Posted on : Friday 27 October 2023

Job title : Postdoctoral position in Biomedical Photoacoustic Imaging (M/F)

Organization : The postdoctoral fellow will be appointed by Sorbonne Université, one of the most well-established French University. This postdoc project is funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). For this multidisciplinary project, the postdoc will be co-supervised by two research teams working in biomedical photoacoustic imaging (Team: Imaging and targeted therapy development in cancer and inflammation, Laboratoire d’imagerie Biomedical, LIB, https://www.lib.upmc.fr/ ) and nanoparticle engineering (Team: Particle and cell engineering for therapeutic applications, Institut Galien Paris Saclay, IGPS, http://www.umr-cnrs8612.universite-paris-saclay.fr/ ), respectively. The LIB is located in the Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers (CRC, Paris). The laboratory has a strong expertise in the development of ultrasound-based imaging modalities, such as pulse-echo ultrasound imaging and photoacoustic imaging. The project will benefit from state-of-the-art equipment (tunable nanosecond laser, programmable research ultrasound machine) and from the experience gained in previous implementations of 3D imaging with this equipment. IPGS is located in the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University Paris Saclay (Orsay). It is a unique department focusing on the development of new drug delivery systems and contrast agents for biomedical imaging. IGPS is well equipped to synthesize formulate, characterize and study nanoparticles. They also benefit for a photoacoustic scanner dedicated to small animal imaging

Mission : A postdoctoral fellowship is available at the Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging (Paris, France) in collaboration with Institut Galien Paris Saclay (Orsay, France). The candidate will work on the ANR funded project “Control of the optical Absorption Properties of nanovectors for PHOTOACoustic imaging – CAP-PhotoAc”. More specifically, she/he will image the biodistribution of labeled drug nanovectors at the site of inflammation in 3D and in high spatial resolution with photoacoustic imaging, and will correlate the biodistribution with the therapeutic outcome. The project involves the formulation and characterization of nanoparticles, and longitudinal in vivo experimental studies on murine models to monitor their accumulation and evaluate therapeutic efficiency.
- Description of the postdoctoral topic -
Nanoparticles as drug nanovectors are expected to profoundly change therapeutic treatments in the next 15 years and specifically benefit highly prevalent diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis [1,2]. Compared to conventional drug formulations, drug nanovectors need to overcome several biological barriers to achieve drug delivery at the site of inflammation. It has recently become increasingly evident that the heterogeneity of the NV accumulation profoundly impacts therapeutic response. Therefore, image-based selection of patients with an efficient accumulation for a given NV has been identified as a key point for improving therapeutic outcome. The objective of this postdoctoral project is to image the biodistribution of labeled NVs at the site of inflammation in 3D and in high spatial resolution and to correlate the biodistribution with the therapeutic outcome. The preclinical study will be performed in mice.
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is an emerging biomedical imaging modality which provides a molecular contrast and a sensitivity to dyes that can label drug nanovectors. The consortium of the ANR project “Control of the optical Absorption Properties of nanovectors for PHOTOACoustic imaging – CAP-PhotoAc” has recently developed BODIPY dyes that can label nanovectors in the NIR range [3-5]. The label concentration per particles was shown to enable a high molar absorption and an in vivo PAI detectability in healthy mice [3]. More recently the dye concentration per nanovector was even further increased and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) carrying a prodrug of dexamethasone (an anti-inflammatory drug) were labeled [5,6]. The labelled SLN were synthetized and characterized in vitro with a calibrated photoacoustic spectrometer [7]. They show very promising properties for a high detectability with a photoacoustic imaging scanner.
The postdoctoral fellow will carry a series of detection and accumulation measurements of labeled SLNs in murine models of arthritis using PAI. She/he will perform experimental studies and data analysis to attain the goal for 3D mapping of the biodistribution of NVs effectively delivered to treat an inflammation, and correlating the detected biodistribution with the treatment efficiency. This highly interdisciplinary project is at the interface between photoacoustic signal and image processing (Laboratoire Imagerie Biomédicale, LIB) and the formulation of drug nanovectors (Institut Galien Paris-Saclay, IGPS). The postdoctoral fellow will join the two research groups (the LIB and the IGPS). She/he will label and formulate NVs according to methods developed at the IGPS. She/he will characterize the labeled NVs with standard methods for the characterization of nanoparticles and will further measure their photoacoustic properties.

Locality : Laboratoire Imagerie Biomédicale, LIB, Paris 6ième and Institut Galien Paris-Saclay, Orsay

Remuneration : CDD 18 mois démarrage au printemps 2024, , salaire selon expérience et diplomes

Degrees required : Doctoral degree with knowledge of small animal imaging, image processing and a taste for physical-chemistry

Skills required : Experience in experimental techniques and analysis of experimental data - Skills in programming and signal and image processing - Taste for interdisciplinary work: physics, chemistry and biology (involving good communication skills) - Good interpersonal skills (enthusiasm for research), able to work independently as well as in a team, taking initiatives - Good command of English

Contact : Send application (CV, cover letter, copy of the PhD final report, description of the previous work) to the Scientific Responsible names: Jérôme Gateau (jerome.gateau@sorbonne-universite.fr) and Nicolas Tsapis (nicolas.tsapis@universite-paris-saclay.fr)