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EURAXESS

Call for researchers interested in a MSCA Individual Fellowship in injury-induced immunoregulation

Lyon Ingénierie Projets
14 Mar 2019

Hosting Information

Offer Deadline
EU Research Framework Programme
H2020 / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Country
France
City
Lyon

Organisation/Institute

Organisation / Company
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
Department
EA 7426 PI3 “Pathophysiology of Injury-Induced Immunosuppression”
Laboratory
EA 7426 PI3 “Pathophysiology of Injury-Induced Immunosuppression”
Is the Hosting related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No

Contact Information

Organisation / Company Type
Higher Education Institute
Website
Email
fabienne.venet@chu-lyon.fr
Postal Code
69437
Street
Hôpital E. Herriot - Hospices Civils de Lyon - 5 place d'Arsonval

Description

ORGANISATION/COMPANY

As a Public Centre of Excellence, Lyon University Hospital (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire CHU de Lyon = Hospices Civils de Lyon and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1) makes up the second-largest University Hospital Network in France.

For over 200 years, as a network providing expertise in all disciplines – both medical and surgical – Hospices Civils de Lyon have offered a wide range of human, technical and logistical resources to ensure that they provide care, training, research, medical innovation as well as disease prevention and health education. HCL also make up among the 25 best hospitals in the world. With an annual budget allocation of 1.6 billion Euros, more than 5,300 beds and spaces and over 23,000 professionals, of which 5,000 are internationally recognized doctors with access to the latest equipment, the network devotes itself daily to its mission: contributing towards the constant improvement of the health of the French and Europeans.

Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University (UCBL) is a multidisciplinary university providing teaching for more than 46,000 students a year in the fields of science and technology, health and sport. Lyon 1 is a multidisciplinary university focusing on both fundamental and applied research. Therefore, it releases almost 5000 internationally published articles and 44 patents per year. Having established a strong intellectual reputation both in France and throughout the world, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University is continually pushing the boundaries of knowledge, promoting education through research and constantly encouraging dialogue between science and society.

Within Lyon Université Hospital and UCBL, the research team EA 7426 PI3 “Pathophysiology of Injury-Induced Immunosuppression” led by Pr Guillaume Monneret has developed a translational research program focused on the study of pathophysiological mechanisms leading to ICU-induced immune dysfunctions. This constantly leads to the publication of 5 to 10 original scientific articles per year.

The EA7426 is looking to recruit and support excellent juniors scientists from outside France who plan to submit applications for independent research fellowships through the mobility program Marie Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF). This call is aimed at talented, young researcher within the field of immune response to infection (more information under “who should apply”).

ABOUT THE PROJECT

                Sepsis, defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, represents a major healthcare challenge with high incidence and mortality. In Europe, septic syndromes affect more than 35% of intensive care unit (ICU) patients and claim more than 200,000 deaths each year. A recent epidemiological study showed that septic shock, i.e. subset of sepsis with acute circulatory failure, remains associated with a crude mortality of more than 45%. Not the least, sepsis is associated with a high economic burden in part due to long and costly hospital stays and high incidence of secondary infections. Sepsis has thus been recently acknowledged as a worldwide health priority by WHO.

                A recent review in sepsis pathophysiology has led to a significant gain of interest in the central role of acquired immunosuppression in this clinical context. Following the initial pro-inflammatory response leading to organ failure and shock, sepsis and septic shock are associated with the delayed development of immune dysfunctions as evidenced by patients’ frequent inability to eradicate their primary infection, their propensity to acquire new secondary infections and their failure to respond to skin testing with recall antigens. Sepsis-induced immune alterations affect both innate and adaptive immune responses. Importantly, as the intensity and duration of sepsis-induced immune alterations have been associated with increased risk of secondary infections and mortality, sepsis-induced immune alterations might be a novel therapeutic target in this hitherto deadly disease. However since pathophysiologic mechanisms leading to sepsis-induced immune dysfunctions are only partially described, a more exhaustive understanding of these alterations could lead to the elucidation of innovative therapeutic targets and associated companion biomarkers in a personalized medicine approach.

The overarching aiming of our work is to decipher the pathophysiological mechanisms of sepsis-induced immunosuppression and pave the way for precision medicine and patient-tailored immunotherapies. Our research team integrates cutting-edge translational research in immunology in order to describe and understand the pathways leading to such immune alterations and identify and evaluate novel therapies to restore these dysfunctions after sepsis. Projects developed within EA7426 progress from purely observational research in septic patients’ cohorts to mechanistic approaches in animal models of sepsis-induced immunosuppression and cellular models ex vivo.

WHO SHOULD APPLY?

                We are looking for ambitious creative and scientifically curious early carrier researcher holding a relevant PhD degree in Immunology or Infectiology who meet the eligible criteria for the MSCA IF program. You must have a strong track record commensurate to your experience; a clear idea of what you will achieve during your fellowship and how you will succeed; and a reflexive understanding of your career development needs.

In this call, we search for talented, highly motivated and ambitious scientists within the field of immune response to infection or immunosuppression.

The following qualifications are important for fellowships in wet lab immunology:

Extensive knowledge of immunology and immune response to infection or immunosuppression

Substantial experience working with primary human samples

Experience with multiparametric cellular analysis (Flow Cytometry, CyTOF)

Experience with cell culture, functional immune tests, cell purification techniques

Knowledge of basic molecular biology and genomics

Experience with murine models of sepsis

Experience in bioinformatics and background in programming preferentially including use of R would be a plus

Fluency in spoken and written English at a very high level

First, second or last authorship in relevant publications

MSCA IF eligibility criteria:

The program is open for all academic disciplines.

A researcher can move to a country that is a member of the European Union or an associated country to conduct research for up to 24 months.

Before applying the researcher should have a PhD-Degree or 4 years of research experience after attained master’s degree and there is no upper age limit after achieving the PhD-Degree.

The researcher cannot have been living or have had his/her main occupation in the country of the host institution (France) for more than 12 months within the last 3 years counting from the time of application. The research can come from anywhere in the world.

HOW TO APPLY?

1. Cover letter outlining your eligibility and motivation for applying (max 1 side A4)

2. Short summary of the proposed project (max 1 page)

3. CV (max 2 pages plus a list of publications and full contact details)

Please send the application documents to fabienne.venet@chu-lyon.fr

For more information, please contact fabienne.venet@chu-lyon.fr