Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet RESEMBLE (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Individuals with a genetic tumour risk syndrome are at high risk to develop cancer. One of these syndromes is PTEN hamartoma tumour syndrome (PHTS). PHTS is associated with pathogenic variants (PVs) in the PTEN gene. Unfortunately, in the majority of patients suspected of PHTS no PV in PTEN is identified. These patients are considered PHTS-like. The low diagnosis rate in this group of patients suggests the possibility of PVs in regions of PTEN that are not covered in routine diagnostics or suggests that PVs in other genes in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway result in PHTS-like disease. In order to identify the missing heritability in PHTS I aim to develop a long-read sequencing (LRS) approach for PHTS-like patients, which will go beyond the currently state-of-the-art short-read sequencing approaches. I will O1) develop a PTEN-targeted LRS assay and O2) perform this assay on a highly selective cohort of PHTS-like families (n=94). I then will O3) perform whole genome LRS on 25 families that were not solved by targeted LRS to identify novel gene-disease associations. At last, I will O4) validate these new associations in a wider cohort. Via this work, I will improve the diagnostic yield for PHTS by identifying novel genetic mechanisms and genes underlying disease in PHTS-like patients. The unique interdisciplinary structure of the Department of Human Genetics at Radboudumc will allow to rapidly implement genetic testing for the newly identified genetic causes for PHTS. Identification of the precise underlying cause of PHTS will enable cascade genetic testing of at-risk family members to determine their status for the causal variant and thus, risk of disease to them and any future off-spring. Furthermore, this approach will allow the implementation of preventive care strategies for the family members at risk. Overall, my proposal will facilitate a personalized care approach for PHTS(-like) patients and their families for improved clinical outcomes and reduced disease morbidity

Mots clés : long read sequencing, missing heritability, pten hamartoma tumour syndrome

Participants :
- Radboud University Medical Centre (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 187624.32 €
Projet PoMar (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

This research seeks to address a significant gap in the study of Aljamia—Romance languages written in Arabic script. Unlike the numerous Aljamiado texts produced by Moriscos in Spain, the Portuguese Aljamia corpus consists of only eight known samples, compiled into a small notebook preserved in the National Archive of Torre do Tombo. These texts are believed to be versions of 16th-century Portuguese correspondences, translated from Middle Arabic originals, many attributed to Yahya U-Ta‘fuft (Bentafuf), a Berber leader serving King Manuel I during the Portuguese presence in Morocco in the early modern period. Despite partial editions, these documents have never been compiled into a full critical edition. The proposed edition aims to address long-standing questions, such as the authorship of these Aljamia texts and the function of using Arabic script for Portuguese.  An interdisciplinary approach will enable a comprehensive analysis, combining philological and palaeographic examinations with Arabic linguistics, while situating the texts within the historical context of Portuguese expansion in North Africa. Central to this framework is the role of Maghrebi vernacular Arabic, as the texts exhibit significant influences from spoken Arabic varieties, which likely shaped both the translations and script choices.  The project also highlights the role of Arabic-Portuguese translators, often Jewish intermediaries—such as the Benzamerro family—based in Atlantic coastal cities like Safi, Azemmour, and Mazagan. Finally, the study will explore translation choices from vernacular Arabic into Portuguese—written in both Latin and Arabic scripts—focusing on omissions, calques, loans, and additions. Through a critical edition of all versions of these texts, this research aims to clarify questions of authorship and highlight the linguistic varieties involved: 16th-century Portuguese and Middle Arabic, influenced by Maghrebi vernacular forms.

Mots clés : aljamia, middle arabic, moroccan arabic, yahya bentafuf, torre do tombo, morocco under portuguese rule, jewish translators, palaeography, arabic manuscripts, portuguese philology

Participants :
- Université de Lisbonne (Portugal) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Conseil supérieur de la recherche scientifique (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 209914.56 €
- Université d'Oviedo (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet LactoVES (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The aim of the project is to conduct basic scientific research on the immunomodulatory properties of Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) extracellular vesicles in terms of their applicability in the treatment/prevention of airway allergies. The project assumes a comprehensive characterization of vesicles, starting from the description of their physicochemical properties, through in vitro tests using respiratory epithelial cell lines, to in vivo tests on mouse models of airway allergy. The project combines two areas, both the physicochemical characteristics of nanoparticles such as extracellular vesicles and advanced immunological research.

Mots clés : vesicles, allergy, birch pollen

Participants :
- Institute of Microbiology (Rép. Tchèque) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de médecine de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 199440.96 €
Projet INTERACT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Skin diseases affect 900 million people worldwide. Despite major efforts gaining insights in the disease mechanisms underlying Atopic Dermatitis (AD), the most common inflammatory skin disease (ISD), an effective treatment is currently lacking. AD is accompanied by skin and gut microbiota dysbiosis, suggesting an uncharacterized interplay between skin and gut. Furthermore, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that limit growth of bacteria in the host, were found deregulated in ISDs and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Most of the host-microbe interactions are mediated by microbial metabolites that can spread and affect distant organs. INTERACT will investigate how skin microbial metabolites influence skin and gut inflammation through innovative research at two world leading research Universities, the Medical University of Vienna, Austria and University of California San Diego, USA under the supervision of Profs. Erwin Wagner and Richard Gallo, respectively. Recent results from the applicant demonstrated gut alterations with neutrophilic infiltration and increased fecal AMPs in a genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) of AD generated in E. Wagner’s laboratory. Hence, this study will test the hypothesis that skin-derived microbial metabolites promote skin-gut inflammation inducing AMP expression and neutrophil recruitment. Using state of the art technologies, such as metabolomics and novel GEMMs, as well as patient-derived material, this project will determine the therapeutic and biomarker potential of microbial metabolites, which will have profound implications for ISD. The experimental approach combines the applicant’s expertise in host-microbe interactions with E. Wagner´s competence in mouse genetics and inflammatory diseases, as well as R. Gallo´s knowledge of AMPs and skin microbiome. The MSCA PF will support the applicant´s career development by fostering acquisition of mechanistic and complementary skills, while studying a global health problem and economic challenge.

Mots clés : inflammatory skin disease, atopic dermatitis, microbiome, metabolites, antimicrobial peptides, gut inflammation, s100a9, inflammatory bowel disease, genetically engineered mouse models

Participants :
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de médecine de Vienne (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 225843.6 €
Projet GlymphoSleep (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

In recent years, it has been demonstrated that sleep not only plays a crucial role in cognitive, emotional, and immunological functions but also helps to clear the brain from metabolic waste products via the recently discovered glymphatic system. A physiological marker closely associated with glymphatic clearance is electroencephalographic (EEG) slow-wave activity (SWA, 1-4 Hz). An increase in SWA, driven by high sleep pressure accumulated during the day, is related to a boost of glymphatic clearance. In humans, such temporal neuro-glymphatic coupling has been confirmed by using a combination of sleep EEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which, however, is challenging to use in sleeping subjects. Recently, a first wearable solution has been developed that allows simultaneous assessment of brain electrophysiology and glymphatic system activity by using a combination of the sleep EEG and non-invasive functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). This unique technological solution provides an opportunity for the investigation of neuro-glymphatic coupling in sleep without disturbing natural sleep. SWA can be boosted by the well-timed presentation of brief auditory stimuli during sleep without otherwise altering natural sleep architecture. This approach is referred to as closed-loop auditory stimulation (CLAS) and has gained a lot of attention from both sleep researchers and the industry. Given that deep sleep is a primary driver of glymphatic clearance, it is of great importance to establish if CLAS can boost glymphatic activity along with SWA enhancement. Evidence for the modulatory effect of CLAS on glymphatic clearance will open new avenues for future implementations of CLAS for prevention and/or therapy of neurodegenerative disorders. For instance, the regulation of glymphatic clearance might be of high clinical relevance in Alzheimer’s disease, characterised by reduced glymphatic convection causing harmful protein aggregation.

Mots clés : sleep, glymphatic system, fnirs, eeg, closed loop auditory stimulation, slow wave activity, wearable technology

Participants :
- Université d'Oulu (Finlande) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Radboud University Medical Centre (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203464.32 €
Projet IMAGiN-IT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The mechanisms underlying monogenic intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), affecting >2% of the population, remain poorly understood. Moreover, most ID/ASD syndromes are still untreatable, the exception being some disorders of metabolic origin. Therefore, identifying unappreciated metabolic mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of ID/ASD provides a promising avenue to treatment.  Several lines of evidence suggest that the transcription factors FOXP1/2/4 are ID/ASD genes with such an underappreciated role in brain (energy) metabolism: mitochondrial defects and altered metabolic rate in FOXP animal models, unpublished FoxP-/- brain transcriptome data of my host, and GWAS-based data indicating that FOXP1/2 genes are significantly associated with body mass index in the general population. Therefore, my main aim is to characterize ID/ASD phenotype-relevant metabolic dysregulation in FoxP mutants and ameliorate its effects. Powerful genetic tools in Drosophila allow me to probe specific molecular mechanisms with high spatial and temporal resolution and relate them to clinically relevant phenotypes, including locomotion behaviour habituation learning, and sleep. My objectives are to: 1) Identify phenotype-relevant metabolic target pathways of FoxP, 2) Characterize metabolic dysregulation in FoxP neurons with spatial resolution 3) Reverse behavioural FoxP phenotypes with metabolic or other innovative therapeutic interventions.  This interdisciplinary approach further develops the data analyses, molecular, and imaging skills that I acquired through my PhD training and allows me to merge it with unique disease-relevant data, clinical knowledge, and collaborating networks. This project has the potential to provide novel insights into the relation of metabolism, cognition, and behaviour, and revolutionize the treatment of FOXP1/2/4 disorders. These insights may also have implications for further molecularly and clinically related ID/ASD disorders.

Mots clés : intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, neurometabolism

Participants :
- École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Radboud University Medical Centre (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203464.32 €
Projet ALIGHT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

The project will shed light on the potential Antarctic living heritage, building tools to map the cultural diversity of the continent. Antarctica is the only continent on Earth with no native human population, territorial demarcations, or urbanization. The human presence is historically recent, beginning approximately two centuries ago. Since 1960, the occupation of Antarctica by people has been officially regulated by the Antarctic Treaty to occur only temporarily, by seasonal rotation, based on scientific proposals, and to generate a very low impact on the environment. Due to the Treaty, logistical cooperation between countries and the coexistence of teams from different nationalities became a notable fact at the Antarctic Scientific Stations. These aspects contribute to the development of a unique set of cultural expressions on the continent, which have never been systematically studied before and, consequently, are apart from protocols for safeguarding global intangible heritage. To begin to overcome this separation, this project pursues the construction of research guidelines oriented to the case of Antarctica and a cultural map using ARCHES, an open software platform belonging to the Getty Foundation based on Geographic Information System-GIS. ARCHES is a software for managing cultural heritage, which, in addition to the geolocation of cultural elements, allows different types of data processing. The guides for this research will be built based on anthropological methodology and ethnographic data collection, and will take into account global cultural and heritage policies recommended by organizations such as UNESCO. The map will be an open tool, prepared to be shared, completed, and improved by future initiatives. Thus, the project will initiate an important inventory to identify and safeguard the Antarctic living heritage, provide resources for society to better understand how people live in Antarctica and how cultural expressions have been generated there.

Mots clés : cultural mapping, cultural inventory, history of antarctica, antarctic heritage, applied anthropology research, heritage policies, cultural policies, open source software applied to cultural mapping

Participants :
- Associacao iscte conhecimento e inovacao - centro de valorizacao e transferencia de tecnologias (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 169843.44 €
- Direção Geral do Património Cultural (Portugal) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université fédérale du Minas Gerais (Brésil) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet POLYMATOS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2021)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Information Science and Engineering
Statut du projet : CLOSED

The production of cutin-based polymers is currently made from acid monomers that result in conventional plastics. These cutin-based plastics do not have the 3D structure of the natural cutin, limiting its application. POLYMATOS project aims to develop an isolation and fractionation integrated high-pressure process to obtain cutin esters monomers from tomato pomace (TP) to be applied as building blocks of innovative biopolymers. The present proposal relates with a novel approach to the production of polyesters by addressing a key challenge in the current biopolymer research: the maintenance of the flexible 3D polymeric structure characteristic of cutin in a cutin-like polyester using ester monomers instead of acid monomers. This approach can efficiently increase hydrophilicity and degradability plus modulate the mechanical, chemical, and biological properties of polyesters. The research will focus on evaluating the process conditions that would achieve cutin yields and highly functionalised building blocks in continuous microreactors. POLYMATOS has a strong multidisciplinary character since it links together biology, biochemistry, chemical engineering, and material science to expand the application of TP to the production of an innovative polyester. The proposed process will be a fundamental contribution to generating an additional revenue stream and reducing residues production in tomato processing. Due to the abundance of cutin, the findings can be extended to other production activities, benefiting the food industry and society. POLYMATOS will allow me to develop my leadership skills through innovation. The project will be carried out by the experienced researcher Dr. Aguiar at the Bioeconomy Research Institute, Universidad de Valladolid, under the mentorship of Prof. Cocero. Two secondments, one at Universidad de Málaga and the other one at CellMat Technologies, will be carried out to strengthen knowledge in polymerisation reactions and polymers characterisation.

Mots clés : tomato pomace, cutin, biopolymer, subcritical water, supercritical fluid, hydrolysis, microreactors

Participants :
- Université de Valladolid (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Malaga (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Cellmat technologies sl (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Valladolid (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 165312.96 €
Projet IDSpnBmem (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Pneumococcal pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in children and the elderly worldwide. Pneumococcal vaccines have significantly reduced global incidence of pneumococcal disease, however, current vaccines show varying efficacy among covered serotypes, leading to insufficient level of protection for complete herd immunity. Memory B cells (Bmem) are responsible for high-affinity and long-lasting humeral immunity, and serotype-specific Bmem are associated with increased protection against pneumococcal colonization. Despite their critical role, to date, information on immunization-elicited cellular responses is limited. Here, I propose to characterize pneumococcal serotype-specific B cells for 25 cellular markers, transcriptome and BCR sequence, and link this phenotypic profile with functionality by analyzing recombinantly expressed antibodies. These analysis will involve the integration of 33-colour spectral flow cytometry, 10X next generation RNA and BCR sequencing, B cell cloning, generation of recombinant monoclonal antibodies and functional analysis by antibody avidity and opsonophagocytic capacity. Via computational science, using a data-driven and high-dimensional approach, I aim to identify the phenotypes of protective serotype-specific B cell immunity by analyzing individuals of different ages (children and adults), geographic location (Malawi and Europe) and immunization route (vaccination and colonization). This information will shed light on cellular differences of non-efficient vaccine responses, and may aid in development of improved vaccines. Additionally, the proposed activities and training by experts will be critical for my career development to become an independent researcher in the field of clinical immunology and vaccinology.

Mots clés : memory b cells, serotype specific immunity, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, cytometry, transcriptomics, bcr sequencing, b cell cloning, recombinant monoclonal antibodies

Participants :
- Leiden University Medical Center (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 203464.32 €