A 3 year PhD position is available join the group Response to Infection in the Whole Organism led by Jean-Pierre Levraud at the Institut Pasteur, starting in September 2017.
This position is funded by the European Union in the frame of the Innovative Training Network ImageInLife (www.imageinlife.eu), which gathers biologists, microscopists and mathematicians.
The eligibility criteria include trans-national mobility: at the time of recruitment, the researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies) in France for more than 12 months in the 3 previous years.
The candidate should hold a Master 2 degree (or equivalent) in Biology, Biophysics, or Biomedical Science, to be able to enroll in the PhD program of the graduate school « Complexité du Vivant » of University Pierre & Marie Curie.
The candidate should be motivated with an interest in host-virus interactions and in modelling of biological phenomena. A previous experience in modelling, immunology, virology and/or intravital imaging is highly desirable.
Project description:
The ESR will be employed at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and will work in the group of Dr. Jean-Pierre Levraud with Dr. Emma Colucci-Guyon as co-supervisor. The ESR will use the Sindbis virus infection model established by the group to understand how a virus propagates from organ to organ in vivo, and how the host interferon response counteracts this spread. The ESR will use reporter systems for live imaging of the viral infection, such as viruses encoding fluorescent proteins to detect infected cells and transgenic zebrafish expressing fluorescent proteins to identify interferon-producing cells. The work will rely on already establish reporters and require the development of new systems to understand the early events that follow virus entry in cells. Co-infections with multiple viruses encoding a rainbow of colours will be imaged in the entire body for several days, revealing the path followed by viruses from cell to cell, and particularly for brain invasion. These data will be integrated into a computer model of the entire infected animal to identify the key parameters that control virus dissemination.
The group Response to Infection in the Whole Organism is currently composed of 7 members, including 2 staff scientists, 1 engineer, 1 technician, 2 post-docs and 1 student. It is a part of the Unit Macrophages and Development of Immunity led by Philippe Herbomel within the Stem Cell and Development Biology Department of Institut Pasteur.
Environment:
The Institut Pasteur is a private, non-profit foundation. It is dedicated to research in biology and human pathology and located in the center of Paris. It is composed of 120 teams organized in 11 interactive scientific departments. Technical support is provided by state-of-the-art core facilities including imaging, cytometry, mass spectrometry and genomics.
Applications – in English – should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, certificates of examination results, and two reference letters, which are all to be submitted through an on-line application system at https://www.imageinlife-application.eu.