Postdoctoral Researcher in Immunology and Virology

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INRAE presentation

The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.

Work environment, missions and activities

You will work primarily at Institut Pasteur (Paris, 15th arrondissement), within Dr Lisa Chakrabarti’s team, in close day-to-day collaboration with the Organ-on-Chip Platform led by Dr Samy Gobaa. You will be employed by the BIOEPAR joint research unit (INRAE–Oniris), based in Nantes, and work under the scientific supervision of Dr Pauline Maisonnasse, who leads the FluOrganoVax project at INRAE. Regular trips to Nantes will support scientific coordination and experiments jointly conducted at Institut Pasteur and INRAE.

BIOEPAR’s Immunocare team investigates infectious diseases of farm animals and their effects on animal health and livestock production systems. Its two research groups focus on respiratory health in pigs and cattle, respectively. The team develops innovative approaches to better understand pathogen–immune system interactions and improve prevention and vaccination strategies.

The FluOrganoVax project aims to reproduce ex vivo the immune responses induced in porcine lymph nodes following vaccination, with the goal of developing a predictive model for evaluating vaccine formulations without systematically relying on animal experiments. The postdoctoral researcher will develop a porcine lymph-node-on-chip model using porcine immune cells, drawing on the expertise of the Immunocare team (porcine immunology; BIOEPAR/INRAE–Oniris), Dr Lisa Chakrabarti’s team (human immunology; Institut Pasteur), and Dr Samy Gobaa’s Organ-on-Chip Platform (Institut Pasteur).

This position offers an opportunity to contribute to an ambitious collaborative project at the interface of immunology, virology, organ-on-chip technologies and vaccine development, within a network spanning academic and industrial research.

Main responsibilities

• Develop a porcine lymph-node-on-chip model
• Integrate porcine immune cells into the device.
• Optimize perfusion and culture conditions.
• Assess model viability and stability.
• Characterize the model’s cellular composition and immune responses
• Monitor immune cell populations using conventional and/or spectral flow cytometry and confocal imaging.
• Measure cytokines and antibodies by ELISA.
• Assess cellular responses using ELISpot and/or intracellular cytokine staining (ICS).
• Contribute to virus neutralization assays.
• Analyse and present data: statistical analysis, interpretation, graphical presentation and scientific writing.

Data analysis and dissemination

• Contribute to experimental study design.
• Analyse experimental results.
• Present findings internally and externally.
• Write scientific papers, with opportunities for first-author publications.
• Contribute to scientific coordination among BIOEPAR, Institut Pasteur and project partners.

Laboratory activities

• Comply with laboratory hygiene, safety and quality procedures.
• Participate in the scientific activities of Dr Lisa Chakrabarti’s group and the Organ-on-Chip Platform.
• Attend BIOEPAR scientific meetings.
• Potentially supervise Master’s students, depending on project progress.

 

  Please email a CV and cover letter 

 

Work in a biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) laboratory. No direct animal handling, but handling of fresh porcine tissue and blood samples. The position is based at Institut Pasteur in Paris, with regular travel to BIOEPAR in Nantes for joint experiments and project meetings, as well as travel to national and international conferences.

Training and skills

Education 

• PhD in immunology, bioengineering, cell biology, biomechanics, microfluidics, virology or a related discipline. 
• The contract must begin no later than three years after the PhD was awarded.

Essential skills

• Strong hands-on cell culture experience.
• Experience in immunology.
• Experience with conventional and/or spectral flow cytometry.
• Proficiency with data analysis software (R, FlowJo or equivalent).
• Good command of spoken and written scientific English.
• Ability to conduct a research project independently.

Desirable skills

• Experience with complex in vitro models (organoids, organ-on-chip systems, 3D cultures or microfluidics), or strong motivation to develop such models.
• Microscopy.
• Porcine immunology.

Personnal qualities : 

• High level of scientific independence and initiative.
• Interest in technology development.
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Interest in the interface between immunology, bioengineering and virology.

INRAE's life quality

• A welcoming, dynamic team with a collaborative working environment.
• A stimulating research setting combining fundamental and applied science.
• Opportunities to develop expertise in immunology, microfluidics and virology, including training.
• Interactions with researchers, academic staff, research engineers and PhD students.
• An opportunity to contribute to research addressing major animal-health challenges.

 

By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):

- up to 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.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter