changes in EC phenotypes and in gene expression profiles. Then, brain and valve-specific mechanical forces will be selected, and brain and valve ECs will be cultured under organ-matching mechanical forces but under organ-switched biochemical factors. Because these ECs have strong signatures, by analysing phenotypical shifts, the impact of tissue-specific biochemical factors on EC signatures will be determined. Finally, the genetic impact on brain and valve EC phenotypes and the capability of modulating these through microenvironmental design will be studied by analysing phenotypical shifts after culturing brain and valve ECs under organ-switched total (mechanical and biochemical) environments. In a nutshell, this proposal will provide new knowledge in how specialized ECs integrate the different factors regulating their heterogeneity, leading to new future perspectives on tissue-specific vascular bed repair strategies.

Mots clés : endothelial cell, shear stress, tissue stiffness, mechanotransduction, differential gene expression, heterogeneity regulation, blood brain barrier endothelial cell, valve endothelial cell

Participants :
- KU Leuven (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 166320.0 €
Projet hetero-switch (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Future smart multi-functional logic devices might combine switchable molecules and two-dimensional layered materials (2D-LMs). Spin crossover (SCO) compounds are a paradigmatic example of molecular switches including cooperative spin-transitions. One of their hallmarks is the huge concomitant strain arising upon SCO up to 13 % responding to numerous external stimuli even above room temperature. Besides, hundreds of 2D-LMs were discovered after the isolation of thin graphene layer(s) from graphite. Such a plethora of diverse atomic layers with distinct properties opened the door to design novel van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) with artificially engineered functionalities. Introducing external interactions or strain can give the ability to tune optical band gaps and electrical properties of 2DLMs-vdWHs. Still in its infancy, this strategy promises new properties and exciting physics seeking thereafter unprecedented device performance and applications. This interdisciplinary project intends at pioneering design, preparation and investigations of the electrical transport and magnetotransport properties of SCO/2D-LMs-vdWHs. Signs of the coexistence, or even synergy, of several physical properties of interest will be painstakingly researched. This quest encompasses manifestations of magnetism, conductivity, and superconductivity influenced by thermal- and light-induced SCO cooperative spin-transitions, pursuing innovative 2D nanoelectronics, energy applications and flexible sensors.

Mots clés : molecular electronics, 2d physics, spin crossover, hybrid heterostructures, molecular spintronics

Participants :
- University of Valencia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 170121.6 €
Projet MIR-CHROM-C (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Future treatments of cardiovascular conditions will benefit from our ability to harness progenitor cells or stem cells for therapeutic purpose. To achieve this promising goal the objective of this Marie-SkŁodowska-Curie Action is to dissect the molecular mechanisms that govern fundamental cellular differentiation processes in their normal physiological setting, the developing embryo. One such fundamental process is the control of cell lineage determination. This is important during both stem cell differentiation and embryo development, including heart development. In the heart, many of the diffusible signalling molecules, transcription factors and more recently non-coding RNAs and epigenetic factors that contribute to this process have been identified. This has facilitated rapid advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the control of cell fate choice, however many details remain to be elucidated. This Action will focus on enzyme complexes that remodel chromatin during the epigenetic changes that occur during heart development. These complexes, which consist of different BAF-subunits and a core enzyme called Brg1, determine whether or not chromatin is accessible to transcriptional regulators, and they form an important nexus governing lineage decisions. The Action will address an important gap in our understanding concerning the regulation of subunit composition of the complexes and how subunit composition affects their function. This project builds on recent pilot data and will use in vivo methods to investigate the regulation of chromatin remodelling factors by microRNAs during cardiac development in experimentally accessible chick embryos. Mechanistic gain- and loss-of-function experiments in embryos (WP1, WP2) will be complemented by genomic approaches (WP3) to determine the genome-wide dynamic coverage of BAF/Brg1 complexes during heart development.

Mots clés : cardiogenesis, chromatin regulation, micrornas

Participants :
- University of East Anglia (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €