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

Pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli are responsible for a large variety of diseases, including persistent urinary tract and intestinal infections. Their adhesion to the host cell wall is promoted by the binding of FimH located at the tip of the bacterial fimbriae to highly mannosylated cell surface receptors. To resist human defences such as the urinary flow, bacterial adhesion is enhanced under shear force. The shear-force dependence and thus also the pathogenicity of different E. coli strains has been shown to depend on natural sequential variation of the FimH protein. Also probiotic E. coli strains have been shown to attach to host cells, which raises the question as to why these bacteria evoke a beneficial effect upon their host. The FimH-Mech project intends to decipher the molecular mechanism that determines the pathogenicity of different E. coli strains, by investigating the shear-force dependence of FimH and FimH variants and by modelling the complex formation with one of its targets receptors, namely CEACAM6. The results of these investigations will allow me to establish the molecular difference between a pathogenic and probiotic FimH adhesin. I will use a large variety of state-of-the-art computational and theoretical techniques, such as molecular modelling, quantum mechanics, docking and two-state kinetic models. These techniques will be enriched by but also feed into experimental essays to be performed in the host institute. The thus gained understanding of the molecular action of bacterial adhesins will allow for the development of more efficient inhibitors. This constitutes a promising and important milestone in the design of new non-antibiotic drugs against harmful adhesive bacteria.

Mots clés : bacterial adhesion, shear force, host pathogen interaction, molecular simulation, glycoproteins

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 185076.0 €
Projet SMILE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Pathogens invade and colonize their target host by modulating several key processes of host cells, resulting in modified physiology. Interference mechanisms are intensively studied in the case of viruses and bacteria, however, our knowledge about invasive eukaryotic pathogens is more limited. To understand how eukaryotic pathogens hijack host processes at the molecular level, Leishmania will be examined using computational methods and the results will be validated by experimental techniques. Leishmaniasis is a parasitic protozoan disease, responsible for non-resolving and chronic infection, affecting over 10 million people worldwide. Ongoing environmental changes are considered to be helping the disease to spread to new regions. Leishmania pathogenesis is poorly understood and to combat the infection and to control the disease, further insights into host-pathogen interaction are desperately needed. An integral part of the constant arms race between the host immune system and pathogens is the rapid evolution of pathogenic Short Linear Motifs (SLiMs), capable of modulating the host cell regulation. The limited sequence length of these protein-binding segments provides evolutionary advantages for the pathogen, as SLiMs can arise de novo and many can be packed into a single protein. Their properties make them hard to explore using biochemical methods alone, however, using bioinformatics approaches this process can be accelerated. SMILE aims to identify SLiMs mediating Leishmaniasis. My hierarchical strategy starts from protein level identification to detailed structural characterisation of host-pathogen interactions, as an ultimate goal. The description of SLiMs already suggests novel therapeutic strategies to counteract mutation-based diseases. The outcome of the project has the potential to suggest targets for the development of similar treatments against eukaryotic parasitic diseases.

Mots clés : protein protein interactions, short linear motifs, leishmania, intracellular eukaryotic parasites, neglected tropical diseases

Participants :
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet TOPPER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Pathogens secrete effectors into host cells to promote virulence and often establish disease by interception of basal defence components. One widespread mechanism of disease resistance in plants requires nucleotide-binding oligomerization (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) genes. Recognition of an effector by a cognate NLR prevents pathogen proliferation. A co-evolutionary arms race between the host barley and the pathogenic powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis forma specialis hordei (Bgh) has driven the functional diversification of allelic NLR variants encoded at the MLA disease resistance locus (for Mildew locus A). Recent work revealed that Bgh effectors detected by allelic MLA receptor variants are unexpectedly sequence-unrelated and evolved independently from different ancestors. Additionally, the MLA orthologs in wheat and rye, Sr33 and Sr50, confer isolate-specific resistance to the stem rust pathogen Puccinia graminis forma specialis tritici (Pgt). This is remarkable because rust and mildew fungi belong to different phyla and cannot encode sequence-related effectors. MLA variants can therefore not have diversified to directly bind sequence-related effectors and thus monitor effector-mediated modifications of host targets conserved between different cereals. To reintegrate into the European scientific community, I wish to perform the “TOPPER” project at the Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany. The “TOPPER” project will clarify whether the sequence-unrelated Bgh effectors target the same host protein or converge on a common signalling pathway/complex consisting of related or unrelated host proteins. I hypothesize that the host protein(s), manipulated by Bgh effectors, is/are also targeted by effectors of other plant-associated microorganisms, which will be tested here. The collaboration with the partner ‘2Blades’ will ensure direct deployment of results in agriculture to battle plant disease, where appropriate.

Mots clés : host, pathogen co evolution, effectors, powdery mildew, community profiling

Participants :
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet EpiCBiome (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Patients with chronic inflammatory lung diseases such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have a higher prevalence of respiratory infections. These infections accelerate disease progression and are associated with substantial morbidity and (especially in COPD) even mortality. Recent studies show that the airway microbiome of patients with asthma and COPD is different from that of healthy subjects. In murine lungs this has been shown to promote airway inflammation and loss of lung function. To this point it is unclear how changes in microbiome composition contribute to susceptibility for respiratory infections. Currently, treatment of patients with asthma and COPD is limited to symptom reduction and prevention of disease progression and hampered by the large amount of patients resistant to corticosteroid treatment. Understanding why these patients have an altered microbiome and increased susceptibility to respiratory infections is therefore pivotal to develop more effective healthcare strategies. Studies on host-microbiome interactions are mostly performed in murine models of airway diseases. Unfortunately, these models often fail to accurately reflect human disease. However, the recent development of Organ-on-a-Chip technology has effectively recapitulated many features of the modelled organ, thereby adding a level of complexity to cell cultures that is urgently needed. In contrast to existing airway epithelial cell cultures, these models contain several cell types, cultured at the air-liquid interface under a constant flow of air and nutrients while exposed to mechanical stress. However, also these cultures still lack an essential component of the airways: the airway microbiome. Therefore, the work described in this proposal aims to create an innovative human state-of-the-art Airway-on-Chip microbiome model to investigate the interaction of the airway epithelium with the microbiome and how this is linked to susceptibility for infection.

Mots clés : microbiome, organ on a chip, airway epithelium, asthma, copd, infection

Participants :
- Emulate inc (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Leiden University Medical Center (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162864.6 €
Projet GENEDAMP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Penguins are a diverse order of Southern Hemisphere seabirds, with breeding ranges spanning from the tropical Galápagos Islands to the sea-ice around Antarctica. Sharing a common ancestor with Procellariiformes, penguins transitioned about 60 million years ago from flying seabirds to powerful, flightless marine divers. They have subsequently evolved many unique adaptations for an aquatic environment, including densely-packed waterproof and insulating feathers, visual sensitivity, dense bones, stiff wing joints and an enhanced thermoregulation system. Lineage-specific adaptations have also evolved, and include different body size, breeding strategies, bill morphologies and plumage. This unique evolutionary history, together with their high sensitivity to climate and environmental change, make penguins an excellent group for studying comparative evolution, biogeography, adaptation and demography. However, this has proven challenging. For example, several studies have attempted to pinpoint the timing, and thereby the drivers of recent speciation events and biogeography, morphological/physiological adaptations and historical demographic trends in penguins, yet no consensus has been reached. Most studies have been limited by the genetic markers available (short mitochondrial or nuclear sequences, mitochondrial genomes, single nucleotide polymorphisms), or have been biased towards primarily Antarctic species. To finally resolve such questions, it is necessary to explore comparative evolution and adaptation across all penguin species using full genome data. This project will achieve this through analysing a new set of high-coverage genomes spanning 27 modern penguin lineages (including all extant and recently extinct taxa). In doing so, we will provide revolutionary insights into three key aspects of penguin evolutionary history: 1) drivers of diversification and biogeography; 2) genomic adaptations to diverse environments; and 3) climate driven demography.

Mots clés : birds, diversification, demographics, southern hemisphere, antarctica, climate change

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 219312.0 €
Projet TONE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Performing a musical instrument requires the coordination of repetitive motor patterns under sustained abnormal and non-ergonomic static postures. As a result, it exhibits one of the highest prevalence rates in work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of project TONE is to develop and test with empirical research, an innovative tool that will assist musicians in developing preventive and pain-management strategies against task-specific musculoskeletal pain. This tool will comprise of a virtual mirror biofeedback system that will display musculo-postural parameters on a virtual character simulating in real time the movement of musicians during instrument performance. Corrective feedback will also be displayed in real time when abnormal musculo-postural activities are detected. In addition, a complementary VR game will be designed to be used with the biofeedback system to evaluate whether attentional distraction during instrument playing can be an effective intervention against pain. The effectiveness of the virtual mirror biofeedback tool and the VR game in preventing and/or reducing pain symptoms from abnormal musculo-skeletal activities executed during non-ergonomic postural activities (such as playing a musical instrument), will be assessed in experimental studies with healthy musicians, as well as with musicians suffering from acute or chronic pain. Thus, TONE will contribute new research findings that will help to better understand how pain in work-related musculoskeletal disorders manifests and how it can be treated. As work-related musculoskeletal disorders exert great cost on economy -- equal to 3.3% of EU GDP – it is rather imperative to develop and validate effective non-pharmacological treatment interventions. Project TONE aspires to provide a crucial step to that direction.

Mots clés : biofeedback, musculo skeletal, performing medicine, pain, intervention

Participants :
- Cyens centre of excellence (Chypre) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 157941.12 €
Projet LrgPSCs (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are among the most promising next-generation photovoltaic technologies: it combines high photovoltaic performance with low fabrication costs. The practical adoption of PSCs will reduce the levelized cost of electricity of solar energy, contributing to deal with the global crisis on climate change and sustainable development. Despite these promises, the lack of efficient large-area PSCs has so far seriously hindered their commercialization potential, representing one of the most critical challenges in the field of perovskite photovoltaics. The goal of this project is to develop industrial-relevant highly efficient large-area PSCs (> 20% module efficiency at aperture areas of 200-800 cm2). In this project, an interdisciplinary approach will be devised by combining scalable perovskite fabrication, novel interface engineering, and deep mechanistic understanding to achieve this ambitious goal. Particularly a new solution-processing strategy will be developed to control the crystallization of perovskites, which can enable homogenous crystal growth at large-scales, generating uniform perovskite thin films. Novel interface engineering will then be explored to demonstrate thickness-insensitive 2D/3D perovskite passivation, by utilizing high hole-mobility 2D perovskites. Eventually, the new material-processing strategies will be adopted in the standard perovskite module fabrication, attaining record efficiency large-area PSCs. In addition to device fabrication, fundamental investigations based on ultrafast spectroscopy and synchrotron characterization will also be carried out to elucidate the material formation and device operation mechanism. This project combines the host lab`s expertise on PSC fabrication and the researcher`s strong background in material design and synthesis. It is highly relevant to Horizon 2020`s goal on clean and efficient energy, whose completion will support Europe at the forefront of renewable energy research.

Mots clés : perovskite solar cells, solution processing, crystallization, scalable fabrication, 3d perovskites, interface passivation, mesoporous solar cells, solar module fabrication

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 191149.44 €
Projet MODSIM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies use various powders to prepare granules/tablets with stable attributes. However, wastage costs in the manufacture of solid dose drugs are of the order $50 billion. Much of this is due to a lack of fundamental knowledge of the physical processes occurring inside the particulate processes. In this project, common manufacturing systems such as are twin screw granulator (TSG) to produce suitable granules/formulations will be studied. A fully mechanistic understanding of these processes will be undertaken with the objective of reducing the manufacturing wastage and handling cost of the TSG using the skills and knowledge of the experienced researcher (ER) and the host supervisor. Improving this efficiency will play a key role in ensuring a more sustainable production system through less wastage into the future, a societal challenge which will be met by the H2020 programme. MODSIM is a multidisciplinary project aimed at exploiting my background in mathematical modelling of particulate processes using population balances in an area of pharmaceutical solid drug manufacturing. Apart from its manufacturing potential, this research will broaden current understanding of micro scale processes inside the TSG using MC method. The project forms a collaboration between the world leading Bernal Institute for Process Engineering research laboratories and an SME and exploits the multidisciplinary nature of their studies. The resulting knowledge will help EU manufacturing enterprises, in particular SMEs, to adapt to global competitive pressures by improving the technological base of EU manufacturing from pharma and importantly potential translation into high-value bioprocessing and med-tech sectors. The proposed research will provide outstanding research-led training and falls within the H2020 excellence science remit.

Mots clés : twin screw granulation, micro macro scales, monte carlo method, population balance modelling, model predictive control

Participants :
- University of Limerick (Irlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 184590.72 €
Projet TRANSFORMER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are a special class of contaminants because they can undergo transformations through metabolism before their entrance into aquatic and terrestrial environments. Once they reach the environment they are further transformed by abiotic and/or biotic transformation processes and understanding of transformation pathways and identification of transformation products (TP) is a prerequisite for a thorough assessment of their environmental risk. This project proposes the use of Experimental Stream Facility (artificial rivers), a unique facility available at ICRA that will permit simultaneous study of biodegradation, photolysis, and adsorption /desorption processes under different situations, such as intermittent flow (drought), temperature or light fluctuations, among others. State of the art hybrid and high resolution mass spectrometric instrumentation will be used to study transformation pathways and provide a comprehensive and detailed profile of TPs formed. By using an integrated approach and simultaneous study of biotic and abiotic transformation processes TRANSFORMER’s main expected results are: (i) elucidation of transformation pathways (biological and photo induced) and identification of main TPs from a number of relevant pharmaceuticals (including some understudied and, for the first time, a new class pharmaceuticals such as peptidomimetics and peptide therapeutics); (ii) determination of partition coefficients (water-sediment and water-biofilm) of the studied pharmaceuticals and TPs and (iii) identification of potential controlling factors and mechanisms behind in-stream attenuation of pharmaceuticals (biodegradation vs photodegradation vs sorption). Accordingly, we expect that the results produced by this innovative research plan will have substantial impact on the field of inland water research, one of the Europe’s Societal Challenges.

Mots clés : pharmaceuticals, biotic and abiotic trasformation, transformation products, elucidation of transformation pathways

Participants :
- CERCA Institution (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 106326.0 €
Projet Phenclass (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Phenomenological thinkers (most notably E. Husserl, M. Heidegger, J. Patočka, and J. Derrida) outlined influential philosophical perspectives on the ancient roots of European thought. The action’s aim is to provide a critical reassessment of those perspectives by developing an extensive comparative analysis between them and research done by prominent classicists, in particular W. Jaeger, B. Snell, J.-P. Vernant, G.E.R. Lloyd, and M. West. This comparative approach will take the following questions as reference framework: (1) How did ancient thought shape European identity? (2) How did the Greek roots of European thought interact with other sources of European culture? (3) Is there a connection between the much-debated crisis of Europe and the ancient roots of European culture? (4) Does the retrieval of the ancient roots of European culture play a role for the future of Europe? This design of the planned action implies five major innovations. (i) It is the first attempt to provide an extensive comparison between phenomenology and classical studies with a view to their respective readings of ancient thought. (ii) It is the first extensive attempt to discuss questions related to the ancient sources of European identity by addressing fascinating interdisciplinary intersections between phenomenology and classical studies. (iii) It is the first extensive attempt to challenge phenomenological readings of ancient thought by assessing them from an external viewpoint. (iv) It is the first extensive attempt to approach phenomenological conceptions of the ancient roots of Europe by avoiding a merely author-oriented approach and using a theme-oriented analysis. (v) Finally, the planned action is a concrete example of how contemporary societal, political, and cultural challenges, such as the question of European identity, can be approached by using academic scholarship, in this case two disciplines such as philosophy and classical studies.

Mots clés : phenomenology, ancient philosophy, classical studies, european thought

Participants :
- Carlos III University of Madrid (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 158121.6 €