Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet TheraSonix (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the important shortcomings of modern anticancer therapies is their limited penetration depth of only a few cell layers into the tumor. Concentrated around the heterogeneous vasculature, these drugs produce only a local therapeutic effect. In this project we propose a method of overcoming this limitation by engineering a novel class of gas-filled nanostructures capable of homing to tumor tissues, and using their vibration in response to ultrasound energy to deliver drugs deeper into the tumor core. The proposed approach is based on ultrasonic cavitation, a phenomenon in which gas bubbles expand and collapse under the influence of ultrasound waves. This process produces fluid streaming that propels drugs deeper into the tumor mass. The use of ultrasound for drug delivery is attractive due to its availability and affordability. However, the use of this technology is currently limited by the properties of conventional microbubble-based cavitation nuclei: their large size prevents them from penetrating into the tumor and their short circulation times do not match the pharmacokinetic time constants of many drugs. To overcome these challenges, we will utilize gas vesicles (GVs), a unique class of genetically encoded, gas-filled protein nanostructures derived from buoyant photosynthetic microbes, as cavitation nuclei. Unlike microbubbles, GVs are physically stable and their nanoscale dimensions have the potential to enable them to extravasate into tumors and bind to specific cellular targets. We hypothesize that GVs can act as both imaging agents and cavitation nuclei. If so, this therapeutic approach could have vastly improved efficacy and selectivity and the potential to combine cavitation-enhanced drug delivery with emerging advancements in cell based therapeutics. This project will enable the applicant to diversify his capabilities and experience beyond ultrasound imaging and signal processing and re-inforce a position of professional maturity.

Mots clés : acoustic nanostructures, drug delivery, cancer, cavitation, contrast agents, gas vesicles, genetic engineering, molecular imaging, protein engineering, ultrasound, cancer therapy, cavitation nuclei

Participants :
- Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (Israël) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 263385.0 €
- California Institute of Technology (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet ResisGal (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the main concerns in the aquaculture sector is the significant mortality of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, the principal shellfish cultivated worldwide. Among other factors, the presence of a virus has been directly associated with these mortality events which can largely exceed normal losses. The economic impact of the disease in oyster production has reached worrying levels since it has been spread to important producer countries in both hemispheres. Bivalve disease control can be a challenge due to the lack of an acquired immune response and therefore the impossibility to treat them. Long term solutions such as selection of resistant strains have been referred to as a priority by the scientific community. Novel sequencing methodologies have increased the genetic information on this specie and the development of selective breeding programs is nowadays more achievable than ever before. In this study, resistant strains will be genetically characterized and investigated in the field in order to identify the molecular markers required for assisted selection in future breeding programs. The relationship between environmental parameters, virus transmission and virus prevalence will be further studied with the aim of describing an early detection method of oyster mortality.

Mots clés : crassostrea gigas, ostreid herpesvirus, genetic selection, octopus vulgaris, resistance

Participants :
- Spanish National Research Council (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 170121.6 €
Projet ArtOxiZymes (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the major challenges facing the chemical industries is the sustainable production of chemicals from natural resources. The challenge includes making sure that chemical processes are as ‘green’ and economical as possible, and that sustainable and abundant resources are used where possible. One type of reaction that lends itself to sustainable processes is the direct functionalization of C-H to C-X (X = O, N, C) bonds, as it generates far less chemical waste and leads to tremendous reduction of energy use than methods relying on prefunctionalized materials. The objective of this project is to achieve the C1-selective hydroxylation of n-alkanes to give n-alcohols e.g. octane to octan-1-ol, using mild reaction conditions and green oxidants such as oxygen or hydrogen peroxide, which is currently an unsolved problem. Linear alcohols are of interest as they form some of the major building blocks used in the chemical industries, for example C8-C10 alcohols for the synthesis of plasticisers and detergents. We will achieve this aim by combining traditional homogenous catalysis and biocatalysis for the development of artificial metalloenzymes as catalysts, which utilise the molecular recognition concepts of nature to bind substrates selectively in protein pockets. The target substrate will thus be bound in the correct orientation enabling selective oxidation at the target position, in contrast to traditional chemocatalysts which give a highly unfavourable product distribution. This will lead to more efficient use of valuable feedstocks and large reductions in chemical waste production and energy consumption, compared to the traditional methods for forming C1-alcohols, all contributing to a green and sustainable society. The researcher will diversify her competence, build new collaborations and gain interdisciplinary mobility through this creative and highly innovative project allowing her to maximise her contribution to the knowledge-based economy and society.

Mots clés : artificial metalloenzymes, oxidation catalysis, c h functionalisation

Participants :
- University of St Andrews (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet FLAIR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the major driving forces for current research in electronics is the desire to realize the so-called internet of things, an autonomous information network that enables communication between objects without external human intervention. To this end, much of the research effort in device physics is currently directed into sensors technology, and specifically, to photodetectors. The infrared (IR) region of the spectrum is of particular interest as it can carry information about an object’s temperature, and its chemical composition. IR waves are also used for long-range waveguided communication, as well as short-range free space signaling. In IR systems, the readout noise is reduced by exploiting multicolor IR detection, so-called hyperspectral IR, thus lowering false positive detection. Nowadays, IR detectors are not transparent in the visible wavelength and they are made of brittle materials. Hence their potential in technology such as food and drug packaging, textile fabrics-embedded devices for health care and homeland security systems, has yet to be realized. In this proposal we will harvest the unique potential of emerging atomically thin materials to pioneer a new class of flexible hyperspectral infrared detectors (FLAIR) which are imperceptible to the human eyes and yet highly efficient. These FLAIR detectors will consist of a layered structure with an active graphene bilayer, sandwiched between two dielectric h-BN layers and two outer gates made of heavily doped graphene. The top gate will be patterned as a continuous array of anti-discs to enhance the light absorption at the plasmon excitation frequency. A perpendicular electric field applied to bilayer graphene will be used to open a tuneable energy gap unique to this material and cut off the absorption of the lower frequencies to ensure a superior signal-to-noise ratio. Arrays of detectors with different plasmon absorption frequencies will enable the hyperspectral response of the device.

Mots clés : graphene

Participants :
- University of Exeter (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet THREAT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One of the most drastic impacts of man on Earth is species extinctions. We do not know how many species are extinct and how many will go extinct, but we may be experiencing a sixth mass extinction. Thus, actions to help protect species from extinction are urgently needed. These actions should be prioritized in biomes such as tropical forests that shelter enormous biodiversity but have increasingly been impacted. One example is the Atlantic Forest in South America. It shelters around 5% of world species, half of them being endemic. But 86% of its original extent has already been lost and only about 1% is effectively protected. To support the protection of the Atlantic Forest, this proposal has the following goals: (i) to assess the threat status of endemic Atlantic Forest trees (EAFT) based on all criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), (ii) to quantify the evolutionary uniqueness of globally threatened EAFT, (iii) provide guidelines to conserve threatened EAFT, including the identification of gaps of knowledge and priority areas for their conservation, and (iv) to involve the local society in species conservation through the proposal of a citizen science program. The proposed action is perfectly aligned with targets of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 2011-2020 and the IUCN Global Tree Specialist Group. It is multi-disciplinary with both scientific and applied components. It combines large datasets with high-resolution maps, up-to-date modelling techniques and the expertises of researchers from four different countries. It will also provide new information that can be readily used by conservation agencies. Finally, it will engage different social actors to launch a conservation and educational program based on the involvement of local people.

Mots clés : biodiversity conservation, biodiversity hotspots, citizen science, deforestation, edge species, human impacts, species extinctions, species distribution models, trees, tropical forests

Participants :
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 165598.8 €
Projet stratoIMPACT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

One of the most striking long-lived influences on the weather in Europe comes from the stratosphere, a highly-stratified layer of the atmosphere starting at about 10 km above the surface. The stratosphere impacts surface weather through coupling between the stratospheric polar vortex and the tropospheric jet streams: Extreme events in the stratosphere, so-called sudden stratospheric warmings, tend to be followed by an equatorward shift of the North Atlantic jet stream and significant changes in weather patterns over Europe, including cold spells over Scandinavia and increased rainfall over the Mediterranean. It is however unclear how the coupling between the stratosphere and the troposphere will change in a future climate. Projections demonstrate great uncertainty in the stratospheric response to climate change, with a significant spread among the models, even in the sign of the response. Uncertainty also exists in the tropospheric response to climate change, with a considerable spread in climate model predictions in terms of the jet position, particularly in winter, when the stratospheric influence is strongest. It remains unclear how the combination of the changes in both the stratosphere and troposphere may alter the downward impact of the stratosphere. I propose to address these questions through observational data analysis and a hierarchy of numerical models. I will use an idealized modelling framework, designed to capture major underlying processes of stratosphere-troposphere coupling, to isolate the dominant factors that control the downward impact of the stratosphere, and their response to climate change. The role of transient eddies in maintaining the downward response will be investigated. A comparison to more complex climate models will provide further insights into dynamical coupling. Better understanding the connection between the stratosphere and surface climate is essential for reducing the uncertainty in climate models and extreme events prediction.

Mots clés : stratosphere troposphere coupling, storm tracks, idealized general circulation models

Participants :
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (Suisse) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203149.44 €
Projet FlyTryp (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

One of the specific United Nations Sustainable Development goals is to end epidemics of neglected tropical diseases by year 2030. Some of the most devastating of these diseases are caused by trypanosomatid parasites that are transmitted to humans via the bites of infected insects from the order Diptera (Flies). While most natural fly vectors pose a challenge to study under laboratory conditions, Drosophila melanogaster, with its well-established molecular, genetic and genomic toolkit and a vast amount of prior knowledge of its biology, is a proven model for experimental studies. Because D. melanogaster is host to several natural parasites that belong to the trypanosomatid group, it can also serve as a model for studying fly-parasite interactions. In this project, we propose to take advantage of the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) to investigate the genetic basis of fly susceptibility to trypanosomatid infection. First, we will perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for natural susceptibility to trypanosomatid parasite using a well-developed DGRP mapping resource to map genetic variation in susceptibility. Further, we will also test for differences in gene expression associated with infection susceptibility, using RNA sequencing, and validate the candidate genes identified with GWAS and RNA sequencing. Together, along with the well-annotated Drosophila genome, these data will reveal functional pathways affecting susceptibility to trypanosomatid infection. The established Drosophila-trypanosomatid system can serve as a functional model for insect-vectored diseases in medically and economically relevant species of Diptera.

Mots clés : drosophila, trypanosomatids, evolutionary genetics, host parasite interaction

Participants :
- University of Liverpool (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 224933.76 €
Projet BilProcess (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

One question central to both bilingual first language acquisition (2L1) and second language development (L2) research is to understand the mechanisms that lead to systematic interaction between the languages, i.e. cross-linguistic influence (CLI). To-date, we know that bilinguals’ two languages are continuously co-activated to some extent at the lexicon and sentence level. Bilinguals need to map different syntactic forms, i.e. one or more for each language, onto the same discourse function, which occasionally leads to the entrenchment of the non-targetlike form. Yet, little is known about how the age of acquisition (2L1 vs. L2) and language dominance (expressive abilities, language exposure) affect the processing mechanisms governing this phenomenon. This project focuses on an aspect of morphosyntactic development (the article system) known to be particularly challenging for both bilingual children and adults. It adopts a unique comparative approach to investigate whether simultaneous French-English bilingual children’s and L2 adult bilinguals’ sentence comprehension is affected by the parallel activation of the article system in specific and generic contexts in two studies using the self-paced moving window method. French is a very restrictive language and requires the projection of a determiner in argument position. In contrast, English allows bare mass nouns and bare plural nouns in non-specific and generic contexts. These cross-linguistic differences will allow us to test (i) whether the co-activation of distinct morphosyntactic forms (article system) depending on the semantic context (specific vs. generic) leads to language interference in French-English bilinguals’ comprehension of sentence structure; (ii) the role of language exposure vs. productive measures of the relative language dominance on the direction and magnitude of cross-linguistic transfers; (iii) to what extent this phenomenon operates differently depending on the age of language acquisition.

Mots clés : bilingual first language acquisition, second language acquisition, semantics, morphosyntax, cross linguistic influence, language processing, language dominance, french, english

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

One third of the cell proteome utilizes the secretory pathway for entrance into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However, the insertion of nascent proteins into or their translocation across the ER membrane, their maturation and assembly to oligomeric complexes and their degradation are very basic cellular processes of which we largely lack an integrative structural insight. I propose to use Cryo Electron Tomography (CET) to unravel the molecular mechanism of the biogenesis and degradation of Major Histocompatibility Complex-I (MHC-I) as a model substrate in situ. MHC-I are critical for immune responses to viruses and tumors. They are hetero-trimeric complexes formed by a light chain, a heavy chain and a variable cellular or microbial peptide. MHC-I folding is assisted by the chaperones ERp57 and calnexin at the ER membrane, where it assembles co-translationally, stabilized by tapasin. Once loaded with a peptide, MHC-I is exported to the cell surface for recognition by CD8+ T-cells. However, some viral immunoevasins like the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) proteins US2 and US11 trigger the ER-Associated Degradation (ERAD) of MHC-I. I will combine data from CET, cross linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) and in vitro functional assays on eukaryotic cellular and microsomal cell-free systems to provide an integrated picture of the complexes transiently involved in these processes. This work will make great contributions to our molecular understanding of cellular proteostasis and possibly provide novel molecular targets addressing diseases associated with ER stress. The proposed project will extend my knowledge from protein X-ray crystallography to the study of more complex molecular assemblies in association with membranes at larger length scales – ultimately the cell. Taken together, this project represents a unique opportunity to start blooming in my career as an independent researcher with a strong european network, and become a leader in the scientific community.

Mots clés : cryo electron tomography, major histocompatibility complex class i, endoplasmic reticulum membrane, protein biogenesis, proteasomal degradation

Participants :
- Utrecht University (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 165598.8 €
Projet FAIR (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Only 13.1 million km2 intact forests are left on Earth, and many risk degradations despite their importance for global biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services and human well-being. Meanwhile, a global increase in so-called forest transitions, where deforestation is replaced by reforestation, is observed. It is still unclear how and why forest transitions happen in some areas and not in others, to what extent the new forests will recover towards their intact state, and how transitions are affected by the intensifying societal and climate changes of our current human-dominated epoch, the Anthropocene. FAIR aims to deliver the first global map of forest transitions, i.e., de- to reforestation shifts and analogous shifts in intactness, and to test potential links between their dynamic trajectories to societal and climate change. Various remote sensing (RS) products across the globe and novel approaches will be used to answer the following questions: 1) How can RS be used to map forest transition types in human-altered forests? 2) How do transitioning forests differ from intact forests in structure and composition globally? 3) How do increasing societal pressure and climate change affect forest transitions and what are the implications for future restoration? FAIR will be hosted at Aarhus University with supervision of Prof. Svenning, a world-leading expert on macroecology with special interest in trees and forests. The combination of the professional backgrounds of Dr. Li (advanced RS science) and the supervisor will allow FAIR to develop an effective analytical framework and truly novel understanding of forest transitions, providing an important basis for better development of landscape planning to promote forest ecosystem services in the Anthropocene. Prof. Svenning’s strong experience in public outreach and dissemination will facilitate Dr. Li in developing an effective communication strategy for FAIR to contribute to future forest restoration policies.

Mots clés : forest transition, intact forest, forest restoration, deforestation, remote sensing

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