Missions

The postdoctoral fellow will contribute to an ANR-funded project aimed at exploring the mechanical communication mechanisms between immune cells.
The main objective is to investigate the physical processes by which B lymphocytes, as antigen-presenting cells, mechanically interact with T lymphocytes at the immunological synapse. This work will rely on advanced microscopy and microfabrication approaches, as well as concepts from statistical physics and soft matter.

Activités

• Study mechanical crosstalk between B cells and T cells in immune synapse formation.
• Analyze immune synapse structure and dynamics on substrates with different mechanical/chemical properties and in different geometries
• Use microfluidics tools or pharmaceutical/genetic approaches to perturb immune synapse formation (controlled flow, drugs, siRNA).
• Measure mechanical properties of cell by biophysical techniques (deformability cytometry, microindentation, microrheology).
• Learn group microfabrication methods (microfluidic traps, soft substrates, surface patterning).
• Main techniques: cell culture, cell purification, microfluidics, fluorescence micrscopy (TIRF, IRM, spinning, superresolution STORM/STED, biosensors), flow cytometry.

Compétences

Education: PhD in biophysics, cell biology, immunology, or a related discipline
Technical expertise: Strong proficiency in optical microscopy and quantitative image analysis
Engineering skills: Knowledge of microfabrication, microfluidics, and mechanobiology
Interpersonal skills: Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team, strong communication skills, autonomy, and scientific curiosity
Languages: Very good command of English (French is a plus but not required)

Contexte de travail

The postdoc will join the DyCRIC team, part of Institut Cochin (33 teams, 9 core facilities), a center for biomedical research, located in the center of Paris, under the joint management of Inserm, CNRS and Université Paris Cité. The team DyCRIC (Dynamis of cytoskeleton-dependent responses of the immune cells) is co-directed by P. Pierobon and J.Delon, is composed of 3 permenent researchers, 2 lab technicians and 3 PhD students, 1 postdoc and a variable number of interns. We work at the interface between immunology, cell biology and biophysics applied to fundametnal problems and inflammatory diseases.
Team website: https://institutcochin.fr/en/equipes/dynamics-cytoskeleton-dependent-responses-immune-cells
The project is part of a collaborative ANR-funded consortium involving labs in Marseille, Palaiseau, and Metz — some travel is expected.

Contraintes et risques

Work in an BLS2 lab to work on human primary cells and to have access to specific microscopes located in the L2 region of the lab. Work with dissected mice might be required.