CONTEXT
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) associated with radiotracers labeled a positron emitter is a powerful non invasive technique for functional, metabolic and quantitative imaging of relevant biomarkers. In the frame of the BIOMETMS project funded by CEA we aim to develop an innovative approach to improve the discovery of new tracers during the early steps of development including their biodistribution and determination of the uptake on the target of interest by mass spectrometry imaging. Implementation of these strategies will allow a more focused and rational PET ligand discovery effort to identify high quality PET ligands in particular for neuroimaging.
OBJECTIVES
The postdoctoral fellow will develop an innovative approach to study the biodistribution of tracers developed for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in biological tissues. Based on mass spectrometry imaging techniques, the aim of the project is to detect, localize, identify structure and quantify new radiotracers and their metabolites in the tissues, in particular in the brain. Indeed, this powerful tool will allow the screening of a much larger number of candidates while offering the possibility of measuring their uptake on the targets of interest and this upstream of the radiolabelling steps of the ligands to maximize their chance of success in imaging and transfer in the clinic. The BIOMETMS project involves the recognized expertise of 2 academic laboratories : BioMaps (http://www.biomaps.universite-paris-saclay.fr) in the development of PET radiotracers and that of the UPR2301 in mass spectrometry imaging (https://icsn.cnrs.fr/recherche/cbsa/ms) and is done within the framework of a project fun
PhD in analytical chemistry with a strong LC-MS analysis background. Experience in biochemistry/pharmacology appreciated.
12 months position funded by CEA (Exploratory and bottom-up programm 2021, technologies for the medicine of the future), Availability: Janvier 2022, Salary : around 2200 €/month
BioMaps laboratory, CEA-Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay and ICSN-CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette.
The project will be carried out on three sites, at the Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot which (SHFJ) hosts the UMR BioMaps in Orsay, at the l’Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN) in the Mass Spectrometry Laboratory of the CNRS campus of Gif-sur-Yvette and in the Molecular Chemistry Laboratory (LCM) of the Ecole Polytechnique, in Palaiseau. Within the SHFJ, the postdoctoral fellow will join the BioMaps DRIM team whose research activities aim to develop new radiotracers for targets of interest in imaging, supported by radiotracer production and distribution platforms for pre-clinical and clinical imaging in neurology and oncology. Within the other two units, the recruited person will have access to a MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometer and a MALDI-FTCIR mass spectrometer in order to develop complementary approaches in MS imaging. Tools for sample preparation (cryostat, TM-Sprayer robot and sublimation deposition) in MS imaging are available at ICSN.
