Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Development of a Novel Multi-Helical Dual-Faced Photonic Crystal Fiber (MHD-PCF) Sensor for Early-Stage Cancer Detection via Surface Plasmon Resonance and Reflectance Spectroscopy. (MHD PCF SPR Sensor)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: Lithuania
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2026-04-01
End date: 2028-03-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 196976.16
EU funding (EUR): 196976.16
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

This research presents a novel photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor featuring a multi-helical dual-faced design, reported for the first time. The sensor enhances light-matter interaction (LMI) through its unique geometry, with different arrangements of air holes at both ends and a twisted intermediate section. This geometry optimizes sensitivity for detecting cancerous cells, with the refractive index (RI) of cancerous cells ranging from 1.36 to 1.42 RIU. The proposed sensor employs SPR technology, with plasmonic coatings such as gold (Au) and silver (Ag) to improve light confinement and signal strength. Additionally, reflectance spectroscopy is integrated to further enhance the diagnostic capabilities, enabling precise surface-level and sub-surface imaging of biological tissues, crucial for early cancer detection. The twisted design of the PCF alters electromagnetic field distribution, allowing for precise control of light propagation, polarization, and intensity, making it highly effective in distinguishing between healthy and cancerous tissues. The internal twisted region enhances LMI and reflectance characteristics, offering high-resolution imaging, ideal for detecting subtle changes in tissue structures. This sensor’s versatility extends beyond cancer detection, finding potential applications in environmental monitoring, chemical sensing, and communication systems. Theoretical modeling and computational simulations demonstrate the sensor's ability to detect minute variations in commercially available cancer cell fluids with high specificity and accuracy. Combining SPR and reflectance spectroscopy in this innovative design marks a significant advancement over traditional fiber-optic sensors. The results showcase its potential for use as a powerful diagnostic tool in oncology, particularly in early-stage cancer detection, while also offering broader applications in fields requiring high-precision detection, imaging and sensing

Keywords: photonic crystal fiber surface plasmon resonance multi helical light matter interaction reflectance spectroscopy
Virus-Inspired Colorectal Cancer Treatment through an Orally Administered Vaccine (VICTORY)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Proof of concept grants
Action type: ERC actions
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS (ERC-2024-POC, 2024)
Start date: 2025-07-01
End date: 2026-12-31
Duration (months): 18.0
Total project cost (EUR): 150000.0
EU funding (EUR): 150000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Colorectal cancer (CRC), which includes cancers of the colon and rectum, represents a significant global health challenge as the third most commonly diagnosed and second most fatal cancer worldwide. It also places a substantial burden on European patients and healthcare systems. While standard treatments are available, they face significant limitations, especially in managing advanced CRC, often leading to poor patient outcomes and severely compromised quality of life. Emerging immunotherapies like immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and adoptive cell therapies show promise but face major obstacles, including high costs, side effects, lack of tumor targeting, and, most critically, they fail to treat "cold" CRC tumors with low or absent pre-existing anti-cancer immunity. Prof. Shi and his team have developed an innovative oral cancer vaccine to transform these “cold” CRC tumors into “hot” tumors by provoking potent cellular and humoral anti-cancer immunity. The vaccine will achieve this through its acid-stable nanovesicle structure to induce potent and intestine-localized anti-cancer immunity with reduced systemic side effects and improved patient compliance. This project aims to explore the technical and commercial potential of the vaccine platform.
tRansformativE fooD valuE Systems reshapInG resilient urban laNdscapes (REDESIGN)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
Programme: Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Theme: Bio-Environment
Destination: Resilient, inclusive, healthy and green rural, coastal and urban communities
Action type: Innovation actions
Countries involved: Italy,Hungary,Germany,United Kingdom,Spain,Belgium,New Zealand,Sweden,Greece
Call: Unlock the potential of the New European Bauhaus in urban food system transformation (HORIZON-CL6-2024-COMMUNITIES-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-02-01
End date: 2028-01-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3196068.75
EU funding (EUR): 2999756.25
Participants: 13
Project status: SIGNED

REDESIGN will support the transformation of local urban food systems by creating Food Value Systems (FVS). FVSs aim to strengthen urban resilience through food-led green urban and peri-urban infrastructure enhancement, foster participation in the food system of local communities (with a particular focus on vulnerable groups), contribute to the quality and beauty of living places, and mitigate climate change through the integration of urban agriculture with the built environment. The FVSs will operate through the development and application of a “Learning Loop” methodology grounded on NEB values to accelerate innovation in all the steps of the food system (including production, consumption, exchange, and disposal) and expand beyond the notion of ‘food chain’ to integrate the cultural, social and political dimensions of the transformation. The network will consist of three main groups of actors, ‘observation’ cases, ‘implementation’ cases, and a board of cities. Observation cases exemplify consolidated best practices. In the pilots, the REDESIGN Food Value Networks will be set up and implemented with the involvement of local stakeholders, particularly vulnerable groups. Each implementation case will have a specific focus on one of the domains of the urban food system (nutrient recovery and food production, the setting up of a multifunctional food lab, and food policy councils). The implementation cases will become Living Labs, through which the innovation in local food value networks will scale up at two levels: the metropolitan one, contaminating nearby districts through training and transfer, and the international one, enhancing the observation cases (closing the ‘learning loop’), and informing the board of cities for policy innovation and learning. Results will include regenerated neighborhoods in the implementation cases, the setting of three Living Labs steering the Food Value Networks, a Learning Loop methodology, all scalable and replicable in other contexts.
Microbubble platform enabling revolutionary diagnostic and therapeutic applications (HarMono-T)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Innovative Europe
Programme: The European Innovation Council (EIC)
Theme: EIC Accelerator
Destination: Other destinations
Action type: EIC actions
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: EIC Accelerator 2024 - Short application (HORIZON-EIC-2024-ACCELERATOR-01, 2024)
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 2500000.0
EU funding (EUR): 2500000.0
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Imaging, crucial in diagnosing numerous medical conditions, faces challenges with current gold-standard techniques due to high costs, long waiting times and safety concerns; for patients, this results in delayed diagnosis and treatment of potentially serious conditions. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) offers a safer, faster and cheaper alternative. However, its potential has been hindered by limitations in microbubble-based contrast agent manufacturing, rendering CEUS a sub-optimal approach. At Solstice Pharmaceuticals, we have developed HarMono-T, a microfluidic-based solution to produce tailored monodispersed microbubble contrast agents for CEUS, offering similar imaging sensitivity and reproducibility compared with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). HarMono-T can revolutionize medical imaging, effectively addressing a critical market need by accelerating diagnosis, reducing healthcare costs and expanding access to affordable imaging worldwide. HarMono-T is currently undergoing Phase I/II clinical trials. To expedite its market entry for our first indication, i.e. indeterminate renal lesions, and secure an optimal deal with a distributor partner as well as development partners for additional indications, the EIC Accelerator is critical to carry out a multicentre Phase III trial and scale-up HarMono-T microbubble production.

Keywords: ultrasound,contrast agent,microbubbles,indeterminate kidney lesions
Submarine Landslides Impact on Coastal and Offshore Environments: Modelling and Forecasting (SUBLIME)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Information Science and Engineering
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United States,United Arab Emirates
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-04-15
End date: 2027-04-14
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 260347.92
EU funding (EUR): 260347.92
Participants: 4
Project status: SIGNED

The influence of human activities on the marine geological environment has reached an unprecedented magnitude throughout history. The decomposition of hydrates within reservoirs due to changes in temperature and pressure conditions can result in the release of overpressured fluids, potentially triggering submarine slope failures that pose significant risks to offshore engineering developments and marine ecosystems. Nonetheless, the existing research in this field is deficient in providing a comprehensive assessment of the entire lifecycle of submarine landslide hazard chains. This research aims to understand the complex geophysical processes that cause submarine slopes to evolve and fail in the context of overpressured fluid transport in marine sediments, addressing a critical gap in our understanding of submarine slope instability and has important implications for fundamental geophysics, risk assessment, and climate change. To achieve our objectives, we will characterize the physical and mechanical properties of seabed geological bodies and fluids and develop a coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model with the Random Field Theory approach to capture the material heterogeneity in the micro- and macro-scales (WP1), conduct laboratory-scale experiments for obtaining quantitative parameters and use CFD method to study submarine slope failure caused by overpressured fluid transport, reproducing the life cycle process of submarine landslides (WP2), develop a highly scalable numerical model based on the open source code Hydro3D to evaluate the impact of submarine slope failure on infrastructures and the submarine environment using field observation data (WPs3-4), and ultimately implement comprehensive training activities and IP transformation, and develop an integrated offshore geohazard management framework for the sustainable exploitation of offshore resources (WP5).

Keywords: submarine landslide hydrate decomposition overpressured fluid transport numerical modelling
Using blood vessel organoids to investigate acquisition of hemogenic potential during human development. (BVO)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: Netherlands
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01, 2024)
Start date: 2025-09-01
End date: 2027-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 217076.16
EU funding (EUR): 217076.16
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), responsible for generating all blood cells, are produced during embryonic development in the aorta of the aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region. This process involves specialized endothelial cells (ECs), called hemogenic endothelial cells (HECs), undergoing an endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition (EHT), which leads to the formation of HSC precursors (pre-HSCs) that mature into functional HSCs. However, the regulation of HEC specification and EHT remains poorly understood. The suportive microenvironment in the AGM includes various factors like growth factors, cell interactions, and biomechanical forces, such as shear stress induced by blood flow, all of which are crucial for HSC generation. In vitro production of HSCs from pluripotent stem cells has been challenging, posing a barrier to addressing the shortage of HSCs for clinical treatment of blood-related diseases. Blood vessel organoids (BVOs), derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), offer a promising model for studying HEC specification and EHT, as they consist of a network of arterial ECs. The first objective of this proposal is to develop a modified protocol for BVO culture to induce the formation of HECs, EHT, and the generation of (pre-)HSCs from human iPSCs. Immunostaining, flow cytometry, single-cell RNA-sequencing, and functional hematopoietic assays will be used to evaluate the potential of human (h)BVOs. Data on hBVOs will be compared with published data from human AGM populations. The second objective is to study the impact of shear stress on EHT by using a new RUNX1-GFP reporter iPSC line and time-lapse confocal microscopy. These hBVOs will be cultured in a microfluidic system to simulate pulsatile blood flow, mimicking in vivo conditions in the AGM. This approach will help develop animal-free, high-throughput models for studying and modulating endothelial and hematopoietic production in vitro, with potential applications for future clinical therapies.

Keywords: organoids,hemogenic endothelium,hematopoietic stem cell formation,blood flow
New Carbohydrate Oxidising Enzymes prepared by directed evolution and their application in synthesis of AminoGlycoside derivatives with antibiotic potential and rare sugars. (COxEnzymes - AGs)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Chemistry
Countries involved: Portugal
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 (HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01, 2023)
Start date: 2024-06-01
End date: 2026-05-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 172618.56
EU funding (EUR): 172618.56
Participants: 1
Project status: SIGNED

Carbohydrate-oxidising enzymes (COE) are a group of enzymes which are active on specific carbohydrates and can use molecular oxygen as a mild oxidant. Oxidation is typically directed towards specific positions of the sugar ring. Regioselectivity and substrate specificity relies on the architecture of active site, therefore the direct evolution approach in this project will allow to generate a toolbox of effective and regiospecific catalysts to modify various carbohydrate scaffolds. Our aim is to use this toolbox to generate a library of bioactive compounds: i) aminoglycoside derivatives starting with analogues of Kanamycin as candidates to help in the fight against the global problem of antimicrobial resistance. This process in combination with a further chemical step may lead to a large library of derivatives prepared in short time with only a two-step chemoenzymatic process; ii) rare monosaccharides and oligosaccharides as promising candidates with health benefits. Antimicrobial activities of prepared library of compounds will be measured and statistically evaluated. Furthermore, this project will advance the current knowledge of COE which is of utmost interest for fundamental biology and crucial for industrial biotechnology and chemistry applications. Biocatalysis will be applicable to the synthesis of a wide range of saccharide related compounds, solving one of the big challenges in carbohydrate chemistry, the regioselective differentiation of the OH groups, in a green, sustainable and very efficient way.

Keywords: biocatalysis,carbohydrate oxidases,aminoglycoside antibiotics,rare sugars,regioselective synthesis,enzyme engineering,industrial biotechnology
Overcoming the curse of dimensionality through nonlinear stochastic algorithms (MONTECARLO)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: European Research Council (ERC)
Theme: European research council
Destination: Consolidator grants
Action type: ERC actions
Panel: Mathematics
Panel description: All areas of mathematics, pure and applied, plus mathematical foundations of computer science, mathematical physics and statistics
Countries involved: Germany
Call: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2021-COG, 2021)
Start date: 2023-07-01
End date: 2028-06-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1351528.0
EU funding (EUR): 1351528.0
Participants: 1
Project status: TERMINATED

In a series of relevant real world problems it is of fundamental importance to approximatively compute evaluations of high-dimensional functions. Such high-dimensional approximation problems appear, e.g., in stochastic optimal control problems in operations research, e.g., in supervised learning problems, e.g., in financial engineering where partial differential equations (PDEs) and forward backward stochastic differential equations (FBSDEs) are used to approximatively price financial products, and, e.g., in nonlinear filtering problems where stochastic PDEs are used to approximatively describe the state of a given physical system with only partial information available. Standard approximation methods for such approximation problems suffer from the socalled curse of dimensionality in the sense that the number of computational operations of the approximation method grows at least exponentially in the problem dimension. It is the key objective of this project to design and analyze approximation algorithms which provably overcome the curse of dimensionality in the case of stochastic optimal control problem, nonlinear PDEs, nonlinear FBSDEs, certain SPDEs, and certain supervised learning problems. We intend to solve many of the above named approximation problems by combining different types of multilevel Monte Carlo approximation methods, in particular, multilevel Picard approximation methods, with stochastic gradient descent (SGD) optimization methods. Another chief objective of this project is to prove the conjecture that the SGD optimization method converges in the training of ANNs with ReLU activation. We expect that the outcome of this project will have a significant impact on the way how highdimensional PDEs, FBSDEs, and stochastic optimal control problems are solved in engineering and operations research and on the mathematical understanding of the training of ANNs by means of the SGD optimization methods.

Keywords: information based complexity,ibc,computational stochastics,monte carlo method,multilevel monte carlo method,numerical analysis,partial differential equation,pde,backward stochastic differential equation,bsde,stochastic optimal control,stochastic partial differential equation,spde,stochastic gradient descent,sgd,machine learning,artificial neural network,ann
Impact of Reactive Oxygen Species produced by their sand fly vector on Leishmania sexual hybrid formation (SF-Leishyb)

Framework: Horizon Europe — Excellent Science
Programme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
Theme: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Destination: Postdoctoral Fellowships
Action type: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
Panel: Life Sciences
Countries involved: France
Call: MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01, 2021)
Start date: 2022-09-01
End date: 2024-08-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 211754.88
EU funding (EUR): 211754.88
Participants: 1
Project status: CLOSED

By transmitting hundreds of pathogens causing important human mortality and morbidity, vector insects are a major public health threat. Even if intrinsic insect parameters such as immune response are known to impact their vectorial capacities, the vector/pathogen interaction is still little understood. Phlebotomine sand flies are responsible for the transmission of Leishmania parasites, causing Leishmaniasis. This disease produces a wide spectrum of symptoms, due to a high genetic diversity of parasite strains. In addition to their clonal reproduction, Leishmania can engage in a cryptic sexual cycle resulting in hybrid progeny. Sexual mating is believed to be a major source of Leishmania genetic diversity, which drives changes in tissue tropism, pathology and drug resistance. Experimental generation of hybrids, until recently confined to parasites growing in the sand fly gut, is now possible to achieve in vitro. However, despite the possibility to culture high quantities of parasites, the frequency of hybrids generated in vivo is much higher than in vitro, showing that the vector gut environment is particularly adapted for Leishmania sexual mating. The mechanisms of Leishmania sexual reproduction and the parameters rendering the vector’s gut favorable to this process are currently unknown. I recently observed that pre-exposing parental parasite cultures to Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) leads to an increased hybrid production in vitro, which led me to hypothesize that ROS, present in large amount in the sand fly gut, could be one of these parameters. Using a dual genetic approach applied on both the parasite and the vector, I aim to decipher the impact of the ROS produced by the sand fly gut cells on the engagement of Leishmania parasites in a sexual reproduction path. This project will generate important knowledge on the Leishmania/sand fly interaction and will set the stage for my future independent research group on the subject.

Keywords: phlebotominae sand flies leishmania sexual reproduction vector borne diseases