Postdoctoral position: Innovative fermented foods to facilitate the recovery of muscle function and mass following

Back to jobs listing

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 be welcomed in the Human nutrition Unit, in the Integrate team (splanchnic area, signals and metabolic homeostasis). This project is part of the European H2020 DOMINO program (https://www.domino-euproject.eu/). One of the objectives of the DOMINO project is to determine to what extent fermented foods developed within DOMINO can counteract the harmful effects of metabolic changes that occur particularly with aging. Among the pathophysiological changes observed during aging, the loss of muscle mass and function, known as sarcopenia, is common. It results from impaired muscle protein anabolism, which we have shown in the laboratory to be linked to a defective response to the anabolic effect of meals.

Your mission will be to test various nutritional solutions capable of restoring the muscle’s anabolic response to a meal. Among these, strategies targeting the gut and its microbiota are effective in restoring this anabolic sensitivity (dietary fibers that produce short-chain fatty acids, probiotic bacteria). The project will aim to test the effectiveness of several fermented foods developed in the DOMINO project on muscle recovery capacity following immobilization in an aged rodent model.

You will be more specifically in charge of:

1. coordinating and monitoring an animal experiment on aged rats immobilized with casts;
2. assessing metabolic parameters at whole body and tissue levels (hormones, metabolites, genes expressions, ..) and protein synthesis using 13C amino acid infusion;
3. combining gut microbiota composition data (done by metagenomics, by italian partners of the project) and physiological parameters to evaluate the mechanisms of action of fermented products on health parameters;
4. writing scientific publications associated with the work.

Training and skills

Recommended training: Experience with animal experimentation, preferably with rodents, is desired.

Desired knowledge: Phd in physiology, metabolism, nutrition.

Appreciated experience: Experience analyzing metagenomic data from the microbiome would be a plus.

Skills: Management of omics and correlations with physiological parameters. Classical methods in biochemistry and molecular biology.

INRAE's life quality

By joining INRAE, you can benefit from, depending on the type and duration of your contract:

- up to 30 days of annual leave + up to 15 additional days off (for full-time employees);
- access to the French public healthcare system;
- 50% of the cost of your supplementary health insurance covered by INRAE;
- childcare and parenting support;
- training and career guidance;
- social assistance and financial support;
- holiday vouchers and accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- subsidised staff restaurants.

The Theix site in Saint-Genès-Champanelle is served by the T2C line (route P39) and an on-demand transport service; it also has parking facilities and services designed for cyclists.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter