Description du sujet de thèse

This PhD contract is part of the "RESPIRE-EXCEL" doctoral network.
Asthma and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) are widespread chronic respiratory diseases that impose a heavy social and economic burden. Traditional treatments often follow a "one-size-fits-all" approach, merely suppressing symptoms without achieving true health improvements. The MSCA Doctoral Network RESPIRE-EXCEL is set to revolutionize this by introducing precision medicine tailored to individual patients.

The goal of this PhD project is to provide a detailed analysis of the early cellular events in the airways of patients in the initial stages of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), helping to uncover potential early markers and therapeutic targets for this chronic condition. The project will explore in detail our unpublished single-cell atlas obtained from airway biopsies of COPD patients and spatially map dysregulated pathways with spatial transcriptomics. Using in vitro and ex vivo models will identify disease-associated states and the cellular specificity of the responses to cigarette smoke. The PhD candidate will also integrate all these data together with longitudinal data from cohorts in order to link cellular mechanisms to patient data. This PhD project in translational medicine offers a unique opportunity for candidates to gain hands-on experience in both wet lab techniques and computational biology, fostering dual expertise that is highly sought after in the current biomedical landscape.

A 6-month bioinformatics internship will be performed at Helmholtz Center Munich (Germany).

Required knowledge and skills specific for this PhD project:

The applicant should have an MSc degree in the fields of cellular and molecular biology, development, genomics, physiology.
A degree in computational biology is not required but training and experience in bioinformatics will be greatly appreciated.

Candidates must enter their application on the MSCA platform:
https://werkenbijumcg.nl/vacatures/solliciteren?url=https://www.tangram-tis.nl/10420/Kandidaten/Inschrijven/10419%2D02S0009EMP

Contexte de travail

The position is to be based at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology in Valbonne - Sophia Antipolis (Alpes Maritimes). The IPMC has 20 research teams and shared services, with a total staff of over 250. The person recruited will work in the "Physiological genomics of eukaryotes" research team, led by Dr Pascal Barbry, the first French team to be involved in the international Human Cell Atlas consortium.

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.