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

To maintain a coherent and continuous percept over time, the brain relies on past sensory information to predict forthcoming stimuli. Combining novel behavioural methods with advanced neuroimaging techniques, the present research project aims to determine the neural mechanisms by which the auditory system uses information from the recent past to overcome signal noise and ambiguity. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that sensory predictions involve neural oscillations at alpha rhythm, ~9-10 Hz, that mediate the propagation of perceptual priors. The first part of this research project investigates the neural structures underlying such predictive oscillatory mechanism. To this end, we adapt a novel time-resolved sampling technique used to examine rhythmic fluctuations in perceptual performance for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We hypothesise that cortical and subcortical activation, especially in the auditory cortex and thalamus, will exhibit rhythmic modulations that correlate with oscillations in decision bias during the detection of a brief auditory signal masked by white noise. The second part of this project examines whether the resolution of perceptual ambiguities by prior contextual information involves similar oscillatory mechanisms. For this purpose, we combine the time-resolved sampling technique with a classic paradigm (involving Shepard tones) for inducing ambiguous pitch shifts. By presenting a single tone before the ambiguous stimulus, listeners can be biased toward a perceived upward or downward pitch shift. If resolving perceptual ambiguities involves oscillatory mechanisms, we expect to observe periodic fluctuations of decision bias (that is, the tendency to make certain responses) at alpha rhythm over time. The results of this research project will shed light on a potentially crucial and yet unknown core process of perception, useful in every interaction we have with the world.

Mots clés : neural oscillations, signal detection theory, auditory illusions

Participants :
- Chukyo University (Japon) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- École normale supérieure PSL (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 190734.72 €
Projet DiPaC_MC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

To overcome recent global health threats, such as antibiotic resistance, a resurgence in the discovery of new chemical and thus biomedical diversity from microbial sources is needed. Genome mining in combination with heterologous expression is an approach that will overcome these challenges. It involves incorporation of yet uncharacterized natural product genetic loci into a fast growing heterologous host. For this approach, a prolific source of novel natural product gene clusters is vital. Our collaboration with the Zentralinstitut für Ernährungs- und Lebensmittelforschung (ZIEL, Technische Universität München) provides direct access to bacterial isolates completely unexplored in regards to their potential for natural product biosynthesis. Our genome analyses have revealed that many of the ZIEL isolates harbor a large number of uncharacterized natural product gene clusters. Thus, the aim of this proposal is to heterologously express natural product gene clusters from these neglected bacteria to discover novel natural product (bio-)chemistry. Because these organisms are poorly studied, the likelihood of discovering rare or novel biochemistry is immensely increased. Here, we will utilise a novel combination of synthetic biology techniques referred to as Direct Pathway Cloning. This will enable expression vectors to be constructed by large-amplicon PCR (up to 20kb) coupled to Gibson assembly. Development of the methodology is set to revolutionise synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. Downstream outcomes of this proposal will be the identification of novel, potentially bioactive natural products, the characterisation of unusual biochemistry and the addition of enzymes to the ‘biocatalytic toolkit’ for natural product synthesis and structural alteration.

Mots clés : natural products, biosynthesis, genome mining, synthetic biology, biosynthetic engineering, antibiotic resistance, heterologous expression, biosynthetic gene cluster, non ribosomal peptide, polyketide

Participants :
- Technical University of Munich (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €
Projet SUBNETVIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

To produce relevant behaviors, the brain integrates and processes sensory information. Neurons in the primary visual cortex extract sensory information by responding preferentially to certain visual features. This feature preference, or tuning, is thought to arise from structured connections established between cortical neurons. Accordingly, it was found that connected neurons in the cerebral cortex share similar tuning properties. Interestingly, the neurons populating the cerebral cortex correspond to numerous neuronal subpopulations, involved in different functions. However, the functional involvement of this large neuronal diversity in cortical computation has been so far studied for a few broad neuronal subpopulations, leaving the fine subpopulations mainly unexplored. Do these poorly studied neuronal subpopulations share similar tuning properties? Is the structured connectivity giving rise to tuning subpopulation specific? I will use a new technique referred as in situ transcriptomics to study the tuning properties and locomotor modulation of the diverse neuronal subpopulations in the mouse primary visual cortex. This technique provides high throughput identification of neuronal subpopulations on fixed tissue based on the transcriptomic signature of neurons. I will thus determine the identity of in vivo recorded neurons a posteriori and decipher the relationships between cell identity and responses to visual stimuli. Combining this approach with single cell initiated monosynaptic tracing, I will then explore the link between subpopulation specific connectivity and tuning properties. This project will greatly contribute to the understanding of how cortical neuronal subpopulations interact to encode sensory information. I will perform these experiments in the Cortical Processing Laboratory at University College London, led by Professors Kenneth Harris and Matteo Carandini.

Mots clés : vision, cortex, calcium imaging, neuronal subtypes, in situ transcriptomics, synaptic networks

Participants :
- University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet BEWARE2 (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Cofund Postdoctoral programme
Statut du projet : SIGNED

To promote the mobility of researchers towards Wallonia, the BEWARE 2 programme (Belgian Wallonia Researcher Fellowships) will grant about 65 mandatesto attract researchers in SMEs, accredited research centres and universities / university colleges. Fellows will share their working time between the premises of two hosts choosing among three hosting possibilities: - a university and a company - a college and a company - an accredited research centre and a company A fair breakdown of 50/50% is expected. Furthermore a short stay outside Wallonia could be envisaged.

Mots clés : mobilty, researcher, wallonia, belgium, university, university college

Participants :
- Service Public de Wallonie (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 7172100.0 €
Projet TECh-MoDE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : CLOSED

To push forward Molecular Electronics, a complete understanding of the nanoscale molecule/electrode interface is a must, since the interactions, structure and electronic characteristics of such interfaces define their physicochemical properties, thus their functionalities. This knowhow will enable exploiting these interfaces as the building blocks for the next generation of high performance and sustainable electronic devices. With the aim to decipher the abovementioned big unknowns, TECh-MoDE will develop the first hybrid platform with spectro-electrochemical detection capabilities of individual molecules under ambient conditions: the EC-TERS/Blinking, which will be based in the communion of two platforms: first, the Scanning Tunneling Microscope Break-Junction will allow to capture the tunnelling current through an individual bridged molecule between two electrodes of Tunneling nanoscale gap, enabling the electrical signatures of a single-molecule electrical contact. Second, the TERS, a high ultrasensitive non-destructive spectroscopic method, will provide spectroscopic features of the trapped molecule under strict electrochemical control. The single-molecule nature of this new platform provides a detailed insight into the molecular junction structure by simultaneously capturing current flow and vibrational spectra during the spontaneous formation of a molecular junction. This state-of-the-art dual-platform will allow to study, for the first time, the evolution of spectro-electrochemical characteristics in a molecular junction. This novel platform will be then exploited to explore several key structural aspects that remain unknown during the formation of single-molecule electrical contacts: (1) the observed multiple contact configurations in most common covalent anchoring chemistry, (2) the structural richness in supramolecular junctions and (3) the electrochemical gating effects of single-molecule wires of redox (bio)molecules.

Mots clés : electrochemical gating single molecule wires, single molecule conductance, molecular self assembly

Participants :
- Max Planck Society (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 174806.4 €
Projet CLOCK (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

To stay in synchrony with environmental cycles, most living organisms possess endogenous clocks. Circadian clocks are molecular oscillators present in most mammalian cells that drive circadian (~24 h) rhythms of a wide range of molecular, physiological and behavioral functions. Circadian clocks are essential for health. In humans their dysregulation (e.g. caused by shift work, jet lag etc.) has been associated with the development of multiple pathologies (e.g. cancer, metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity as well as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases) prevalent in the European Union. One central aspect of molecular oscillator function is the tight regulation of circadian transcription. Over the years, several proteins and cis-regulatory enhancer elements (i.e. specific sequences located around the promoter region, e.g. E-box, RRE, D-box) have been shown to be essential for circadian transcription. However, mainly because of technical limitations, those studies focused on few regulators and have left many gaps in the understanding of the dynamics of the circadian transcription. Therefore, this project proposes to use state-of-the-art quantitative genomic-locus proteomics to provide the first comprehensive and unbiased characterization of the rhythmic protein binding at key circadian regulatory regions – a key regulatory node of circadian clock function Using a CRISPR/Cas9-APEX labelling method (CASPEX), we will first characterize the circadian chromatin landscape of the three main circadian regulatory regions (i.e. E-boxes, RREs, D-boxes). We expect to find new clock modifiers, whose role for circadian rhythm generation will be investigated in a subsequent part of the project, using an RNAi-based secondary screen. Overall, this project will provide novel insights in the circadian oscillator mechanism in humans, which is essential for developing better treatment strategies for circadian clock-associated disorders.

Mots clés : circadian rhythms, chronobiology, circadian clock

Participants :
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet GalaxyConnect (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Physics
Statut du projet : CLOSED

To understand how the first galaxies formed, we need to characterise their properties. Studying these galaxies directly is challenging, as they are hard to detect in emission. Another way of understanding galaxies in the early Universe is through their interactions with the cosmic web of gas surrounding them, which is observed as absorption lines in the spectra of distant quasars. By studying the ionization state and chemical enrichment of this gas, we can put constraints on theories of galaxy formation. During this fellowship, hosted at the Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, I will use radiative transfer and hydrodynamic cosmological simulations to model the connection between galaxies and the intergalactic medium (IGM). This research will combine my skills in modelling the IGM with the expertise of my supervisor Prof. Dr. Christoph Pfrommer in the physical processes that drive galaxy outflows. The novel aspect of my work is that I will simultaneously model the evolution of the intergalactic medium on large scales, and the physics driving galaxy formation on smaller scales. In particular, I will focus on modelling metal absorption lines, which are a signature of galactic outflows. Typically, interpreting these metal lines is hard, due to the degeneracy between the ionization state of the gas and its metallicity. I will break that degeneracy by carefully calibrating the ionization state of the simulations against existing data from the Lyman-alpha forest. This will allow me to constrain the efficiency of galactic outflows, and to understand the nature of the galaxies that enriched the IGM with metals. I will construct mock observations from my simulations to make direct comparisons with real data, testing models of galaxy formation and constraining the timing of reionization. My results will be essential for interpreting existing and forthcoming observations, as well as for making predictions for the next generation of 30-metre telescopes.

Mots clés : intergalactic medium, numerical simulations, quasar absorption lines, reionization

Participants :
- Leibniz Association (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 162806.4 €
Projet APOLLO (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Tobacco smoking is the major cause of many chronic diseases, especially cancer. Knowledge on population exposure to tobacco smoking is essential to characterise the population health. National questionnaire surveys are currently the main source of population tobacco smoking. However, surveys have clear limitations due to its dependence on true self-reported usage and representativeness of the whole population. International comparison of surveyed data is also restricted due to different questionnaire formats among nations. An additional approach allowing more objective, efficient and near real-time assessment is necessary to address this important societal issue. Hence, the project APOLLO aims at developing and validating an innovative approach, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), for assessing population exposure to tobacco and its related carcinogens in the community. This involves analysis of raw wastewater from targeted communities for tobacco-specific biomarkers of exposure and cancer risk (the tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) and their metabolites). The project comprises three main objectives: (1) development and validation of the WBE methodology; (2) evaluation of TSNA and metabolite levels in wastewater from different Belgian communities; (3) assessment of population health from exposure to tobacco-specific carcinogens in Belgium. The completion of the project will advance our knowledge on factual and near-real-time assessment of population exposure to these carcinogens from community to national and international levels using WBE as a standardised approach. This will be also a valuable tool to evaluate the efficacy of intervention actions against tobacco smoking and its related diseases in the population and specific community e.g. prisons, high schools. This project will promote my career prospect with enhanced interdisciplinary network and research mobility in Europe.

Mots clés : wastewater analysis, biomarkers, exposure, tobacco smoking, carcinogens

Participants :
- University of Antwerp (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 160800.0 €
Projet BioNic (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Tobacco smoking is the primary preventable cause of death and disability worldwide. Although there are numerous pharmacotherapies and psychological interventions to assist with smoking cessation, most users relapse following abstinence, while only ~15% of abstinent individuals achieve long-term abstinence of more than 6-12 months. Therefore, there is a need to identify smokers at higher risk for relapse, to facilitate the development of personalized pharmacotherapies for the treatment of nicotine addiction. In this context, BioNic proposes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the unique and/or interactive effects of trait-like vulnerability factors (baseline emotion regulation ability) and biomarkers of state responses to stress (emotion regulation and synchronized neural activation response to stress) prior to smoking cessation, on cravings, abstinence adherence, and response to an established smoking cessation intervention. During this fellowship, the in-depth expertise of the researcher in studying mechanisms underlying relapse to abuse drugs following abstinence using preclinical models, combined with the expertise on human psycho- and neuro-physiological measurements that he will acquire at the Host lab will provide data and publications that will contribute to the identification of biomarkers predicting nicotine relapse vulnerability prior to smoking cessation. This work will unveil a new critical link between emotion regulation deficits and neural activation changes that together will predict maintenance of smoking abstinence. Overall, this fellowship will strengthen the academic profile of the Researcher and will act as a leverage towards securing future research funding and securing a tenure track position in Europe.

Mots clés : emotion regulation, electroencephalography, nicotine addiction, relapse, biomarkers

Participants :
- University of Cyprus (Chypre) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 145941.12 €
Projet DIVERGE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2015)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Today a substantial share of children experience their parents to separate or divorce, to re-partner with someone new, and potentially have children with this new partner. Whereas we know that such family instability has detrimental consequences for children’s behavior and mental health, it remains unclear the degree to which these negative effects are unevenly distributed. In order to disentangle this question, this project investigates the role of social environment and genetic sensitivity in the effects of family instability from a cross-disciplinary perspective. The project uses new and unique data and combines insights from the social and the developmental sciences in order to advance knowledge on three connected issues: 1. Do negative effects of family instability vary for children born into different family structures, and among children experiencing multiple transitions in family structure during childhood? 2. Are negative effects family instability augmented among children with fewer resources available in their social environment? 3. Are negative effects of family instability concentrated among children with greater genetic sensitivity? It is important to improve our understanding of heterogeneity in effects of family instability because it allows us to more effectively address barriers to children’s’ development and families’ social mobility. The results from this project will help explain why some children overcome the experience of social disadvantage while others don’t. Thereby this project helps to better tailor interventions and programs serving children and families, and thus reduce children’s negative outcomes.

Mots clés : family instability, child health, social environment, genetic sensitivity

Participants :
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 278227.8 €
- Columbia University (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
Projet ESATM (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Today insulin resistance (IR) is reaching pandemic proportions and it is predicted to emerge a leading worldwide morbidity by 2030. Immune cells, including the so-called adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) have key roles in the development of this disease. Pharmacological intervention to shape ATM differentiation and function may be a straightforward approach to prevent or combat IR. However the stem cell origin of ATMs is still unclear, which blocks the development of such prevention or treatment strategies. Recent reports show that some specific sets of macrophages develop from embryonic hematopoietic stem cells (eHSCs) and not from the bone marrow as it was postulated before. Our preliminary studies raise the possibility that eHSCs are present in the mouse and the human adipose tissue and these stem cells replenish the ATMs in adulthood. The major scientific objectives of this project are to (a) address the critical question whether ATMs are derived from eHSCs, and (b) define whether the eHSC-derived ATMs can cause IR. These are novel and non-conventional ideas on the determination of IR and are challenging the current wisdom on ATM origin. The deliverables of this project may open a new path to alleviate or prevent IR through eHSCs.

Mots clés : diabetes, insulin resistance, macrophage

Participants :
- University of Ulm (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 159460.8 €