PBPK Modelling Scientist

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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

The researcher will join the LABERCA research unit (laberca.org), a mixed research unit of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRAE, AlimH department) and Nantes-Atlantic National College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering (Oniris VetAgroBio, Nantes). LABERCA’s core activity lies in chemical food safety, approached from a comprehensive risk assessment perspective. This includes the generation and interpretation of exposure and body burden data, as well as the study of the transfer and metabolism of chemicals from their sources through the food chain to consumers. From an analytical standpoint, the laboratory’s key areas of expertise include the development and application of ultra-trace targeted and non-targeted methodologies based on high-resolution mass spectrometry, particularly in the fields of exposomics and metabolomics. The integration of these approaches with advanced data modelling strategies in applied studies enables the identification and characterization of chemicals in complex matrices, along with the assessment of their biological effects in living organisms.All activities, including analytical services and research, are conducted within a robust quality management system combining accreditation (ISO 17025, ISO 17043) and certification (ISO 9001:2015).The team brings together complementary expertise in analytical chemistry, exposure science, toxicology, epidemiology, and quantitative modelling, within a multidisciplinary academic research environment.

Food is one of the main sources of exposure to numerous contaminants for the general population. These contaminants are from different origins, some are anthropogenic (Flame retardants, plasticizers etc.), others are from the crust of the earth (heavy metals for example). These substances may be all found in non-trace concentrations in food (See results of total diet studies performed in France, Germany, UK etc.). Estimating the dietary exposure of the population (or sub populations) to these substances, considered individually, has,, in some situations, led to conclusions regarding the risk posed by certain hazards to specific segments of the population. Additionally, mixtures of contaminants are present in food and despite some proposed approaches to assess the risk due to such mixtures, risk assessors face difficulties drawing firm conclusions on the risk related to the mixtures. Other challenges in human risk assessment include the accurate evaluation of long-term chronic exposure. This requires not only considering exposure measurements at a single point in time, but also collecting a sufficient number of measurements to reflect individuals’ exposure over their lifetime. In our previous and ongoing work, we have applied and confirmed the usefulness of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling to reconstruct human internal exposure to individual organic contaminants (PCBs, BPA) or heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Hg, As) based on external dietary exposure across life span. We are currently applying this approach to model lifetime exposure to realistic chemical mixtures, with the aim, of characterizing cumulative risk and the associated health impacts (burden of disease) arising from these chemical mixtures. 

The researcher will be involved in ongoing national (EXPOCARE funded by INRAE-ANR; FireFightMultiExpo funded by ANSES) and European (PARC project funded by EC) collaborative projects. The candidate is expected to actively contribute to consortium-wide activities, including scientific animation, coordination tasks, and the organization and participation in meetings, workshops, and dissemination actions.

The main objective of the position is to develop and apply PBPK modelling approaches to reconstruct lifetime internal exposure to chemical mixtures to cumulative chemical risk assessment and related burden of disease on target health endpoints (e.g. cancer).

More specifically, the postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for:

1. Optimizing and implementing PBPK models for selected environmental pollutants (e.g. PCBs, PFAS, PAHs) based on scientific literature.
2. Simulating lifetime exposure trajectories of priority chemical mixtures based on PBPK modelling combining dietary exposure information and biomonitoring data.
3. Simulating internal exposure profiles across diverse exposure scenarios (e.g. dietary patterns such as omnivorous, flexitarian or plant-based diets; occupational exposures) to evaluate how transitions between these scenarios may influence long-term internal dose to chemical contaminants.
4. Contributing to the development of novel modelling frameworks linking life-time chemical exposures with epidemiological and toxicological data, to conduct cumulative mixture risk assessment and burden of disease estimation.

Desired knowledge

• PBPK modelling
• Exposure science and human biomonitoring
• Environmental epidemiology or quantitative risk assessment
• Programming and statistical analysis (R, Python, MATLAB or similar)
• Interest in endocrine disruption, exposome research and chemical risk assessment

Appreciated experience

• Experience developing or applying PBPK models
• Experience with modelling chemical exposure across life stages
• Experience working with biomonitoring or epidemiological datasets
• Experience in multidisciplinary research environments

Skills

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team
• Strong analytical and modelling skills
• Ability to translate modelling results into interpretable exposure and risk metrics
• Good written and oral communication in English
• Motivation to work at the interface of exposure science, toxicokinetics and public health

Training and skills

PhD or MD in pharmacokinetics, toxicology, pharmacology, environmental health, exposure science, computational biology mathematical modelling or a related field.

Training or demonstrated expertise in physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling, toxicokinetics, mechanistic modelling or quantitative chemical risk assessment is highly desirable.

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.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter