19 Sep 2023

Job Information

Organisation/Company

INSERM DR Grand Ouest

Research Field

Neurosciences

Pharmacological sciences

Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)

Country

France

Application Deadline

30 Nov 2023 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

38.5

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The INSERM U1253 laboratory is recruiting a research associate (with 0 to 3 years post-doc experience) to conduct a research project funded by the ANR (French Research National Agency) aiming at developing PET tracers for α-synuclein. The protein α-synuclein accumulates and aggregates in the brain of Parkinson disease patients, causing the death of dopaminergic neurons in the striatonigral pathways. Being able to monitor the α-synuclein load in PD patients would enable a finer diagnostic and stratification of patients to i) better understand disease progression and the relation between α-synuclein load and symptoms and ii) monitor the efficacy of new therapies. However, so far there is no PET radiotracer with a high specificity for α-synuclein, and binding to other aggregates such as β-amyloid is common. The aim of this project is to screen new molecules in vitro to establish their pharmacological properties using binding experiments on both cell culture preparations and brain sections and once a suitable candidate will have been identified, proceed with its in vivo characterisation and validation by preclinical PET-CT in animal models. The ideal candidate would have knowledge in pharmacology, neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases (ideally Parkinson Disease) and previous experience (PhD or post-doc) of i) cell culture, ii) in vitro binding experiments and iii) in vivo imaging (preferentially, but not compulsory, PET and tracer development).

MAIN ACTIVITIES

Cell cultures.

Tissue preparation & sectioning.

Performing in vitro binding (competition, saturation) experiments on cell culture preparations and brain (section and/or homogenates) with new ligands.

Interpretation of in vitro data to select best compounds for radiolabelling.

Performing PET-CT scans in small animals with the selected compounds.

Analysis of the PET images and data.

Interpretation and preparation of the data for publication, preparation of manuscript.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

Animal handling.

Preparation of animals for PET scans.

In vitro experiments: immunohistochemistry, histology, Western blot.

UNIT INSERM U1253 DIRECTOR : Dr Catherine Belzung

Equipe 3 : Molecular and US imaging & image analysis

Requirements

Research Field

Biological sciences

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Pharmacological sciences

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Neurosciences

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Excellent understanding of pharmacology

Previous experience in performing binding experiments.

Experience in neuroimaging (preferably PET, but other modalities accepted)

Specific Requirements

Holding an animal experimentation license and previous experience in animal experimentation would be a plus.

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Good

Additional Information

Selection process

Applicants must send a CV and a cover letter to: Dr Hervé Boutin (herve.bout[email protected]) or Dr Sylvie Chalon (sylvie.chalon@univ- tours.fr)

Contact for further information (name, telephone/mail): Dr Hervé Boutin (herve.bout[email protected]) or Dr Sylvie Chalon ([email protected])

Additional comments

Website for additional job details

https: // ibrain.univ-tours.fr/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Inserm U1253 - iBrain

Country

France

City

TOURS

Postal Code

37000

Street

10 boulevard Tonnellé

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

City

NANTES

Website

https: // grand-ouest.inserm.fr/

Street

24 Boulevard Vincent Gâche

Postal Code

44200

STATUS: EXPIRED