Repurposing of FDA-approved drugs promoting oligodendrogenesis for brain injury of the preterm

Project: Preterm-birth brain injury (PBI) is a major public health concern, with many surviving children developing cognitive and neuropsychiatric deficits. The developmental period around birth is a time of active generation of oligodendrocytes, myelination, and axonal reorganization that is strongly perturbed in many preterm-born children.  Through a pharmacogenomics analysis based on the generation and expert curation of transcriptomic datasets, we identified novel small bioactive molecules fostering oligodendrogenesis by acting on transcriptional programs underlying their proliferation or maturation. In this project, we will use cutting edge histological and transcriptional approaches to 1) dissect out the mode of action of these molecules, 2) investigate their potential effects on other lineages than oligodendroglia. This project, supported by the ANR (Project NeoReGen), and involves a close collaboration with the Parras team (ICM, Paris) and Gressens team (Diderot Hospital, Paris). For more background, see Azim et al., Plos Biol 2017, Donega et al., Cell Reports 2018, Marie C et al., PNAS, 2018.

Environment: You will join a multidisciplinary team of scientists. The SBRI benefits from state-of-the-art research platforms including Omics and Imaging, and provide a high-quality scientific, technological and medical environment.

Candidates: We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated scientist holding a M2 in neurosciences or cellular biology and willing to join a challenging research area. Experience in histology and bioinformatic analysis/scripting would be valuable. Strong communication skills, team spirit and ability to work in a multidisciplinary team are expected.