Postdoctoral Researcher (M/F)

Segmentation and tracking of oil drop deformations in lymph nodes
The aim of this project is to characterize the mechanical forces at work in lymph nodes during antigen recognition by immune cells. Our experimental collaborators (Institut Cochin, Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes) are using deformable oil droplets to study lymph node rheology. Most of the experiments will be carried out in organ sections, which enable the system to be physically manipulated to study the effect of tissue-scale mechanical perturbations on B cell immunological function (synapse formation and Ag acquisition). This requires the development and implementation of specific tools to monitor droplet deformations in slices of fresh lymph nodes. The mission of the post-doctoral contract is to achieve this droplet tracking, while quantifying the density and fluctuations of immune cells. From a physics point of view, we expect an increase in tissue density (induced by compression, drugs or inflammation) to modify droplet dynamics.

Development of new segmentation tools (re-training of Stardist code) and tracking tools (Trackmate) using deep learning tools. 3D cell segmentation with CellPose. Conceptualization: inference of correlations between drop deformability and displacement.

Office work at the Theoretical Physics Center.