Nantes Université MSCA-PF 2023 - hosting offer at the Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology

Jérome MARTIN from the Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology (CR2TI) at Nantes Université is looking for postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) in 2023.

• Key words
  application of human vision modelling in image and video processing, Quality of Experience assessment, Visual Attention modelling and applications, Perceptual Video Coding and Immersive Media Processing, cognitive computing and machine learning by perception and applied to perception, Extended realities (VR, AR, MR)
   
• What is a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship?
  MSCA Postdoctoral fellowships support the career development of researchers for enhancing their individual competence diversification in terms of skills at multidisciplinary level and intersectoral experience. The MSCA-PF grant provides a competitive salary plus mobility and family allowances if applicable, as well as research, training and networking costs. This call to interest concerns the European Postdoctoral Fellowships (12 to 24 months of duration in Europe + optional placement in private sector in Europe of 6 months). For more information: MSCA-PF
   
• Team description
  The main goal of my research group is to leverage the unique potential of high resolution single cell strategies to revisit the cellular and molecular organization of pathological immune responses driving chronic inflammatory digestive diseases. Our work follows previous study we published, which support the value of such programs (Martin JC et al., Cell, 2019 ; Uzzan M*, Martin JC* et al., Nat Med, 2022).
  Our research projects take place at Centre de Recherche Translationnelle en Transplantation et Immunologie (CR2TI, UMR 1064, Inserm, Nantes Université) within Team 1 "Mononuclear phagocytes, Immunopathology, Immunovirology (M2IV)" (dir. Prof. R Josien).
  Translational approaches are central to the design of our projects and largely nurtured by the close interactions existing between clinicians, pathologists and researchers through collaborative efforts with clinical departments at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes (CHUN), which share the same building as CR2TI. More specifically, the GI Department and Centre d’Investigation Clinique-IMAD (Institut des maladies de l'appareil digestif). Our projects directly benefit from the support of two platforms associated with CR2TI (Clinical Immunomonitoring and Single-cell genomics). In particular, we apply single-cell RNA sequencing, spectral flow cytometry, secretomics and imaging to the characterization of patients with IBD and chronic inflammation of the stomach

  Current composition of the group:
  • PI: Jérôme Martin
  • PhD students: Thomas Laurent ; Nicolas Chapelle ; Florian Geffroy
  • Research engineer: Gaëlle Bériou
  • Assistant engineer: Lucas Brusselle
  • Research Technician: Aurélie Jousseaume
  • Medical attendees: Pr Tamara Matysiak-Budnik; Dr Aurélie Fantou

  International collaborators:
  • Pr. Miriam Merad: Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
  • Dr. Ephraim Kenigsberg. Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and the Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
  • Dr Saurabh Mehandru Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
  • Dr. Tania Fleitas Kanonnikoff - University Hospital of Valencia, INCLIVA
   

• Profile of the supervisor
  J Martin is a PharmD.; PhD clinical pathologist currently serving as an Associate Profressor in Immunology (MCU-PH) at Faculté de Médecine de Nantes. J Martin is also Adjunct Associate Professor at The Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (PrIISM) (New-York, NY). During his postdoctoral studies in Pr Miriam Merad's lab (ISMMS), J Martin acquired important experience on the use of high-resolution single cell technologies (scRNAseq, CyTOF, multiplex imaging) to the study of human inflammatory digestive diseases, which is now applying to the design of his research projects at Nantes University. As a clinial pathologist and researcher in Immunology, J Martin has indeed developped a strong interest in exploring how immunopathological responses driving tissue lesions and diease are organized in patient tissues to improve current usage of approved immunotherapies and lead the discovery of future targets suited for non-responders.
  Work from J Martin has been published in high-rank journals including Cell (Martin JC et al., Cell, 2019), Nature Medicine (Uzzan M*, Martin JC* et al., Nat Med, 2022) and Nature Reviews Immunology (Merad M and Martin JC, Nat Rev Immunol, 2020).
  Current research projects led by J Martin are focusing on human digestive immunopatholgy to study mononuclear phagocytes functions and heterogeneity in Crohn's disease (Funding: 2020 NeXT Junior Talent. Exploring the mechanisms of inflammatory MNP-mediated anti-TNF resistance in Crohn’s disease. 311k€ ; 2020 ANR JCJC Dissecting mononuclear phagocytes heterogeneity in Crohn’s disease – 400k€); and on exploring how the gastric microenvironment is progressivley reshaped along the progression from precancerous stages to tumor (2021 ARC PGA Dissecting the molecular programs shaping gastric MNP heterogeneity at precancerous and cancer stages – 350k€ ; 2022 H2020 AIDA – 453 k€ (Consortium)).
  J Martin is also highly dedicated to the transmission of Immunology knowledge to students. As such, J Martin coordinates together with L Gautreau, the creation of a new Graduate Program in Immunology in Nantes.
  J Martin also coordinates Immunology teaching at Med School (2nd and 3rd years, Master 1; post-graduate class).
   
• Research project

  Our research group currently works on two main projects:

  Project 1: Dissecting the heterogeneity of mononuclear phagocytes and their interactions with fibroblasts in Crohn's disease - Main funding as principal investigator: NExT Junior Talent (311k€ - 2020-2023/2024) – ANR JCJC (400k€ - 2020-2024)
  Crohn's disease (CD), one of the two main forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), results in high disability impairing daily life and work productivity. Using high-resolution characterization technologies, we described a module composed of 5 different cell populations (GIMATS for IgG plasma cells, inflammatory mononuclear phagocytes (inf.MNP), activated T and stromal cells), accumulating in inflammatory lesions in a subgroup of patients. We developed an analytical strategy to test in large cohorts of patients, the association between the presence of this cellular response in inflammatory tissues and relevant clinical parameters, leading us to characterize the cellular and molecular framework of resistance to treatment with anti-TNF antibodies. The GIMATS module appears largely dependent on populations of inf.MNP. The cellular and molecular diversity, localization, interactions, and molecular programs instructing MNP differentiation remain largely unexplored in the human gut. In this project we apply high-resolution approaches to the in-depth exploration of transcriptomic and epigenetic heterogeneity of MNPs in CD. We hypothesize that the characterization of the programs driving inf.MNP differentiation and interactions with fibroblasts will offer new therapeutic opportunities to patients who are non-responsive to anti-TNFs. The specific objectives of this project are to: 1. Generate an in-depth characterization of the MNP compartment in patients with CD. 2. Explore the molecular programs involved in the differentiation and functional diversity of infl.MNPs in GIMATShigh patients. 3. Characterize the cellular communications involved between inflammatory macrophages and activated fibroblasts in GIMATShigh patients.

  Project 2: Modeling cellular remodeling of the gastric microenvironment associated with the histological evolution of chronic inflammatory lesions of the stomach - Main funding as principal investigator: ARC PGA 2021 (350k€ - 2021-2024) – H2020 AIDA 2022 ( 450k€ - 2023 - 2027)
  With more than one million new cases each year, gastric cancer is the fifth most diagnosed cancer in the world. Gastric cancer represents the third leading cause of cancer mortality with more than 750,000 deaths per year. The prognosis of gastric cancer is very poor, survival at 5 years being around 20-30%. The success of immunotherapies has revolutionized the therapeutic management of cancer patients. However, the benefits resulting from this major advance are limited in patients with gastric cancer. It is proposed that the intestinal subtype of gastric cancer emerges from a progressive evolution of precancerous lesional stages caused by chronic inflammation of the stomach that does not resolve spontaneously. This sequence of events was best defined histologically and suggests that the nature of dysregulated immune responses may be shaped gradually over time through the progression of the different precancerous stages. In this project, we propose to model the cellular states present in the gastric microenvironment and their regulation during the different stages of progression of precancerous and cancerous lesions. The specific objectives of this project are to: 1. Model the cellular and molecular remodeling taking place in the gastric microenvironment during the progression of pre-cancerous inflammatory lesions. 2. Model the privileged cellular interactions during the different stages of progression. 3. Identify cellular circuits preferentially associated with malignant transformation.
   

• What are the eligibility criteria?
  Candidates must hold a PhD at the call deadline (13 Sept. 2023) and have 8 years maximum of full-time research experience after the PhD.
  “Mobility rule”: candidates must NOT have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.Candidates can be from any nationality.
  Although not an eligibility criterion, a good track record is recommended.
   

• What’s in it for me?
  1. Selected candidate will have access to online training programme and one-to-one proposal preparation sessions with our experienced European Officers.
  2. Selected candidate will have the opportunity to come to Nantes for two days in the beginning of July to meet his supervisor and to start working on the writing of the project. The grant awarded for this stay will cover travel, hotel and subsistence expenses for 2 days and 2 nights (up to 1000€ for the EU countries and up to 2000€ for the non-EU countries). Nantes Université does not cover the visa fees.
   
• I’m interested. What should I do?
  If you are interested and have the required background, apply by sending the application form  to Jérome MARTIN  (jerome.martin@univ-nantes.fr) and the European office (europe.drpi@univ-nantes.fr)

  More information on the dedicated webpage.

• Registration for this scheme does not imply automatic funding. Applications will be examined in the light of the MSCA PF evaluation criteria, both by your potential supervisor and by the experienced European Officers. No application will be considered after April 14th but we encourage you to apply as soon as possible as they will be evaluated as they arise.The short-stay grant will be distributed among the selected candidate within the limits of the available budget.

  You should expect feedback for your application by 15th May.

• Brief description of Nantes Université
  Nantes Université is a higher education and research institution created in 2022. This new institution has adopted a new University model unprecedented in France by bringing together a university, a university hospital (CHU de Nantes), a technology research centre (IRT Jules Verne), a public scientific and technological institute (Inserm) and higher education establishments (Centrale Nantes, École des Beaux-Arts Nantes Saint-Nazaire, École d’Architecture de Nantes).
  Nantes Université is a sustainable and committed institution and one of the driving forces behind societal development. With a global and outward-looking culture, it promotes innovativeness and openness: open science, open research, open education, open innovation. Nantes Université has received the HR Excellence in Research Award and is already involved in various European projects, notably MSCA actions.