Job Information
- Organisation/Company
- Université de Strasbourg
- Department
- Direction de la Recherche
- Research Field
- Engineering » Biomedical engineering
- Researcher Profile
- First Stage Researcher (R1)Recognised Researcher (R2)
- Country
- France
- Application Deadline
- Type of Contract
- Temporary
- Job Status
- Full-time
- Hours Per Week
- 37,30
- Offer Starting Date
- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
- Not funded by an EU programme
- Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
- No
Offer Description
Three years of post-doctoral research at the IMIS team (ICUBE, Strasbourg) financed by a transregional Interreg Grant of the European Union to explore combined measurements of electroencephalogram (EEG) and perfusion imaging (arterial spin labelling, ASL) in focal epilepsy associated with intellectual deficiency.
Rationale:
Intellectual disability often emanates from genetically determined alterations of cerebral networks. These alterations may also entail excessive cerebral activity, such as epileptic seizures, and autistic spectrum disorders that all add up to the global disease burden and often to the social exclusion of patients with intellectual disability and epilepsy (ID-EPI). The patients and their families and caregivers are in need of support, information and personalized medicine. The Upper Rhine region benefits from a flourishing scientific environment, such as ICUBE and IGBMC in Strasbourg, and several expert tertiary centers for drug-resistant epilepsy, notably the University Medical Center of Freiburg and Strasbourg and the Center for Epilepsy in Kehl-Kork.
Within a three years period, our project intends to
1.) develop preclinical models of cerebral network pathology and their response to electrical brain stimulation, 2.) transfer these data to clinical studies on concomitant MRI and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, notably pre and post transcutaneous brain stimulation and 3.) transfer as a final deliverable individual EEG-MRI network profiles and stimulation parameters to our industrial partner Precisis, a Heidelberg based start-up company developing new therapeutic avenues, i.e. focal subcutaneous electrical stimulation that may be a perfectly personalized minimally invasive treatment in ID-EPI.
Our joint Upper Rhine scientific expertise will thus bridge the gap with regional industry, but also with society in a larger sense as we interact from the start with patients’ associations centered on ID-EPI (Stras&ND, Deutsche Epilepsievereinigung), with the patients of Kehl-Kork and transpose our collaboration onto a cross border video-forum as an interactive basis of exchange and support.
Collaborators in scientific transfer:
Our consortium encompasses three expert centers which collaborate to transfer their knowledge to three beneficiary entities, societal and industrial. The two co-financing centers are Strasbourg University (including ICUBE and IGMBC), Drs. V. Dinkelacker, L. Harsan & Y. Hérault, as well as the Freibug University Medical Center, Drs Lange & Prof. Schulze-Bonhage. The beneficiary entities are the Epilepsie-Zentrum Kehl-Kork, the patients associations of the Upper Rhine Region and our industrial partner, the company Precisis, which develops focal subcutaneous stimulation in epilepsy patients.
Objectives :
- Delineate individual network pathology profiles and their response to therapeutical brain stimulation
- Transfer scientific knowledge to a start-up company, Precisis, which has developed personalized subcutaneous stimulation that may be particularly suited for ID-EPI
- Transpose the bi national scientific networks to a network of patients’ associations for ID-EPI by creating a video-platform of exchange in preparation of a long-term Upper Rhine project for ID-EPI
Role of the post-doc (IMIS team) :
The post-doc should have experience image acquisition and analysis and engineering in order to develop joint recordings of EEG and perfusion MRI (ASL) in collaboration with the Freiburg team. The yield of perfusion imaging in active epilepsy will be
established in clinical studies on ID-EPI patients from Kehl-Kork who come to the IMIS lab to benefit from these specialized and personalized MRI-techniques. She or he will establish calibration and artefact rejection of simultaneous EEG-MRI recordings with the help of our local expert engineers and Dr Vera Dinkelacker (PI Strasbourg) on healthy volonteers. Once the technique acquired, she or he will perform patient recordings in the presence of a medical doctor. Finally, the Freiburg and Strasbourg team join forces for collaborative data analysis and publication. The Interreg Grant encompasses a dedicated project manager for organization and communication.
In a parallel research branch, modification of network hubs will be probed in pre and post-stimulation high density EEG the Freiburg University Medical Center which has intricate collaboration with our industrial partner Precisis that have already lead to high-ranking scientific publications (Schulze-Bonhage et al., JAMA Neurology, 2023). Precisis will interact with the protocols during preclinical and clinical recordings. The Epilepsiezentrum, as a beneficiary, and the patients associations will be implicated from the beginning in the establishment of a video-platform of exchange.
Deliverable :
Our basic research findings will help to delineate the epileptic focus and further cerebral network hubs implicated in the onset and propagation of seizures. These findings will be a major benefit for the planning of personalized medicine provided by Precisis. Their device of subcutaneous stimulation will alleviate the seizure frequency in ID-EPI patients, the majority of whom cannot benefit from classical surgical approaches. Precisis has a CE-accreditation and in line with the proof of principal study in JAMA Neurology, the industrial deliverable within three years of IMAGINE-STIM UPPER RHINE is perfectly within our reach.
Requirements
- Research Field
- Medical sciences
- Education Level
- PhD or equivalent
- Research Field
- Engineering
- Education Level
- PhD or equivalent
- Research Field
- Neurosciences
- Education Level
- PhD or equivalent
Additional Information
PhD-thesis in imaging or engineering or EEG-analysis, fluency in English (fluency in French and German welcome), interest in team-work and patient care
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available
- 1
- Company/Institute
- ICUBE - laboratoire des sciences de l'ingénieur, de l'informatique et de l'imagerie (UMR7357)
- Country
- France
- City
- Strasbourg
- Postal Code
- 67000
- Street
- 4 Rue Kirschleger
- Geofield
Where to apply
- vera.dinkelacker@chru-strasbourg.fr
Contact
- City
- Strasbourg
- Website
- Street
- 4 rue Blaise Pascal
- Postal Code
- 67000