Junior research scientist on the relationship between dietary transitions and cancer risk

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INRAE presentation

INRAE, the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment, is a public research organization bringing together 12,000 employees across 272 units in 18 centers across France. As the world’s leading institute specializing in agriculture, food, and the environment, INRAE plays a key role in supporting the necessary transitions to address global challenges.

Faced with population growth, food security challenges, climate change, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss, INRAE is committed to developing scientific solutions and supporting the evolution of agricultural, food, and environmental practices.

INRAE is recruiting researchers by open competition and offering permanent position.

Work environment, missions and activities

The Toxalim joint research unit, located to the west of Toulouse, conducts fundamental and applied research in food toxicology, focusing in particular on the long-term effects of chemical contaminants present at low concentrations and/or in mixtures in food, on human and animal health. With a staff of over 150, the unit comprises 8 research teams, an analytical chemistry platform (part of the Metabo-Hub and France-Exposome infrastructure), an animal facility, and a transcriptomics platform. Toxalim's expertise covers a wide range of scientific fields, from digestive pathophysiology to gene expression perturbations involved in the development of metabolic diseases and cancers.

You will carry out your missions and activities in the PPCA team (Prevention and Promotion of Carcinogenesis by Food), made up of 9 permanent staff, including 5 researchers or lecturer-researchers, which conducts research into the impact of food, neo-formed products, contaminants, and food additives on the risk of cancer and associated means of prevention. 

A member of the NACRe (Nutrition Activité Physique Cancer) network of 50 public research teams, the PPCA team is internationally recognized for its interdisciplinary work on the relationship between consumption of red and processed meat and the risk of colorectal cancer, as well as the impact of this work on national public policies.

Dietary transitions, and in particular the need for a more vegetarian diet, will modify the population's exposure to risk factors and require us to adapt our prevention methods for many cancers. Pancreatic cancer, whose incidence is rising in France and other Western countries, is becoming a major public health problem. Against this backdrop, the PPCA team has launched projects to study the nutritional risk factors for this cancer. The complexity of exposures and the context of dietary transitions require the use of global approaches, integrating the essential notion of benefits-risks.

In this context, your mission will be to identify and define the mechanisms and relative weight of the various risk and prevention factors associated with a vegetalized diet on the development of pancreatic cancer. Using in vivo and in vitro models, as well as multi-omics approaches (metabolomics and transcriptomics), you will identify markers of exposure and effect. The involvement of the intestinal microbiota could also be a line of research.

The research scientist position will require working in a restricted access zone (ZRR), which necessitates an access authorization request.

Training and skills

Competition open to candidates with a PhD (or equivalent). Expertise in nutrition, pathophysiology and/or food toxicology is highly recommended. 

The ability and taste for integrated research in the field of digestive physiopathology, nutrition and metabolism would be desirable. Research experience in the field of early-stage cancer (pancreatic cancer if possible) with the development and use of animal and cellular models is highly recommended. Experience of omics approaches, particularly metabolomics, and an ability to use mathematical and statistical methods to analyze and integrate complex data are also highly recommended. Any experience in developing global approaches to health will be carefully considered. 

Animal experimentation will be necessary to carry out the work. If you have not already done so, you will need to undergo training to enable you to conduct animal experiments. 

You have the ability to work in a research team with multiple contacts, and within networks bringing together people with varied expertise (biologists, chemists, nutritionists, modellers, bioinformaticians and statisticians). 
Candidates should have a good command of English (both written and spoken), and long-term international experience would also be desirable. Successful candidates who have not yet acquired this experience abroad will be required to do so after their probationary period (1st year), preferably in a laboratory whose research theme is close to that of the junior research scientist position.

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INRAE's life quality

By joining our teams, you benefit from:

- 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.

For international scientists: please visit your guide to facilitate your arrival and stay at INRAE. 

How to apply

1. I download the applicant guide Application guidelines CRCN 2025 pdf - 3.93 MB
2. I write down the profile number CR-2025-ALIMH-1
3. I apply GO