The Curie Institute Research Center
The Institut Curie is a major player in the research and fight against cancer. It consists of a hospital and a Research Center of more than 1000 employees with a strong international representativeness.
The objective of the Curie Institute Research Center is to develop basic research and to use the knowledge produced to improve the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics of cancers as part of the continuum between basic research and innovation serving the patient. We are located in the heart of Paris at Institut Curie, one of the world’s leading institutions in cancer research. It represents an excellent and international environment with interdisciplinary expertise and high-quality technological platforms.
Laboratory
The Translational Research in Pediatric Oncology (RTOP) lab (https://institut-curie.org/team/bourdeaut_schleiermacher) is headed by Pr. Franck Bourdeaut, pediatric oncologist and medical scientist. The lab is addressing translational research issues (including research in human genetics, molecular pathology, preclinical treatment investigation) and more basic science (epigenetic modulation in a SMARCB1-deficient context, developmental oncology, onco-immunology). The team has a great experience in characterizing human primary samples and developing mouse models of rhabdoid tumors.
The team is also a member of the “Paris Kids Cancer” Consortium, connecting 30 research teams working on pediatric cancers and children hospitals in Paris area, which facilitates access to human primary samples.
Context of the project
The project aims to further delineate what embryonic lineages could give rise to the variety of rhabdoid tumors in the brain and how Smarcb1 loss actually impact cell programming and biology at various steps of the normal brain and tumor development.
The project will consist in i) analyzing multi-omic characterization at the single-cell level of human tumors to infer potential tumor cell trajectories, ii) developing new in vivo and ex vivo mouse models of Smarcb1-deficient tumors and 3) characterizing in-depth the earliest epigenetic and biological impacts of Smarcb1 loss in mouse embryonic progenitors. The project will be lead in collaboration with several teams inside (Dr. Olivier Saulnier, Genomics and Development of Childhood Cancers lab (https://institut-curie.org/team/saulnier)), and outside the Institut Curie (Cedric Maurange lab, Plasticité des cellules souches - IBDM Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (univ-amu.fr)).
Roles of the post-doctoral fellow:
The post-doctoral fellow will play a central role in all tasks of the project and will be in charge of the communication with the collaborators. The post-doctoral fellow will in particular develop new mouse models using conditional inactivation of Smarcb1, generate multiomic and spatial transcriptomic analyses from mouse fetal brain tissues, and analyse them together with the support of bio-informaticians of the team. His/her activities and tasks will consist in:
-generation of multi-omic data on human and mouse samples
-generation and follow-up of new mouse strains
-analysis of the results, in collaboration with bio-informaticians of the unit
-organization of and attendance to meetings with the collaborators
Main recent publications
1/Thomson et al., Post-zygotic mosaicism of SMARCB1 variants in patients with rhabdoid tumors: a not so rare condition exposing to successive tumors, Neuro-Oncol. 2024
2/ Lobón-Iglesias*, Andrianteranagna*, Han*, et al., Imaging and multi-omics datasets converge to define different neural progenitor origins for ATRT-SHH subgroups. Nat commun. 2023
3/ Vokshi et al, SMARCB1 regulates a TFCP2L1-MYC transcriptional switch promoting renal medullary carcinoma transformation and ferroptosis resistance. Nat Commun. 2023
4/ Leruste et al., Clonally Expanded T Cells Reveal Immunogenicity of Rhabdoid Tumors., Cancer Cell. 2019
Training and professional skills:
- Applicant should hold, or be in the process of completing, a PhD degree in cancer or brain developmental biology
-Scientific skills: the applicant should have excellent knowledge and strong interest in cancer biology and/or brain development; he/she should have recognized skills and training to be allowed to lead animal experiments; experience with single-cell sequencing and basic knowledge on bioinformatics will be an asset
Personal skills:
-excellent organizational skills
-dynamism and autonomy
-collaborative spirit and excellent teamwork abilities
-ability to present data in English and communicate within a multinational team
All our opportunities are open to people with disabilities
Contract information
Type of contract: Fixed-term contract
Starting date: As soon as possible
Duration: 2 years (renewable)
Working time: full time
Remuneration: according to the current grids
Benefits: Collective catering, reimbursement of transportation fees up to 70%, supplementary health insurance
Location of the position: Paris
Contact
Please send a CV with a list of publications, a motivation letter including past research and career goals, and contact information
Applications will be reviewed as received.
Institut Curie is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer
and is dedicated to the highest standards of research integrity.
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/brochures/eur_21620_en-fr.pdf