Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet MOVEMeNt (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Alpha motor neurons (aMN) are a clinically relevant neuronal population that selectively degenerates in neuromuscular diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA). Distinct classes of aMNs (SFR, FFR and FF) degenerate at different rate in these diseases, with the fast fatigable (FF) MNs degenerating first. The molecular mechanisms underlying this selective vulnerability are only partially known. Understanding the molecular logics that shape the identity and function of aMN subtypes in vivo is directly relevant to the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Here I propose to harmonically integrate my solid background in dissecting the molecular fingerprints of distinct neuronal subtypes in adult mice by undertaking new technologies I pioneered at Harvard University, with new skills and knowledge I will build at the Host Institution, which will be critical for the successful achievement of my goal. The overreaching goal of MOVEMeNt is to identify the molecular substrate of disease vulnerability in aMNs. I will (Aim 1) isolate and FACS-purify aMN-nuclei from adult mouse spinal cords, based on the specific expression of aMN markers. Single cell transcriptomic analysis will reveal class-specific molecular fingerprints, including factors playing key roles in suptype-specific development, function, and disease vulnerability. I will also (Aim2) analyze the transcriptional changes of differentially vulnerable aMN classes upon retrograde labeling and functional denervation by neurotoxin intoxication. This work will return candidate genes directly controlling terminal sprouting and remodeling, critical steps that disease-resistant aMN subtypes normally undertake for neuronal loss compensation upon insult. More broadly, I aim to contribute in filling an important knowledge gap by generating the first transcriptomic roadmap of aMN subtypes, and pinpointing at new candidates for therapy development.

Mots clés : neuronal diversity, vulnerability, ff mn, adult, spinal cord, remodeling, neurotoxin, single cell, sbma

Participants :
- University of Padua (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183473.28 €
Projet SLEEPSWIM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Although sleep has been found in most animals, our understanding of its function remains limited. A longstanding theory proposed that sleep has energy saving functions. Thus, an individual is expected to engage in sleep more often when energy intake is much lower than its energy demand. However, while facing such a negative energy balance, there might be some ecological contexts within which the need for sleep may conflict with the need for being awake. To overcome this issue, some species can display a mixed state wherein one cerebral hemisphere is asleep and the other is awake. Other than its importance as anti-predatory strategy, this phenomenon has received attention because it is the only sleep type that is compatible with locomotion, as shown in dolphins. However, in birds the possibility of combining sleep and active locomotion has never been demonstrated. In my recent observations, I obseved several goose species paddling while keeping their eyelids closed, which is a typical feature of sleep. The general aims of my project are to describe, for the first time in birds, the simultaneous occurrence of sleep and stereotype locomotion and to investigate how energy balance affects this phenomenon. Using the graylag goose (Anser anser) and state-of-the-art neurophysiological recording methods, I will describe whether eye closure during paddling is actually associated with sleep and if it occurs uni- or bihemispherically. Then, I will test whether the expression of this phenomenon varies during early-life development. Finally, I will study the modulation of such behavior in response to a gradient of energy requirement. My findings will not only be fundamental for uncovering the existence of sleep during active locomotion in birds, as well as factors driving its occurrence, but they will also propose the use of sleepswimming in geese as a model for investigating sleepwalking in humans, a poorly understood and, in some cases, life-threatening disorder.

Mots clés : electroencephalogram, active locomotion, swim, birds, geese, energy management, brain activity, stereotyped movements, growth

Participants :
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet REBELLION (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been identified as a major threat to mankind in the 21st century. Thus, there is a critical need to develop new antimicrobials and new delivery strategies to preserve the viability of the existing antibiotics. One such strategy is the use of molecular nanomachines (MNMs) for targeted and controlled inactivation of bacterial pathogens. REBELLION aims to develop new light responsive MNMs against bacterial pathogens with minimal damage to mammalian tissues. This strategy will provide a therapeutic advantage in terms of efficacy and selectivity compared with current therapeutics while minimizing the potential for the development of AMR. The proposed research programme combines (1) chemical synthesis of new MNMs, (2) assessment of their efficacy against clinically relevant bacterial pathogens, (3) evaluation of their safety to mammalian cells and (4) in vivo efficacy testing. The results obtained have the potential to lead to an alternative, entirely novel class of antimicrobials (MNMs) and to become a stepping stone towards future clinical trials. REBELLION is a vital, multidisciplinary and international endeavor that will bring together this fellow’s core expertise in microbial photobiology with (1) antibiotic resistance and infection at IdISBa (beneficiary, Spain), (2) state-of-the-art technology in light-driven antimicrobial therapy, and experience in in vitro and in vivo drug efficacy testing championed by GAMA Therapeutics (host, USA) and (3) expert knowledge in nanomachine synthesis by the Nanotechnology Department of Rice University (co-host, USA). I will be trained by top-level scientists and widen my network and competencies through advanced training in nanotechnology, infection, and drug development and testing. This action will catalyze my career into an independent and mature researcher with an eclectic skill set geared toward producing a unique contribution to European excellence in antimicrobial discovery technology.

Mots clés : antimicrobial resistance, infection, nanotechnology

Participants :
- Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 245732.16 €
- Gama therapeutics llc (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
Projet HappyFish (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food-producing sector world-wide: >50% of consumed fish are farmed and the increasing human demand for high quality protein will continue. The most important challenge for securing continued development of green aquaculture is sustainable solutions to improve feed efficiency as feed makes up >50% of the total cost for producing a fish. Further, animal protein is increasingly substituting plant based ingredients for fish feed; this has yet unknown effects on related metabolic processes affecting growth and health. Promising solutions for optimizing feed efficiency and fish health stem from recent studies that sequence metagenomes (combined microbial DNA in the host gut) to detail out how the complete gut microbiome (the microbial community in the gut) interacts with metabolic and immunological pathways in human and mice; results that have revolutionized the way we understand how microbes affects human health. Identification of beneficial bacteria holds a huge potential for optimizing feed efficiency and boost immunity in farmed fishes. The aim of this project is to pursue this potential. I will apply a multidisciplinary approach using metagenomics to describe, for the first time, the complete metagenome of the rainbow trout gut. This combined genomic resource will be coupled with carefully planned feeding experiments to identify associations with the host trout gut-microbiota and i) animal vs. plant based diets, ii) genes of the host fish, and iii) individual growth and metabolic traits such as growth rate and fat content of the host trout. Results will yield new knowledge on microbe-host interactions in rainbow trout and may lead to new products (e.g. probiotics and fish feed) enhancing fish health by actively modulating the microbiota. The project will additionally establish trout as a general model for the study of how modulation of the microbiota can give rise to increased health and meat quality in any farmed animal.

Mots clés : metagenomics, green aquaculture

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212194.8 €
Projet CCDSA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Archaea and eukaryotes share conserved regulators such as ESCRTIII proteins that are involved in fundamental aspects of eukaryotic cell division, a finding that assumes particular importance in the context of widely accepted models for the evolution of eukaryotes from an ancestral archaeal host. Yet the mechanisms by which archaea regulate cell division- in the absence of nuclei, organelles and a rigid cell wall- are poorly understood. The research programme proposed here aims to fill this gap in our understanding by investigating the control and coordination of cell division in the model crenarchaeote Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. We will use super-resolution imaging in combination with cell sorting and electron cryotomography to characterize cell cycle progression in Sulfolobus at unprecedented resolution. We will leverage a novel in-house high-temperature live imaging platform and proteins labeled with thermostable GFP to dissect the molecular coupling between the key processes of chromosome segregation, membrane invagination, and abscission. Further, we will use forward genetics, whole-genome sequencing and comparative genomics to identify novel cell division regulators that are conserved in eukaryotes. We expect this detailed characterization of cell division in cells without organelles or a nucleus to have broad implications for our understanding of the origins of the more elaborate mechanisms found in extant eukaryotes. Moreover, in the future we expect the knowledge gained and interdisciplinary approaches developed here to be applicable for the study of Loki, the recently identified closest archaeal relative of eukaryotes, and for furthering the industrial utility of hyperthermophilic archaea.

Mots clés : archaeal cell biology, evolutionary cell biology

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet BUNT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Archaeometric research on ancient polychromy can reveal how past cultures exchanged commodities and knowledge. This raises fundamental questions relevant to cultural heritage research, to our understanding and present-day perception of ancient economic dynamics, technology and art. I have analyzed a number of colorants, with the aim of determining material provenance. The more of these analyses that are carried out, the more the need for an integrated synopsis of the current state of knowledge becomes pressing. My overall research goal is to test the potential of ancient pigments for indicating various forms of (ex)change. I hypothesize that the information on provenance and production processes gained from scientifically analyzing, archaeologically and historically contextualizing ancient pigments will indicate procurement patterns, technology and organization of production, and transfer of knowledge and culture in a novel way. To test this, I will investigate the origin of raw materials and the product quality of cinnabar and Egyptian blue pigments in unprecedented detail with a multidisciplinary approach: The impurities in pigment mineral phases can indicate production processes and thus perhaps organization of production. Trace elements and isotope ratios vary depending on the geology of a source area. This allows excluding a less likely provenance. For BUNT, I will set the material analysis in context with the discussion of the cultural, political and economic dynamics in Noricum after it became part of the Roman Empire – an area with abundant local resources and the potential for local production of pigments, and a highly interesting time of cultural change. BUNT is innovative, multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral, which will advance my versatility and independence in research, and which is in line with the ambitions communication and dissemination strategies; it builds, at its core, an open pigment database and aims to promote European cultural heritage.

Mots clés : ancient polychromy, archaeometry, european cultural heritage, material provenance, procurement patterns, production technology and organization, transfer of knowledge, roman provincial archaeology

Participants :
- Austrian Academy of Sciences (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 186167.04 €
Projet TCFLAND2SEA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Arctic permafrost (PF) as vulnerable carbon stock to global warming is increasingly receiving attention due to significant importance in global climate change. Immense carbon stock is held in surface soils on land, coastal Pleistocene Ice Complex Deposit and sediment of shallow subsea in Arctic. Under global warming, the emission of greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 from PF could further intensify global warming; however, the key link between thawing PF and greenhouse gas emission -microbial degradation remains poorly understood. Microbial degradation of organic matter and its response to thawing is conducive to understanding the biogeochemical carbon cycle and even the future prediction of greenhouse gases in Arctic. To better understand microbial mediation on PF-carbon feedback to global warming, this proposal aims to quantitatively estimate the microbial activity and metabolism in different types of PF (inland, coastal Ice Complex Deposit and marine sediment of subsea PF) from the northeast Siberian via multidisciplinary techniques including microcosm incubation, lipid-based stable isotope probing, modelled metabolic flux analysis and metabolomics. This proposal will improve the understanding of microbial ecosystem in response to thawing PF and their roles in biogeochemical carbon cycle in Arctic.

Mots clés : biogeochemistry, environmental microbiology, stable isotope probing, metabolic flux analysis, metabolomics, arctic permafrost

Participants :
- Stockholm University (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203852.16 €
Projet FOCRIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Armed groups have always attempted to obtain popular legitimacy and win support in their immediate social environments, as attested by the rich empirical and historical literature on the subject. This project proposes an innovative conceptual approach to assess how insurgent movements spatially organise interactions with their supportive constituencies. It introduces the concept of Routinised Insurgent Space (RIS) to analyse the process by which insurgent movements’ deliberately routinise interactions with supporters with the objective of carving out spaces where insurgent presence becomes normalised and in the long run, potentially hegemonic. It draws predominantly on the social movement and rebel governance literatures. It is an exploratory project, wherein the concept of RIS will be rigorously tested and the full extent of its scope determined. It focuses on two groups (the M-19 in Colombia and the PKK in Turkey), selected as most-different-cases due to their differing ideologies, insurgent strategies and differing success rates (PKK as more successful and M-19 as less successful) in consolidating RIS. Additionally, the spatial and chronological variation in the forms of RIS they employed, allows both within-case and cross-case analysis. The Fellow has deep expertise on both movements with access to data including interview partners, movement primary sources and party literature. FOCRIS focuses on four specific forms of RIS which preliminary research by the author, has demonstrated to occur in movements of different ideological orientation and socio-political contexts: insurgent justice and policing; insurgent service provision; insurgent prison organisation and insurgent funerals.

Mots clés : civil wars, conflicts, violence insurgencies, social movements, colombia, turkey, urban violence, terrorism, kurdish studies, counterinsurgency, political violence, rebel governance, space, m 19

Participants :
- Wageningen University & Research (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187572.48 €
Projet PriWa (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Armies of the Ancien Régime reflected not only the society of their time, but also the politics, importance and international weight of their respective nations. Prisoners of war offer a privileged insight into these issues and, more significantly, into the human and humanitarian feelings of all those involved, politicians and civilians as well as the military. This study will provide a ground-breaking comparative approach to prisoners of war from Britain, Spain and France during the long 18th century. Through correspondence written by the prisoners themselves as well as letters to/by the authorities, we will chart feelings and views towards the conflicts from those directly involved, revealing alternative views of war than those imposed by their sovereigns. In what the prisoners conveyed to their families and to the authorities, we can learn much of the conditions of captivity, which varied considerably depending on religion, social status or military rank. Across the century, we find analogous prisoner of war experiences in different societies and historical periods, but after the French Revolution significant differences begin to emerge because of new political considerations which meant qualitative changes to the status of prisoners of war, since they were henceforth political prisoners, no longer Ancien Régime ones. Comparing Britain and Spain with France is essential to perfecting our understanding of how the status and experience of prisoners of war changed between the old order and the new. In brief, this is a study that helps to understand better the changes in the humanitarian measures in war which form the basis of current practice and are at the heart of notions of Human rights.

Mots clés : prisoners of war, humanity, capitulation, captives, sustenance

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

Around 3 million people in Europe are affected by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a devastating condition characterized by chronic inflammation of the digestive tract causing severe damage to the intestinal epithelium. Current medication strategies aim to relieve symptoms by reducing the inflammatory burden without promoting epithelial repair to restore tissue integrity. It is therefore of great importance to enhance the current understanding of intestinal regeneration and thus facilitate the development of novel pharmaceutical compounds to improve tissue recovery in IBD patients. However so far, only few regulators of intestinal regeneration with quite distinct cellular functions have been identified, suggesting an interplay of various molecular pathways that orchestrate intestinal repair. This therefore raises the question of which cellular and molecular mechanisms safeguard epithelial regeneration. To address this issue, I will combine a unique in vitro organoid system, developed in the host lab that captures epithelial cells in a regenerative state, with my expertise in large-scale screening approaches to: (1) perform an unbiased genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen to identify novel regulators of intestinal regeneration, (2) validate essential pathways in intestinal repair in vitro and in vivo, and (3) dissect the molecular events coordinating tissue healing. The outcome of this project will on one hand provide a comprehensive list of factors and their molecular function controlling this cellular process and on the other hand uncover novel druggable pathways in IBD to enhance the regenerative capacity of the intestinal epithelium. Executing this MSCA fellowship proposal will equip me with expert knowledge in epithelial biology and associated pathologies, cutting-edge technologies and an essential set of transferable skills, which all together will ensure my successful establishment as an independent group leader in the field of regenerative stem cell biology.

Mots clés : crispr, cas9 screen, organoids, intestinal regeneration, inflammatory bowel disease

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 207312.0 €