Description du sujet de thèse

Missions:

The experimental work of the successful candidate will be divided between the C3M department of ICGM and MT-act, located in adjacent buildings on the CNRS campus in Montpellier. He/she will be in charge of conducting experimentations to characterize the microparticles/API interface and study their behaviour in biological settings. The PhD student will present oral communications at internal and external seminars or congresses. He/she will contribute to writing research articles to communicate the delivered work.

Initial phase of the work will include but not limited to the loading of the API into the microspheres and studying its release in simulated physiological media.

He/she will investigate the mechanisms involved in the release (diffusion, matrix erosion…) in relation with polymers' structural features, API/matrix interactions and polymer degradation kinetics.

A second phase of the PhD work, in close collaboration with MT-act, will be to assess the efficiency of the API released from the microspheres in an ex vivo model, the experiments being carried out at the company's premises.

Qualifications:
The sought candidate is expected to have a solid background and strong experience at the Master's degree level in biomaterials science and/or drug delivery systems.
An experience in the use of analytical methods (HPLC, spectroscopy, etc.) is prerequisite. A theoretical knowledge and/or practice (but not mandatory) of the state-of-the-art methods in cell culture, biochemical assays, cell and molecular biology (cell viability and proliferation assays, RT-qPCR, immuno-histology) will be an asset.
Good use of English language in written and at the oral is mandatory.
Scientific curiosity, strong motivation, capacity to handle teamwork are essential for the success of this position.

Contexte de travail

The Institute Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM) is seeking a PhD student for a 3-year position in the context of a collaborative project “PDP-Act” funded by the ANR-PRCE instrument. This project gathers researchers from the Department of Macromolecular Chemistry and Materials (C3M) at ICGM, the Max Mousseron Biomolecules Institute (IBMM) and the MT-act company.
The PDP-Act project aims at developing a safe and degradable drug delivery system (DDS) for intraocular administration of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) at the back of the diseased eye. Learning from recent breakthrough chemistry supporting polydepsipeptides production, the DDS will enable long-term (3 to 6 months) release of a proprietary API conceived by IBMM and MT-act for development of an injectable therapeutic solution as adjuvant treatment for the management of glaucoma patients.
Within this context, the PhD work will strongly contribute to the achievement of key work packages and tasks related to the precise assessment and thorough characterization of API's encapsulation and release properties in relevant environments (from reagents to ex-vivo settings). The candidate will work in close collaboration with another PhD student in charge of the polymers' design and synthesis.
The proposed position outcome are strong contributions to fundamental research with high potential for medical applications.

Le poste se situe dans un secteur relevant de la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique (PPST), et nécessite donc, conformément à la réglementation, que votre arrivée soit autorisée par l'autorité compétente du MESR.

Contraintes et risques

This position is located in a sector covered by the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST) and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival be authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.