Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : MICROBIOGUARD (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and I mmunotherapy
Entité participante : Université de Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2186133.0 €

Despite unprecedented clinical success, T cell-based immunotherapies present significant heterogeneity in response rates, often attributed to dampened activation and limited tumour infiltration of CD8+ T cells. Studies in mice and humans have shown that gut commensals can modulate anti-cancer immune responses dictating the efficacy of immunotherapy, but have failed to identify species that are consistently associated with improved patient prognosis. I recently made a breakthrough in our efforts to understand the host determinants that define microbiome-dependent cancer immunity. I discovered that a single micronutrient, vitamin D (vitD), enhances the ability of the gut microbiome to induce potent T cell-mediated immunity to cancer, dictating immunotherapy success in pre-clinical models. Unlike any other study, I found that vitD modulates the function of the microbiome without significantly affecting its composition, diverging from a species-centric view of the microbiome to focusing on key host-microbiome interactions regulated by nutrient availability. MICROBIOGUARD attempts to systematically dissect the multidirectional gut-immune-cancer axis. We first address a key question in the field: what defines a ‘good’ microbiome that promotes immunity to cancer? Aim 1 of this proposal will dissect the mechanisms by which vitD transforms the function of the gut microbiome with a focus on identification of microbial-derived bioactive molecules. We will then assess how these altered microbial functions interact with host cells bidirectionally to shape anti-cancer immunity (Aims 1/2). We will broaden our findings and determine how vitD-microbiome-immune interactions impact cancer development. Finally, we will investigate if vitD enables human microbiome to augment immunotherapy response (Aim 3). Collectively, MICROBIOGUARD provides an unmatched opportunity to identify non-redundant microbiome-immune checkpoints that can be targeted to overcome immunotherapy resistance.

Mots-clés : host microbiome interactions,cancer immunology,diet,vitamin d,immunotherapy
Projet ERC : NanoNeuroOmics (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université de Manchester — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1494954.0 €

NanoNeuroOmics ambition is to bring together nanotechnology, proteomics and blood biomarker discovery at the emerging intersection of neurodegeneration and neurooncology. NanoNeuroOmics proposes a nanotechnology-based innovative solution for the integrative profiling of the blood and brain tissue proteomes to address two interconnected challenges: i) The unmet clinical need for early diagnostic and disease-monitoring blood biomarkers for two of the most challenging Central Nervous System disorders, namely Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Glioblastoma (GBM); and ii) The AD-GBM ‘inverse comorbidity’ knowledge gap and intriguing molecular interrelation. NanoNeuroOmics presents a novel approach, in which nanoparticles are employed as scavenging agents to uncover brain disease-specific protein markers in blood, otherwise buried under the overwhelming signal of highly abundant molecules. NanoNeuroOmics aims to tackle the technological challenge of discovering highly specific blood biomarkers, by longitudinally tracking blood and brain proteomic signals at different stages of disease progression. To leverage its full potential, the proposed research programme combines longitudinal preclinical studies with human patient clinical validation studies. Such multi-dimensional proteomic approaches are expected to pioneer new blood biomarker discoveries and to provide mechanistic insight into the comorbidity of neurological diseases. NanoNeuroOmics attempts to discover a distinct set of dysregulated proteins for each of AD and GBM independently and to unveil overlapping molecular pathways to explain the AD-GBM inverse comorbidity. In a broader context, NanoNeuroOmics aspires to bridge the gap between brain pathophysiology and molecular alterations in the blood, across the biological continuum of disease progression. The project takes on a multidisciplinary approach and builds on breakthroughs in nanotechnology and omics sciences, to advance early detection and stratified medicine.

Mots-clés : liquid biospy,early detection,glioblastoma,alzheimer s,comorbidity,biomarkers,mass spectrometry
Projet ERC : Pb-FREE (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Materials Engineering
Entité participante : Université de Limerick — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UL
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499525.0 €

Billions of piezoelectric sensors are produced every year, improving the efficiency of many current and emerging technologies. By interconverting electrical and mechanical energy they enable medical device, infrastructure, automotive and aerospace industries, but with a huge environmental cost. The majority of piezoelectric sensors contain Lead Zirconium Titanate (PZT), the fabrication of which requires toxic lead oxide. Prominent lead-free alternatives are heavily processed, and rely on expensive, non-renewable materials such as Niobium. Biological materials such as amino acids and peptides have emerged as exciting new piezoelectrics. Biomolecular-crystal assemblies can be grown at room temperature with no by-products, and do not require an external electric field to induce piezoelectricity, unlike PZT and other piezoceramics. Currently no research is focused on developing these crystals as reliable, solid-state sensors to integrate into conventional electronic devices, due to their high water solubility, uncontrolled growth, variable piezoelectric response, and difficulty in making electrical contact. Pb-FREE will take on the ground-breaking challenge of developing biomolecular crystals as organic, low-cost, high-performance sensors, to out-perform and phase-out inorganic device components with dramatically reduced environmental impact. The project will rapidly accelerate the design, growth, and engineering of these novel piezoelectric materials under three pillars: - An ambitious computational workflow will enable the design of super-piezoelectric crystalline assemblies by combining high-throughput quantum mechanical calculations with machine learning algorithms. - A new method of growing polycrystalline biomolecules will be developed, allowing for easy, efficient creation of macroscopic piezoelectric structures. - A state-of-the-art electromechanical testing suite will be established to characterise fully insulated and contacted biomolecular device components.

Mots-clés : piezoelectricity crystal engineering computational chemistry
Projet ERC : RadicalProtON (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université du Pays basque — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1467111.0 €

Chemistry and Biology are governed by molecules and how they interact. Crucially, what glues a molecule together are chemical bonds, made from atoms pairing all their electrons. Although preferred, this is not the only option: in the comparatively rare cases where a molecule presents unpaired electrons, it acquires a fascinating new status that transforms its chemical and biological properties, best described by the acutely apt name of radical. Despite the extraordinary toolset found in radical-bearing molecules, the rather demanding methods to radical formation currently available mean that only very specific molecular architectures can withstand them, inadvertently limiting the scope of their applicability.  The aim of this ERC project is to show that reversible diradical formation upon deprotonation is prevalent, and yet unexplored, in general donor-acceptor organic molecules and use this new knowledge to develop novel design criteria in light-emitting molecules and drug discovery.  To achieve this unique aim, I will exploit a widespread structural pattern in a novel way, enabling a molecule to reversibly convert its charge and spin and become a diradical. I will first characterise how different molecular constituents (un)favour diradical formation on isolated molecules. I will then establish, for the first time, the role that diradicals play in defining the function of the numerous bioactive molecules sharing the proposed structural pattern.  By exposing the overlooked diradical character in general families of deprotonated organic molecules, I will deliver transformative mechanistic understanding on i) the photo physical properties of fluorescent proteins and ii) the reactivity of small molecule drugs, particularly a new class of covalent inhibitors. The field of organic radicals sits at a critical crossroads between Chemistry and Biology, and as such, taking it a step forward has the potential to cross-pollinate research fields and reshape research frontiers.

Mots-clés : diradicals,epr,drug design,fluorescent proteins
Projet ERC : COSAS (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
Entité participante : Université du Pays basque — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2345000.0 €

Developing new materials with optimized catalytic properties is a crucial challenge towards sustainable energy production. In order to achieve this long-standing goal, fundamental understanding of the processes taking place at the electrode-electrolyte interface is vital. Progress here requires a comprehensive atomic-scale picture of the fundamental chemical and catalytic properties of surfaces, in connection to their macroscopic catalytic performance. This knowledge remains hindered due to the complexity of real catalytic systems and the lack of experimental techniques that can provide information of the catalytic process from single-molecule interaction to operando conditions.  The project COSAS focuses on the electrochemical water oxidation to hydrogen peroxide and seawater electrolysis. It proposes an atomistic study of the electrode-electrolyte surface to unveil the key parameters for selective activation of alternative reaction paths for water oxidation. The experimental approach of the project represents a novel quasi-in situ electrochemical characterization (near ambient pressure x-ray photoemission spectroscopy), combined with atomic-scale access to the electronic structure (scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy) on the very same sample. The project will study thin films of transition metal oxides as model systems for exploring structure-function relationships, while presenting catalytic relevance for oxygen related reactions. The unique methodology of the project promises novel atomistic insight in the mechanism behind complex reactions with multiple intermediates, unveiling key parameters that can guide the design of active and selective electrocatalysts for cost-effective water electrolysis.

Mots-clés : scanning probe microscopy,near ambient pressure photoemission spectroscopy,atomic scale,quasi in situ,surface science,surface electrochemistry,model catalysts,selectivity,structure function relationships
Projet ERC : PlasTox (Horizon Europe, appel 2024, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Biotechnology and Biosystems E ngineering
Entité participante : University College Dublin — Pays : Irlande — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UCD
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499949.0 €

The project aims to advance our understanding of potential risks posed by micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) to human gastrointestinal health through a combination of quantitative, experimental, and computational approaches, leveraging powerful machine learning (ML) algorithms and versatile spectral imaging techniques. Towards this goal, the project will first deliver a framework to extensively characterise MNPs using multiple spectral imaging techniques covering from micro- to nanoscale coupled with complementary instruments. The fused characterisation data will be combined with experimental in vitro bioassays to develop ML models, enabling the prediction of toxicity patterns and unveiling key drivers of MNP toxicity. Harnessing the broad literature data, a knowledge-based deep learning approach will be employed to unlock mechanistic insights into toxicological pathways. The most ambitious part of the proposal is to integrate previously acquired knowledge to develop innovative predictive models for predicting human health impacts of MNPs based on their physicochemical properties. This will be achieved through two independent pathways: one built on insights from in vitro experiments and another rooted in extensive literature data. The ground-breaking approaches hold the potential to revolutionise the characterisation and risk assessment of MNPs, significantly reducing reliance on expensive in vitro and in vivo experiments.  This project offers a unique integration of approaches, competencies and resources in environmental science, life science, analytical chemistry, machine learning, and computer vision and technological developments of spectral imaging instruments. The outcomes could yield potential breakthroughs in numerous key applications of tremendous human, technological, and environmental importance, such as toxicological screening of drugs, safety assurance and environmental hazard monitoring and open a whole new field of research in toxicology.

Mots-clés : microplastics nanoplastics machine learning spectral imaging human health toxicity
Projet ERC : PalaeOrigins (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Study of the Human Past
Entité participante : Université du Pays basque — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1436150.0 €

The transition from foraging to farming represents one of the most transcendental shifts in the history of humanity. Decades of research in southwest Asia have shown that this process culminated with the development of Neolithic agricultural systems c. 10 ka cal. BP. Yet, how it started, that is, how hunter-gatherers became, for the first time, engaged with the management of plants, continues to be largely undetermined. Palaeorigins aims to fill this major gap of knowledge. Benefiting from the exceptional Epipalaeolithic archaeobotanical materials that are now available (c. 23-11 ka cal. BP), it will ask: To what extent were Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherers managing the land and the plant resources around them? Did climatic factors trigger plant resource intensification, or were cultural dynamics, like the need for specific foodstuffs, that first motivated plant-food production? To achieve such an ambitious aim PalaeOrigins will pioneer a holistic and high-resolution approach to study the plant-based subsistence. It will use a unique combination of traditional and most novel archaeobotanical materials, state-of-the-art stable isotope analyses, computational science, and theoretical models to: 1) Reconstruct the distribution and availability of plant resources during the environmental shifts of the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene; 2) Determine how plant procurement strategies, land uses and management activities articulated during the Epipalaeolithic period; and 3) Define hunter-gatherers' food culture, assessing their plant-food selection, processing and consumption practices. Taken together, PalaeOrigins will move beyond traditional Neolithic-centred paradigms to explain the origins of plant-food production. It will open up new research horizons, merging science and theory, to elucidate the nature of the human-environment interactions that paved the way to agriculture, and ultimately, changed the course of our history.

Mots-clés : epipalaeolithic,archaeobotany,human niche construction,plant domestication,climate change,archaeology of food,southwest asia,stable isotope analyses,computer modelling
Projet ERC : G-CYBERHEART (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and Processes Engineering
Entité participante : Université polytechnique de Valence — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1497351.0 €

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) results when the heart abnormally develops before birth. With diminished cardiac function, the heart fails to supply the required oxygenated blood to the body, causing a cascade of failures at different scales that prevent the newborn from growing normally. Even with improved surgical and medical treatments, CHD remains a lifelong risk factor for many diseases. An emerging application in cardiac tissue engineering is the 3D bioprinting of human hearts, or their parts, for clinical transplantation, with CHD representing a potential therapeutic target. Whereas the fabrication of bioartificial hearts is currently feasible, there remain significant scientific and technological challenges that yet need to be overcome. The development of novel experimental approaches is fundamental. At the same time, there is a pressing need for complementary computational methods to efficiently assist in the design of biophysically feasible and printable hearts, which must necessarily grow with the CHD patient's body while adapting to lifelong changes in hemodynamic conditions. In this project, therefore, I will develop a highly novel and interrelated experimental and computational approach for reproducing and predicting growing conditions of bioengineered hearts. The ambitious experimental design will enhance the maturation of cardiac muscle and biomechanical function of bioprinted ventricles in dynamic bioreactors. The highly-coupled multi-physics computational platform will describe these complex processes under multiple stimulated conditions to, ultimately, predict the critical adaptation and evolution of bioengineered ventricles potentially implanted in CHD patients. Therefore, by integrating ground-breaking methods within an extremely complex scenario, G-CYBERHEART will cross boundaries to drive advances in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering that will help accelerate the development of the bioengineered heart of the future.

Mots-clés : computational modelling,cardiac mechanics,growth and remodelling,tissue engineering,3d bioprinting
Projet ERC : MORALITES (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : École de commerce de Copenhague — Pays : Danemark — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1486924.0 €

Objective: Conduct a ground-breaking historical-relational comparative study of civil society elites’ integration in and effects on four European countries’ moral economies, explaining diverging paths through career trajectories and position-takings.  Question: Why, how, and with what consequences were civil society elites historically integrated into national moral economies?  Hypothesis: The position and position-taking of civil society elites since the mid-19th century crucially shaped national moral economies.  Motivation and scientific significance: Counters the almost completely neglected historical impact of civil society elites in elite studies, civil society scholarship, welfare state research, and political economy; challenges compartmentalisation of social science through comprehensive theoretical framework; breaks new methodological ground in integrating career trajectory analysis and NLP topic modelling textual analysis; significantly reorients scientific and public understanding of the historical role of civil society elites. Societal value: Strengthens transparency and accountability of civil society elites by pinpointing their historically changing dependencies; enhances the understanding of the role of civil society elites in stabilising and deepening democratic institutions, social policies, and regulation of the economy. Profile of PI: Strong background in historical sociology, civil society research, welfare state research, sociology of religion; strong international network with several European and US American universities; organiser of and presenter at international conferences; ambitious and original academic publishing record highly relevant to the project proposal’s study object and theoretical and methodological approach. Key deliverables: At least three quality journal articles per PhD candidate and two per post doc; two cross-WP theoretical and methodological articles and a cross-WP monograph; two edited volumes or spec

Mots-clés : elites,civil society,historical sociology,democratisation,social policy,institutionalism,moral economy
Projet ERC : CancerPersisters (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : Université de Tel Aviv — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TAU
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1728750.0 €

Despite tremendous progress in cancer therapy, many patients still succumb to the disease following an initial successful response to treatment. In addition to the long-appreciated contribution of genetically mutated cells to disease recurrence, persister cells, a rare subpopulation of cells that evade therapy in the absence of any known resistance-mediating mutation, have recently emerged as orthogonal drivers of therapy failure. While there has been much progress in targeting genetic resistance, the paucity of molecular tools that can capture persister traits, as well as the lack of a robust methodological framework for their study have significantly hampered our understanding and ability to target persister cells. Nevertheless, recent breakthroughs in molecular profiling techniques, as well as growing access to human residual disease clinical samples, now provide the opportunity to uncover the molecular underpinnings of this crucial cellular state. In this project, I propose to combine state-of-the-art single-cell lineage tracing techniques with functional approaches to (1) identify the determinants that control the ability of persister cells to escape therapy-induced senescence; (2) elucidate the cellular processes that govern the duration of persister drug-induced arrest; (3) investigate how epigenetic memory shapes persisters’ response to subsequent cycles of therapy. CancerPersisters will establish the tools that are needed in order to study key persister traits and further our understanding of this important cancer phenotype. Successful completion of this project may instruct the development of new classes of cancer drugs that can resensitize patients to subsequent cycles of therapy by erasing cellular memory and increase progression-free survival by modulating the duration of drug-induced arrest.

Mots-clés : persisters,non genetic mechanisms of drug resistance,treatment failure