Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : RENALGENE (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université de Navarre — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a leading cause of global mortality, affecting ~13% of global population. Inherited kidney diseases (IKD) are estimated to account for a 30% of CKD cases. Despite the unprecedented development of genetic medicines in the past decades, to date no kidney gene therapy intervention is available. Renal gene therapies have encountered two main barriers: (1) its complex anatomy and function has hampered efficient and specific delivery of genetic therapies to the kidney, and (2) many IKDs are caused by mutations in large genes, and therefore, traditional gene supplementation strategies using efficient and safe in vivo vectors (such as adeno-associated viral vectors or AAV) cannot be developed due to the limited packaging capacity. The main goal of this proposal is to create solutions for these challenges by developing novel gene therapy vectors with improved kidney targeting and genome editing strategies to correct the genetic defect in large genes that cause IKDs.  Recent advances in the field of discovery and engineering of gene delivery vehicles combined with CRISPR-based gene editing technologies have opened the avenue towards developing efficient and safe gene editing therapies. In this proposal, we will develop in vivo genome editing approaches for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD), the most frequent IKD with an incidence of 1:1,000. For this, we will develop novel AAV gene delivery vectors, a technology that has been clinically validated to target several tissues, enabling an efficient delivery of CRISPR editors to the kidney. Additionally, CRISPR approaches will be designed to restore the physiological expression of the mutated PKD1 gene that causes ADPKD and tested in APDKD mouse and pig models in vivo and in patient-derived kidney organoid models in vitro. The completion of this proposal will enable the generation of personalized and universally applicable in vivo gene editing therapies for ADPKD patients.

Mots-clés : inherited kidney disease,gene therapy,gene editing,viral vectors,organoids,in vivo disease models
Projet ERC : IT-JCAS (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Systems and Communication Engineering
Entité participante : Université de technologie d'Eindhoven — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499618.0 €

The integration of radio communication and sensing services in the same network infrastructure will be a key feature of next-generation wireless technology. It is envisaged that wireless base-stations will communicate with active devices, and simultaneously detect, localize and track passive targets within their vicinity; all using the same spectrum and hardware. This emerging joint communication and sensing (JCAS) paradigm, currently at the frontier of wireless research, will revolutionize a broad range of applications, from automotive and transportation to healthcare and environmental monitoring. A major challenge for realizing this vision is the lack of a fundamental theory for JCAS. Communication-centric wireless systems rely on information theory in establishing fundamental performance limits and guiding the design of efficient schemes that best utilize scarce radio resources. In sharp contrast, information theory for JCAS is currently in its infancy, and without such a theory, optimal signal and protocol design for next-generation wireless networks will remain elusive. The goal of this project is to take the first major steps towards closing this fundamental knowledge gap. I will first introduce a novel information-theoretic approach to sensing. I propose the new notions of sensing capacity and reliability function, which will enable characterizing the fundamental trade-off between sensing efficiency and reliability. I will then establish new information-theoretic performance limits and optimal schemes for JCAS systems, where signals have the dual function of communicating and probing. Finally, I will extend the analysis to multiple transceivers, targets and users, by introducing a novel network information theory for sensing and JCAS. The results of this project will open a new research frontier in information theory; push the boundaries of current knowledge in neighbouring domains; and directly impact the design of future, JCAS-enabled wireless technology.

Mots-clés : integrated sensing and communication,wireless communication,wireless sensing,information theory
Projet ERC : e-Perinatal (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Prevention,  Diagnosis and T reatment of Human Diseases
Entité participante : Université de Séville — Pays : Espagne — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 0.0 €

Maternal mental disorders are the most common complications during pregnancy and within the first year after childbirth (defined as the perinatal period) and are the leading cause of maternal suicide. Affected mothers cannot function properly, causing a devastating impact on the entire family. Effective primary prevention interventions are urgently needed. However, the current scientific evidence is insufficient to implementing primary preventive programs at the population level.  I aim to establish the effectiveness of universal preventive interventions for maternal perinatal mental disorders and to support their implementation as normalized routine practice in global healthcare services. Integrating classical and emerging methodological frameworks (family systems, self-determination theory, and normalization process theory), as well as the perspective of patient and public involvement in research, I will: (a) Develop a personalized mobile-Health preventive intervention for mothers and their partners, which integrates evidence-based psychological components and personalized health recommendations; (b) Test preventive intervention effectiveness for reducing the incidence of maternal depression and anxiety disorder, reducing father/partner symptoms of depression and anxiety, and promoting child health and development; (c) Apply a causal methodology, to pinpoint the underlying mechanisms for the effectiveness of the preventive intervention; and (d) Understand the implementation process and identify the factors that can promote or inhibit implementation.  With the multidisciplinary team that I lead – and a large-scale hybrid effectiveness-implementation trail in real-world maternal health services – this research programme promises to be the first in its field. The resulting robust scientific evidence and novel explanatory model will create a new research paradigm. A toolkit for implementation research will enhance translation as normalized routine practice.

Mots-clés : prevention perinatal mental disorders postpartum depression women primary health care
Projet ERC : SMArt (Horizon Europe, appel 2022, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Universe Sciences
Entité participante : Université de Potsdam — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499762.5 €

What is the nature of matter at supranuclear densities? What is the expansion rate of our Universe? These open questions of nuclear physics and cosmology can be answered with multi-messenger observation of merging binary neutron stars. The window to study these fascinating events has only recently been opened with the upgrades of gravitational-wave observatories and by combining gravitational-wave information with that of powerful telescopes in the electromagnetic spectrum - from infrared, to optical, to gamma-rays. In the near future, we expect numerous multi-messenger observations of compact binary systems. We are currently at a crossroads in which the development of accurate and robust theoretical models is crucial to keeping up with the development of experimental instrumentation. Without noticeable upgrades of our models, future analyses will be biased through modelling uncertainties.  The proposed research project will focus on the development of theoretical models to interpret the binary neutron star coalescence and will pave the way for a thorough understanding of the merger process. Novel methods and algorithms that we will implement in our numerical-relativity code will allow us to study previously inaccessible regions of the binary neutron star parameter space with unprecedented accuracy. This accuracy in the determination of the gravitational-wave and electromagnetic emission from binary neutron star mergers is essential for connecting our theoretical computations with observational data. We will push for a publicly available framework for the simultaneous analysis of gravitational-wave and electromagnetic signals from binary neutron star mergers incorporating also nuclear-physics calculations, nuclear-physics experiments, and other astrophysical observations of isolated neutron stars. This framework will enable us to use upcoming detections to determine the neutron star radius and the Hubble constant.

Mots-clés : ulti messenger astronomy,numerical relativity,neutron stars,hubble constant,supranuclear dense matter
Projet ERC : NEXUS (Horizon Europe, appel 2021, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and I mmunotherapy
Entité participante : University Hospital Erlangen — Pays : Allemagne — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499514.0 €

Inflammation has evolved to protect us from the outside world. However, in doing so, it consumes large amounts of energy and causes collateral damage, thus requiring strict control on multiple levels. While the mechanisms that govern inflammation once ongoing are well defined, we lack basic knowledge of the processes that regulate its actual onset in vivo. Only by understanding the mechanisms that orchestrate tissue stress responses and defend against unwanted inflammation will we pave the way for new therapeutic approaches in future precision medicine: Not only treating inflammation once it is active, but preventing inflammatory disease from developing in the first place. I hypothesise that prevention of inflammation can be accomplished at the level of tissue homeostasis and cooperative stromal biology. The stroma that underlies any given tissue is not a passive scaffold. Instead it comprises a functional network that regulates key aspects of tissue physiology as an adaptive and self-organising system ("homeostat"). Resident tissue macrophages (RTM) - the tissue’s very own regulators of inflammation - are physically connected to this homeostat and thereby directly integrated into its cooperative signalling grid. Hard-wired communication mechanisms and synergies allow RTM-stroma networks to operate as a functional syncytium, a hitherto unknown operating system that coordinates stress responses and actively prevents the onset of inflammation. Here, I propose a pioneering tissue biology approach to decipher the stromal homeostat. By combining unique bioimaging with computational 3D reconstruction and multidimensional profiling, I will quantitatively unravel complex cell interactions to explain the mechanisms and implications of stromal network communication in a living tissue. Thereby, I aim to elucidate homeostat-operating principles and establish top-down control of inflammatory tissue checkpoints in order to apply them to clinically relevant inflammatory diseases.

Mots-clés : tissue biology,stromal communication,network communication,resident tissue macrophages,prevention of inflammation,histocytometry,anti inflammatory threshold,arthritis,in vivo,intravital imaging
Projet ERC : DeconstrucTolerance (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Immunity, Infection and I mmunotherapy
Entité participante : Research Institute of Molecular Pathology — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IMP
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

The intestinal tract is the main site of nutrient absorption and faces constant exposure to complex environmental stimuli. Intestinal barrier integrity and functionality are safeguarded by the intestinal immune system, which must balance its pro- and anti-inflammatory activities to provide protection from pathogenic microorganisms while preventing unwanted reactivity to self-antigens, commensal microbes, and dietary components. The intestinal immune environment can be viewed as a multicellular network in which the identity and function of individual cells is intrinsically programmed by transcription factors (TFs) that regulate their gene expression. These cells in turn can respond to signals in their environment and impact the behavior of their neighbors, which over time drives changes in tissue physiology. Conventional genetic knockout approaches offer insufficient temporal resolution to dissect these regulatory layers.  In this proposal, we will employ chemical genetic protein degradation using the auxin-inducible degron 2 (AID2) system to “deconstruct” the intestinal immune regulatory network. These studies will focus on the role of Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells, whose continuous immunosuppressive activity is required to prevent the onset of intestinal inflammation. In Aim 1, we will use newly generated mouse models to probe the direct gene regulatory functions of key TFs that define intestinal Treg cell subsets. In Aim 2, we will fluorescently label intestinal Treg cells and rapidly degrade the TFs that confer their suppressive activity to study their functionality in situ. Finally, in Aim 3, we will use a reversible mosaic protein degradation strategy to study how the signals that precede and promote intestinal Treg cell differentiation shape the developing intestinal immune system. Together, these studies will provide fundamentally new insights into the regulatory network underlying intestinal immune tolerance.
Projet ERC : DYNAMORPH (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and R egeneration
Entité participante : Research Institute of Molecular Pathology — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : IMP
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Embryogenesis entails both the generation of cell type diversity and large-scale morphogenetic movements sculpting the forming body axes. How patterning and morphogenesis are each individually controlled is increasingly understood, yet how these fundamental processes are coordinated remains an open question in biology. My recent work in zebrafish gastrulation, a crucial developmental stage where the germ layers are specified and shaped, provided a conceptual framework for how patterning and morphogenesis can be coupled by morphogen signalling. However, how a small set of highly conserved morphogens mechanistically controls a striking diversity of biological functions across many developmental systems remains unclear, especially as little is known on how morphogen signalling encodes the mechanical forces organizing morphogenesis. We hypothesize that examining the multiscale interplay between morphogen dynamics and mechanics will provide the missing link to understand how the emergence of pattern and form are coordinated by a handful of morphogens. Using both zebrafish embryos and human 2D gastruloids, we aim to uncover:  1. How the dynamics of morphogen signalling encodes the mechanical properties organizing morphogenesis. 2. How cell and tissue mechanics, in turn, modulate morphogen signalling dynamics and robust patterning. 3. How cells decode dynamical mechanochemical inputs to instruct cell fate and patterning.  Towards these goals, we will combine our expertise in biophysics and developmental biology with recent advances in live-cell signalling reporters, optogenetics, biophysical tools and gastruloid models to quantitatively understand the design principles and molecular effectors of the cross-talk between morphogen dynamics and mechanics. This will generate novel insights relevant beyond developmental biology, with direct implications for engineering of organoid technologies, regenerative medicine and our understanding of the evolution of form and pattern.

Mots-clés : morphogen,signalling dynamics,cell and tissue mechanics,morphogenesis,patterning,gastrulation
Projet ERC : T Cell Feedback (Horizon Europe, appel 2023, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Life Science
Panel : Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing
Entité participante : CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine — Pays : Autriche — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Organismes privés (hors enseignement)
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499548.0 €

Intestinal microbial communities expand the functional capabilities of the host via their metabolic attributes. From energy harvest to the production of vitamins, the gut microbiota shapes mammalian physiology and is often considered a postnatally developed “organ”. Yet, the microbiome poses a formidable challenge to the immune system: How can we host trillions of bacteria without mounting an inflammatory response? Gut immune homeostasis relies on the balanced action of suppressive and inflammatory T cell subsets. I discovered that bacterial metabolism of bile acids and dietary fibers promotes the differentiation of suppressive T cells. Given the complexity of the microbiome, finding other immunoregulatory cues deployed by gut bacteria and their mechanisms of action remains a major challenge, and the logic behind these tolerance mechanisms is not understood. I will use a novel conceptual framework to bridge this gap: based on my previous findings, I postulate that immunoregulatory bacterial molecules are produced in response to food intake. Within this emerging paradigm, I selected two new groups of bacterial molecules for immediate investigation and developed a strategy to identify novel putative immunoregulatory candidates based on a careful examination of microbial metabolism after food intake. I will find the molecular targets of active molecules using chemical screening and chemoproteomic methods and test metabolites in vivo by colonizing germ-free mice with genetically manipulated bacterial strains. The proposed work is grounded on my strong expertise in host-microbe interactions and takes advantage of the state-of-the-art biochemistry facilities at my hosting institution and of the complementary skillsets of my collaboration network. This synergistic combination will allow for a comprehensive interrogation of immunological tolerance to gut commensals: from metabolites and their molecular targets to their functional relevance for intestinal health.

Mots-clés : bacterial metabolism immunological tolerance,cd4 t cells
Projet ERC : REPAIR (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Soci al World and Its Interactions
Entité participante : Université libre d'Amsterdam — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

Recent advancement in Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as the release of ChatGPT, has intensified concerns about the future of work. Studies suggest that ChatGPT could already fully replace up to 33% of jobs, with high-skilled workers facing the greatest risk. Scholars warn that AI automation may threaten the central role of work as the primary means of income distribution, potentially leading to an era of widespread poverty and intensified inequality. In response, many countries are seeing growing political momentum to reform welfare in anticipation of rapid changes in the world of work. Yet, political science has yet to examine how welfare states will respond and adapt to the labor market challenges posed by AI. This project is the first comprehensive analysis of welfare state politics in the age of AI, examining how institutions, and the supply and demand of welfare politics shape responses addressing AI's impact on the labor market. Employing a multimethod approach that integrates natural language processing and multilevel models, it aims to address the central question: How does AI reshape welfare politics across OECD countries?  The project will examine in real-time how welfare policies and politics are evolving in response to the rapid changes brought by AI. The project will: (1) shed light on different welfare systems will be affected by AI, (2) map the political landscape of party positions and framings of AI, (3) examine public support for different welfare reforms, (4) develop a new understanding of how welfare systems will adapt to the challenges posed by AI. By exploring how existing systems shape the adoption of AI, the project moves away from techno-deterministic perspectives to focusing on the active role of policies in shaping the future. The project breaks new academic ground by developing a new area of study, and offers actionable recommendations to policymakers on viable paths for welfare reforms to address the challenges posed by AI.
Projet ERC : QuEST for APV (Horizon Europe, appel 2025, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental Constituents of Matter
Entité participante : Université libre d'Amsterdam — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1968875.0 €

The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics classifies the known particles and describes their non-gravitational interactions extremely well. However, it fails to provide answers to various big open questions, such as the origin of dark matter. The QuEST project aims to break new ground in fundamental physics by probing the electroweak (EW) sector of the SM. The weak force is the only fundamental interaction that is known to break spatial mirror symmetry known as parity. In atomic systems, parity violation provides a unique window into electroweak interactions at low energies, complementary to high energy particle physics. However, the signals stemming from atomic parity violation (APV) are incredibly weak and, for the last two decades, progress on low-energy EW tests have been hampered by the daunting experimental requirements to detect APV. In this proposal, I fully exploit the quantum toolbox to reveal APV in Ba+ for the first time. The employed method is based on a pair of Ba+ ions in a quantum-entangled state that is by design insensitive to correlated noise and immune to common-mode systematic effects. This significantly eases the experimental requirements and enables a measurement of APV with a superior accuracy. The main outcome of QuEST is to provide a first independent precision low-energy test of the electroweak sector of the SM in nearly 20 years. The targeted level of accuracy will go beyond the current state-of-the-art and will allow for sensitive search for new physics beyond the SM, where QuEST will probe for processes at an energy scale of up to ~10 TeV. The results will provide information on nuclear structure, relevant for astrophysics, and will impact the field of quantum information science. Therefore, QuEST is a unique platform with an interdisciplinary character that will shape the landscape of low-energy electroweak tests of the SM for many years to come.

Mots-clés : cold trapped ions,entangled decoherence free states,electroweak interactions,parity violation,quantum metrology,new physics beyond the standard model