Pr. Brice Calvignac is seeking a fellow for MSCA PF 2023 in Translational Micro and Nanomedicine

Professor Brice Calvignac is seeking a fellow for MSCA PF 2023 in the Translationnal Micro and Nanomedicine laboratory (MINT) from the University of Angers, France.

About MINT Laboratory

The laboratory is funded by the University of Angers, as well as the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and The French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). Located within the Hospital Facility, the MINT laboratory consists of 40 researchers and PhD students with expertise in diverse fields including; colloids and interfaces physical-chemistry; galenic; chemical engineering for pharmaceutical formulation; biological research; and imaging. All our research is focused on the design of nano- and micro-scaled vectors for the delivery of therapeutics (encompassing proteins, anti-cancer drugs, DNA, SiRNA, etc.) and/or imaging probes.

Presentation of the project

Currently, medicine is facing many technological obstacles that the development of new therapeutic systems is trying to overcome. In the last decades, drug delivery systems (DDS) have developed considerably (in the form of medical devices and micro- and nanoparticle carriers), and are now taking a prominent place in human medicine. Drug delivery systems in particulate form are obtained by encapsulating active ingredients that can be released in a controlled and targeted manner within the body. However, some active molecules are relatively thermosensitive and mechanosensitive. In order to control this release, it is essential to develop micro- and/or nanoparticles with controlled characteristics (size and distribution, structure, surface, porosity, etc.). In this sense, nanomedicines are used for targeted therapeutic action and are capable of crossing certain barriers in the body such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB) or the intestinal barrier. Concerning micromedicines, these are used for the delayed and/or prolonged release of an active ingredient. Despite the great advances in the galenic development of micro- and nanomedicines, conventional encapsulation techniques (coacervation, spray-drying, phase separation, etc.) present certain disadvantages (e.g. mechanical constraints and the use of organic solvents) which can lead to the degradation of active molecules and limit their use. In addition to these limitations, these processes can lead to the production of particles with significant variability in size, structure and quantity of encapsulated biomolecules.

It is in this context that Brice Calvignac's work focused on the technological development of processes respecting Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) allowing the production (batch or continuous) of micro/nanomedicines (i) with controlled properties, (ii) with controlled operating conditions (temperature, pressure, mixing conditions), and (iii) allowing a physico-chemical characterisation as close as possible to the process and the final product. Indeed, these are increasingly important requirements in the current galenic developments of vectorised therapies. These multidisciplinary developments are at the interface of process engineering, physical chemistry and pharmaceutical engineering, and his work is based on two technologies (deployed independently or combined): supercritical CO2 technology and microfluidic technology.

His work in the MINT laboratory focuses on (i) the formulation of nanostructured CaCO3 microparticles, lipid nanocapsules, liposomes, nanocomplexes and also microcellular biopolymeric matrices, as well as (ii) the phenomenological and mechanistic understanding of the processes developed.

In addition, his research activity now tends towards the development of two technological concepts on (i) the galenic formulation of micro- and nanomedicines on a microfluidic chip (in particular by the microfluidic transposition of the technologies mastered in the laboratory) and (ii) on the therapeutic administration by an implantable microfluidic device In fine, these developments are intended to be able to propose personalised therapeutic strategies for the management of the patient's pathology such as (i) drug administration as close as possible to the target (organ, cells, bacteria, etc.) and (ii) the production of micro- and nanomedicines as close as possible to the patient.

The potential project could focus on :

• Formulation of micro and nano DDS by microfluidics and the use of an innovative technological platform named Galechip

• Development of microfluidic chips by 3D printing (in PEEK and resin material by FDM or SLA printers) and DRIE technology (Silicon/Glass)

• Preclinical evaluation of DDS

Eligibility

Applicants must comply with the mobility rule (having stay in France less than 12 months in the past 3 years before the 13th of September 2023). Applicants also must have maximum 8 years of active research experience after graduating their (first) PhD.

If you are interesed in this offer and have the required background, please apply by sending your CV and the application form (available here : https://www.univ-angers.fr/en/research/funding-and-projects/cap-europe/…) 

brice.calvignac@univ-angers.fr and cap-europe@univ-angers.fr

We encourage you to apply ASAP, if we receive fitting applications that has an matching profile, we will close the offer in Euraxess.