Junior research scientist on nutrition favouring intestinal homeostasis for cardiometabolic health

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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 CarMeN laboratory is a multi-institutional (Inserm, INRAE, Univ. Lyon 1) research unit specialized in cardiovascular health, metabolism, diabetes, and nutrition. The DO-IT team, in which the research scientist will be recruited, has internationally-recognized expertise in postprandial metabolism in relation to the health effects of diets. Conducted in conjunction with the Rhône-Alpes Human Nutrition Research Centre (CRNH), located in the same building on the Lyon Sud Hospital site, this work is based on a translational research continuum combining preclinical approaches and clinical studies on patients (obese, diabetics, kidney failure sufferers, etc.) or healthy volunteers. This organization, combined with an original multidisciplinary strategy, enables the cutting-edge study of the biological and metabolic effects of diet. 

A major focus of the DO-IT team is to understand the mechanisms by which different animal and plant lipids, within food matrices, impact cardiometabolic health in relation to postprandial metabolism and intestinal functions (digestion, absorption, barrier, inflammation, microbiota, etc.). We have shown that the metabolic effects of different fats or lipid ingredients are linked to intestinal absorption kinetics, but also to the presence of residual lipids and metabolites in the gut, which also impact the microbiota. The generation of postbiotics, notably secondary bile acids, appears to be a key player in these effects, which could also be modulated by the composition of lipid-containing food matrices. 

To deepen this knowledge, your objective will be to understand how different dietary lipids of interest, and their interactions with other components of the food matrices, such as fibre, impact intestinal function and the metabolic consequences. You will propose and test new hypotheses to identify mechanisms related to lipid derivatives in the intestine in relation to modifications of the bacterial ecosystem and the production of postbiotics, notably secondary bile acids that are important to health. To this end, you will conduct preclinical studies, notably in animal models, on cultured intestinal cells and intestinal organoids. You will also have access to dietary intervention clinical studies conducted by the team to enhance mechanistic characterization in humans. 

Altogether, your work should contribute to changing nutritional recommendations and food offerings from sustainable lipid sources and ingredients with the aim of better satisfying consumers in a global health context. 
As soon as you join us, you will be able to build on existing projects and have access to our preclinical tools and platforms (genomics, histology, lipidomics, metabolomics, tracers, metagenomics), samples/clinical data from various protocols, and the human explorations platform (CRNH). We will also help you apply for funding (ANR…).

Training and skills

Competition open to candidates with a PhD (or equivalent). A specialization in nutrition, physiology, or metabolism is highly recommended. The use of animal experiments is required to conduct of this work. Post-doctoral experience abroad is desirable.

Candidates should have the ability to develop research in integrative physiology and nutrition, and strong experience in animal experimentation targeting gut biology and the functionality of the gut microbiota in the context of the metabolic effects of diet would be desirable. The ability to explore lipid metabolism in the gut and characterize its interactions with gut microbiota functions and bile acid metabolism in association with other dietary components is recommended. Familiarity with statistical tools for analyzing data from preclinical studies is also recommended. Experience in cell culture is desirable, and knowledge of organoid culture would be a plus. 

The ability to work in a research team with multiple scientific and clinical contacts and managing projects in a multidisciplinary context is desirable. Experience in industrial partnerships would be an advantage. 
The position requires the ability and desire to supervise and train students in research. You should also possess strong writing skills and enjoy communicating the results of your work to different audiences.

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).

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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-2
3. I apply GO