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

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has revolutionised treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but is effective in only ~20% of patients. Anti-tumour immunity is highly heterogeneous within tumours, and intra-tumour heterogeneity (ITH) is a major driver for treatment resistance. However, the mechanistic basis of intra-tumour immune heterogeneity (ITIH) is unclear, largely due to the absence of appropriate functional models. Here, I aim to identify the genetic or transcriptomic drivers of ITIH, and their impact on immune surveillance and control. I have recently developed an organoid – T-cell co-culture system that I will use to generate personalised models of ITIH. Leveraging the TRACERx lung cancer evolution study, I will establish multiple clonal organoid lines from the same tumour from NSCLC multi-region biopsies. Each organoid subline will be co-cultured with autologous T-cells to evaluate how they differ in sensitivity to T-cells. For each patient, the 6 most sensitive and 6 most resistant sublines will be used for DNA and RNA sequencing to identify mutations (including neo-antigens), copy number alterations and differentially expressed genes associated with resistance to T-cells. Candidate subclonal immune evasion factors will be validated in organoids by CRISPR-Cas9. I will prioritise genes by cross-referencing with genes associated with immune-cold regions in the TRACERx cohort. I will also perform pooled enrichment screens as a less biased approach. The integration of novel organoid technology with ‘big data’ from TRACERx allows moving beyond merely descriptive studies of ITIH. This will result in the most fine-grained mechanistic study of ITIH to date.

Mots clés : organoids, non small cell lung cancer, tumour heterogeneity, tracerx, cancer evolution, immunotherapy, immune checkpoint blockade

Participants :
- The Francis Crick Institute (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet SPLITVAC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Immunotherapy for cancer has recently shown great clinical potential. However, only small percentages of patients do benefit from these therapies. The dual objective of the proposal is to understand and harness the immune system in vivo to develop truly personalized (individualized) anti-cancer treatments and to develop powerful bioconjugation technologies to generate new and better biotherapeutics. The project objectives will be achieved through the combination of ProteoDesign’s site-specific bioconjugation technology, with recent advances in the field of immuno-oncology, particularly the importance of tumor specific mutations (neoantigens), as drivers of anti-tumor immunity. The therapeutic candidates that will be obtained as a result of the project are personalized and have the potential to treat cancer at the individual level. These therapies are based on the mutational landscape of any given tumor, and so they could be applied to multiple cancer indications. The proposal will face specific challenges regarding the development of complex personalized bio therapeutics. The project will be carried out through the collaboration of Dr. Vanhooren and Barcelona based biotech ProteoDesign. Dr. Vanhooren has extensive know-how and experience in the pre-clinical development of biologic-based drugs, and ProteoDesign has a proprietary technology for the discovery and development of new therapeutic bioconjugates. Through the present proposal bidirectional knowledge transfer will take place between the fellow and the host, thus enhancing know-how and skills on both sides. Dr. Vanhooren will be focused on leading the project, setting and adapting objectives, designing experiments, supervising the team and analyzing results. During the project and through a specific plan, ProteoDesign will provide Dr. Vanhooren experience and knowledge in key areas of biotechnology and pharma industries, as well as senior management, to allow her to grow into high responsibility positions.

Mots clés : cancer patients, therapeutic anti tumour activity, immune modulators, cell therapy, anti cancer treatments, proteins, antibodies

Participants :
- Proteodesign sl (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 172932.48 €
Projet CNSTech (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Improvement of the high temperature behavior of Ni based superalloys along the past decades was limited by approaching the gamma prime (γ′) solvus temperature to the Ni melting point. Although the benefits obtained were undoubtedly, their maximum operative temperature is a growing concern towards the sustainable development of advanced jet engine and gas turbine applications. Co based superalloys, strengthened by γ′ precipitates (with a L12 crystal structure), have recently attracted immense attention due to their excellent high temperature performance. They are considered an alternative to Ni-based ones if the stability and efficiency requirements are met. However, production of Co based superalloys via advanced sustainable manufacturing processes has several issues. CNSTech project proposes the development of the next generation Powder Metallurgy (PM) based CoNi superalloys via a sustainable metallurgy framework. The project will cover three stages: pre-build design, process design, and post-process design. First, thermodynamical modeling will be used to design an optimum and high entropy multicomponent CoNi based alloy. Then, modern powder technology (an entrance for advanced sustainable manufacturing processes such as PM and additive manufacturing) will be used for production. Finally, post-process design will be conducted via heat treatment, hot isotactic pressing, and process cost optimization. This multidisciplinary proposal covers a wide range of different fields including thermodynamical modeling, physical metallurgy, chemical metallurgy, materials processing, and design of experiments. By this multidisciplinary approach, CNSTech aims to open up new horizons to create a novel 100% European made processing route for manufacturing of cost-effective and eco-friendly high temperature CoNi superalloy towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Mots clés : superalloys, sustainable metallurgy, powder technology, additive manufacturing, ultra high temperature ceramics

Participants :
- Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 172932.48 €
Projet ChloroQuality (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Improving food quality, crop productivity and plant resistance to stresses are major demands of Europe’s society and economy. Plants are sessile organisms that have developed very flexible strategies to cope with adverse environmental conditions as heat, cold, drought and salt stress. These stresses cause protein misfolding and aggregation resulting in plant damage/death and productivity losses. Recycling of damaged proteins is achieved by the action of molecular chaperones. But when recycling is not possible, toxic aggregated proteins have to be degraded by the action of proteases to avoid cellular damage. Chaperones and proteases act coordinately and constitute the protein quality control system that is essential for plant survival. In plant chloroplasts, the chaperone Hsp70 is known to posttranslationally regulate important processes like photosynthesis. It is known that the specificity of Hsp70 is determined by its J-protein partners, adaptors that recognize unfolded substrates and transfer them to the chaperone for refolding. However, little is known about the target proteins of Hsp70, such that there is a large lack of information about how chloroplastic enzymes are regulated at protein levels. This knowledge is crucial for rational engineering of specific molecular pathways and plant fitness improvement. The ability to specifically alter plant metabolism without undesirable effects is a fundamental demand of European society and addresses current concerns about transgenic plants. This proposal aims to cover this gap by discovering and validating interactors of chloroplastic J-proteins. The strong background of the applicant in protein quality control and the expertise in chloroplast biology of the receiving group will synergistically contribute to shed light on the chloroplast signaling network. In addition, this project aims to develop the candidate into an independent scientist and open his own line of investigation.

Mots clés : plant molecular biology, chloroplast, chaperone, protease, protein quality control, posttranscriptional regulation, j proteins, retrograde signaling

Participants :
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet EASTMED-PALEOTSUNAMI (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In 2004 and 2011, the World witnessed the devastating consequences of Sumatra (Indonesia) and Tohoku (Japan) tsunamis. We realized once again how seriously tsunamis can threaten our lives and infrastructures, and how vital tsunami hazard assessment studies are to reveal especially the recurrence of tsunamis by means of paleotsunami investigations. In the Aegean and the Levantine seas (Eastern Mediterranean), although the historical records report 17 damaging tsunamis during the last 2500 years, the geological records of the paleotsunamis revealed so far in the region are far from providing information useful for reliable tsunami hazard assessments. The proposed research action aims to take a significant step forward towards constructing paleotsunami chronologies in the eastern Mediterranean by investigating the sedimentary sequences of six lagoonal sites located along the south-western and southern coasts of Turkey. The methods for the proposed research comprise piston coring the sequences, high-resolution micro-XRF core scanning, u-channel X-ray radiography, grain-size distribution analysis, and AMS 14C dating. In addition to revealing paleotsunami records in the region, the proposed research will bring new insights on detection of tsunami deposit in sedimentary sequences. Among the methods to be applied, high-resolution micro-XRF core scanning have been utilised in only a few studies before, while u-channel X-ray radiography has never been used in any paleotsunami investigation. Hence, the proposed research will mediate a significant transfer of the knowledge gained in paleolimnology/paleoclimatology/paleoceanography disciplines to paleotsunami research. Another important part of the project will be the organization of stakeholders’ meetings in the important cities of the study area in order to inform people about the scope and the results of the research and to increase the public awareness about tsunamis.

Mots clés : paleotsunami, eastern mediterranean, turkey

Participants :
- Middle East Technical University (Turquie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 157845.6 €
Projet SECURE BORDERS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

In 2015 more than 1 million refugees and migrants entered Europe largely from conflict-ridden states such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Hungarian government single-handedly decided to stop the migration by building a barbwire wall along the Hungarian-Serb border. Many observers agree that building the fence was primarily a domestic political act to help the Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his party Fidesz to gain the far-right vote in support of his and his party’s re-election. Nonetheless, his landslide victory, predictably won on a populist ticket rallying against migrants and Muslims in April 2018, together with media and NGO reports on the treatment of migrants and refugees seemed to suggest to the outside world that the Hungarians were predominantly right-leaning, anti-migrant people who lack humanitarian compassion and are thus different from other Europeans. As my preliminary findings of exploratory research at the Hungarian-Serb border in summer 2018 suggest, however, the situation is much more nuanced. There is a substantial gap between the border police, local policing organisations, the local border communities, on the one hand, and local and national politicians, and the international media perception of the events and the Hungarian migration/refugee crisis and border security management, on the other. At the theoretical level, this raises a larger issue in security studies: how does securitizing work in practice? Taking securitization practices seriously through focusing on everyday performances of security, this project aims to analyse (1) how communities manage security concerns locally (especially when these concerns are ignored in the national or international spheres); (2) how local security concerns are mobilised elsewhere for political gains; and (3) how mistrust between communities is generated locally, nationally and internationally in order to explain the de-facto re-militarised EU border.

Mots clés : ir theory, practice theory, hungarian serb border, border police, eu migration, refugee crisis, transit, countries, ethnography

Participants :
- Aberystwyth University (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet Baltic Mikrorayon (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), modernist housing estates, built between the 1950s and 1990s to meet housing demand and rebuild cities after World War II, introduced revolutionary changes in urbanization. Today, overcoming the challenges posed by vast housing estates presents one of the greatest challenges faced in post-Socialist cities. To address a gap in knowledge about socialist urban planning implementation (especially the construction of mikrorayon) in the Baltic States, I propose to interview planners and architects who were active practitioners during the Soviet era (as well as those practicing more recently) to analyse past, present, and future lives of housing estates in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The project proposed for this IF is not only a natural progression of my research trajectory, it is also transformative because it applies my expertise to multi-disciplinary research that covers a range of research questions and avenues of inquiry. The project will produce broad impacts on research methods (interviews of original “actors” in residential settlements), new knowledge on the history of urbanization, and recommendations for present-day urban planning in cities in CEE. This Individual Fellowship requires a 24-month academic stay at the University of Tartu (UT), Estonia where I will engage in training-through-research supervised by Prof. Tiit Tammaru, Professor and Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of Human Geography at UT. The project will give me new hands-on experience in interviewing and archival research and I will produce important publications that will (1) help me establish myself as the pre-eminent North American scholar on architecture, town planning, and urban geography in the Baltic States, and (2) assist my career advancement (from Associate Professor to Professor) at my home institution, the University at Buffalo.

Mots clés : architecture, town planning, urban history, urban planning, urbanization

Participants :
- University of Tartu (Estonie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 148582.8 €
Projet SEreDIPE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In Europe, around of 10 million of people are more than 65 years. Population ageing is one of the greatest social and economic challenges facing the EU. Projections foresee a growing number and share of elderly persons (aged 65 and over), with a particularly rapid increase in the number of very old persons (aged 85 and over) and increasing care need. The “Socio Economic deprivation related to effect of presence of Dependant older people: strategies for Innovative Policies in Europe” (SEreDIPE) project is focused on Socio Economic (SE) deprivation of family in relationship with Long Term Care. The study aims to evaluate the effects of the presence of elderly with social and health care need on the socio-economic status of the families, in order to understand what innovative initiatives, policies or strategies could be used to cope the negative effect for the families. The study proposes a comparison between eight European countries to cover the different care regimes used in Europe: Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, Poland, Finland, Netherland, United Kingdom. The project uses a mixed quantitative and qualitative method. The multilevel quantitative analysis is aimed to find a statistical confirmation of the relationship, identifying its main descriptive characteristics, designing national and European scenarios. The qualitative analysis is aimed to find innovative strategies and policies (already existing or not) that should be implemented in each studied country and in Europe. The study involves experts, national stakeholders and policymaker, as interviewed or as participant in focus groups and workshops to promote an active technical and academic debate on issue.

Mots clés : ageing, long term care, socio economic deprivation, social innovation, cross countries study, mixed methods

Participants :
- University of Valencia (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 160932.48 €
Projet SHYDRO-ALP (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In Europe, hydropower is the largest renewable energy resource accounting for 16% of total production, most of which is concentrated in the Alpine region. However, this renewable energy comes at great environmental costs and development of large dams is now considered untenable in many Countries. While studies addressing the ecological implications of hydropower have mostly focused on large facilities, investigations on small hydropower (SHP) are scarcer. Yet, development of SHP is booming globally and in the Alps rising concerns about cumulative effects on riverine systems. This project proposes a multi-disciplinary investigation to better quantify hydrological alterations from SHP and its effects on Alpine stream ecosystems. Combining field-experiments, surveys and innovative modelling of existing flow data-series, the project will: i) quantify the spatio-temporal scales of hydrologic alterations associated with SHP using integrated analytical tools and modelling approaches applied to long-term, spatially distributed data; ii) experimentally mimic water abstractions from SHP using semi-natural flumes to assess the response of aquatic invertebrates and the link between community assembly and ecosystem function applying the Price Equation partition; iii) quantify flow-ecology relationships and the cumulative effects of multiple SHPs using novel functional regression models with streams hydrographs. The results will provide new insights into the short- and long-term effects of SHP on Alpine streams, with practical implication for the sustainable use of water resources. During the project, I will train intensively in methods and software to quantify and model alterations of river flow and habitat and in handling large datasets. I will exchange knowledge with modellers, engineers and freshwater ecologists and foster new collaborations, which will benefit my host organisation and myself. The fellowship will also allow me to return to my homeland after a decade.

Mots clés : community ecology, stream ecology, small hydropower, eco hydrological modelling, benthic invertebrates

Participants :
- University of Trento (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 180277.2 €
Projet b-lactams C-H activation (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In Europe, infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria lead to more than 25,000 deaths and expenses of billions of euros per year. These numbers dramatically increase when the rest of the world is taken into consideration. Shockingly, the pace of production of new antibiotics to control such microorganisms is stagnating. Therefore, developing new synthetic tools that enable the synthesis of scaffolds with potential antibiotic properties is crucial. Metal catalysed C–H activation represents a versatile tool for building chemical complexity. It mostly relies on directing functional groups to functionalize C–H bonds. Recently, Professor Gaunt at the University of Cambridge has uncovered a new C–H activation mode that enables the conversion of hindered amines into β-lactams. The first aim of this project is to develop this new reactivity mode into a versatile transformation that is able to convert a variety of cyclic and acyclic amines into substituted β-lactam scaffolds. To accomplish this goal, a multi parallel platform based on mass spectrometry, relying either on standard high-throughput procedures or flow chemistry, will be implemented and used to screen a large number of conditions to expand the scope of this new pathway for β-lactams. The flow chemistry system for reaction evaluation will be design in collaboration with Professors Alexei Lapkin (Dept. Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology) and Steve Ley (Chemistry Dept.) from the University of Cambridge. The readily discovered new conditions for C–H activation will then be employed to synthesize a plethora of β-lactams and β-sultam analogs starting from simple secondary amines. Finally, in collaboration with Professor David Spring (Chemistry Dept. University of Cambridge), the bioactivity of the resulting scaffolds will be evaluated against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Mots clés : b lactam scaffolds, mass spectrometry, c h activation, multi resistant bacteria, flow chemistry

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