Unravelling the molecular pathways linking environmental exposures to child health

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Unravelling the molecular pathways linking environmental exposures to child health

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Job description

Offer DescriptionThe Marie S. Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) programme is a highly prestigious renowned EU-funded scheme. It offers talented scientists a unique chance to set up 2-year research and training projects with the support of a supervising team. Besides providing an attractive grant, it represents a major opportunity to boost the career of promising researchers.National Institute on human health and medical research (INSERM),Research Institute on Environmental and occupational health (Irset) INSERM UMR_S_1085,is thus looking for excellent postdoctoral researchers with an international profile to write a persuasive proposal to apply for a Marie S. Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship grant in 2024 (deadline of the EU call set on 11 September 2024). The topic and research team presented below have been identified in this regardResearch field: Life Sciences (LIF),Environmental health, EpidemiologyKeywords: Child health, Metabolomic, Epigenetic, Bioinformatics, Cohort, Biostatistics, Environment, ChemicalsResearch project descriptionContext:A large body of evidence reports that pregnant women and children are exposed to a wide variety of chemicals, for example from food and drinking water, or from the use of cosmetics and indoor air pollution in both environmental and occupational contexts. Cumulative evidence suggests that early life is a critical period for health across the lifespan, and a number of epidemiological studies have reported adverse health outcomes associated with early life exposures to environmental contaminants (1). However, the mechanisms that may explain how chemical exposures may play a role in the development of disease are diverse and remain unclear. The integration of molecular data generated by omic technologies can be useful to identify early biological changes (prior to disease onset) and to understand the toxicological pathway of chemicals (2). Understanding the biological mechanisms that may explain the long-term effects of developmental exposure on later health is of particular interest to increase the biological plausibility of epidemiologic findings.Study population and data:The postdoctoral fellow will work on the PELAGIE mother-child cohort (3). Briefly, the PELAGIE cohort has enrolled around 3,500 pregnant women between 2002 and 2006 in Brittany, France. The overall objective of the cohort is to explore the impact of the environment on child health and development. Up to date, thechildren were followed by questionnaires at 2, 6, 12 and currently at 18-20 years old in order to collect data about their health, development, and lifestyles. A subgroup of around 550 children participated in a more in-depth visit at age 12 that included a clinical visit to collect more precise data on their health: pubertal development, anthropometry, blood metabolic markers, blood pressure, anxiety, vision, and dental health. Exposure to a number of environmental contaminants has been assessed (persistent organic pollutants, PFAS, pesticides, phthalates, phenols, solvent, …) during pregnancy and/or childhood. Metabolomic data in the blood of 12-year-old children (n=500), as well as epigenetic data in paired (n=200) umbilical cord blood and in the blood of 12-year-old children are available.In addition, a number of other data have been collected in the PELAGIE cohort including exposure to other environmental factors (e.g., air pollution, green spaces), maternal and child diet, occupation, … All ethical authorizations, including the secondary use of data, comply with the French and GDPR regulations.ObjectivesThe cohort have collected a huge amount of data that give the possibility to explore a wide range of research questions. We therefore encourage the candidate to develop its own postdoctoral research project based on data availability. The Elixir team mostly conducted research projects exploring the associations between chemicals exposure and child health. However, it lacks investigating the potential molecular changes that may explain these associations. Indeed, thanks to the participation of the supervisors in European projects (OBERON, REMEDIA), metabolomic and epigenetic data have been generated but there is no workforce in the team with expertise on the analysis of such data. A bioinformatician profile who would like to develop its knowledge in epidemiology, strengthen its skills in (bio-)statistics, or explore the field of environmental health would benefit from a valuable exchange of skills with the team.An example of research project could be: “Uncovering epigenetic changes linking prenatal chemical exposures to later metabolic health”References:1. Vrijheid M, et al. 2016. Environmental pollutants and child health – A review of recentconcerns. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2016.05.001.2. Maitre L, et al. 2023. Integrating -omics approaches into population-based studies ofendocrine disrupting chemicals: A scoping review. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115788.3. Warembourg C, et al. Cohort profile: The PELAGIE mother-child cohort. InternationalJournal of Epidemiology (in press)SupervisorsThe Postdoctoral Fellow will be supervised by Dr Charline Warembourg and/or Dr Cécile Chevrier (depending on the research topic), both epidemiologists with a background in biostatistics who have strong experience in conducting observational studies. They are particularly interested in studying the link between exposure to environmental contaminants and child health, especially on neurocognition and pubertal development for CC and on metabolic and cardiovascular health for CW. CW and CC are the PI of the PELAGIE cohort guarantying immediate data access.Relevant publications:Tillaut H, Monfort C, Rouget F, Pelé F, Lainé F, Gaudreau E, Cordier S, Warembourg C, SaintAmour D, Chevrier C. Prenatal Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Child Behavior at Age 12: A PELAGIE Mother-Child Cohort Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2023. doi: 10.1289/EHP12540.Rouxel E, Costet N, Monfort C, Audouze K, Cirugeda L, Gaudreau E, Grimalt JO, Ibarluzea J, Lainé F, Llop S, Lopez-Espinosa MJ, Rouget F, Santa-Marina L, Vrijheid M, Chevrier C, Casas M, Warembourg C. Prenatal exposure to multiple persistent organic pollutants in association with adiposity markers and blood pressure in preadolescents. Environ Int. 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108056.Warembourg C, Anguita-Ruiz A, Siroux V, Slama R, Vrijheid M, Richiardi L, Basagaña X. Statistical Approaches to Study Exposome-Health Associations in the Context of Repeated Exposure Data: A Simulation Study. Environ Sci Technol. 2023. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c04805DepartmentThe Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) is the French national Health and Medical Research public Institute. The host beneficiary is the laboratory INSERM UMR 1085, also named the Institut de Recherche en Santé, Environnement, Travail (IRSET), located in Rennes (France) and associated with the University of Rennes and the School of Public Health (EHESP). IRSET is constituted of 12 research teams and 1 technological platform, with about 360 people including over 70 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. IRSET teams all work towards a common goal, which is to better understand the biological processes and environmental factors that affect human health. They work in a number of complementary areas such as molecular biology, genomics, bioinformatics, analytical chemistry, toxicology and epidemiology. The postdoctoral fellow will join the Elixir (Life Course Epidemiology and Exposure Science for Environmental Health) team. This multidisciplinary team is composed by epidemiologists, statisticians, toxicologists, chemists, public health experts, and medical doctors. It has strong experience in conducting large-scale observational studies and is involved in several European projects (ENDOMIX, OBERON, ATHLETE, CHICOS, …). More information is available on Irset’s website ( ).The postdoctoral fellow can benefit from the INSERM Training Program whose aim is to train staff in the use of new research technologies and in the acquisition of new tools and new knowledge. This training program contributes to improve the quality of their in-house research and management tasks. Other additional programs such as the ones proposed by the University of Rennes and by the Urfist are also available.Suggestion for secondment:As part of the European consortium of mother-child cohorts, the supervisors have a number of collaborators across Europe where a secondment in the academic sector could be envisaged (e.g., ISGlobal in Spain, Erasmus MC in The Netherlands) to strengthen skills in epigenomic or metabolomic analyses and/or to replicate findings in other study populations. The supervisors are also experts for the French agency for food and environmental safety (ANSES) where a secondment in the non-academic sector can be done to explore how science can be translated to policy.RequirementsResearch Field Other Education Level PhD or equivalentSkills/QualificationsWe look for a postdoctoral fellow with experience in bioinformatics to lead studies aiming at integrating omic data to identify the molecular mecanisms underlying environmental effects on health. Experience in epidemiology is not a prerequisite.The postdoctoral fellow should have:– A PhD in bioinformatics, molecular biology, molecular epidemiology,computer science or a closely related field-Experience of working with bioinformatics analyses of large-scale omicsdata (DNA methylation or metabolomic)– Good knowledge in statistics- Machine learning experience- Strong analytical, organizational, and record-keeping skills– Autonomy and decision-making– Ability to run projects independentlyAny other profiles interested in joining our team and developing its own research topic are also welcome to contact us.Languages ENGLISH Level ExcellentResearch Field OtherAdditional InformationEligibility criteriaAcademic qualification: By 11 September 2024, applicants must be in possession of a doctoral degree, defined as a successfully defended doctoral thesis, even if the doctoral degree has yet to be awarded.Research experience: Applicants must have a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research, measured from the date applicants were in possession of a doctoral degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks (e.g. due to parental leave), will not be taken into account.Nationality & Mobility rules: Applicants can be of any nationality but must not have resided more than 12 months in France in the 36 months immediately prior to the MSCA-PF call deadline on 11 September 2024.Selection processWe encourage all motivated and eligible postdoctoral researchers to send their expressions of interest through the EU Survey application form ( ), before 5th of May 2024. Your application shall include:

• a CV specifying: (i) the exact dates for each position and its location(country) and (ii) a list of publications;

• a cover letter including a research outline (up to 2 pages) identifying theresearch synergies with the project supervisor(s) and proposed researchtopics described above.

Estimated timetableDeadline for sending an expression of interest5 May 2024Selection of the most promising application(s)May – June 2024Writing the MSCA-PF proposal with the support of the above-mentioned supervisor(s)June – September 2024MSCA-PF 2023 call deadline13 September 2024Publication of the MSCA-PF evaluation resultsFebruary 2025Start of the MSCA-PF project (if funded)May 2025 (at the earliest)Website for additional job detailsWork Location(s)Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute INSERM/IRSET Country France GeofieldWhere to apply WebsiteContact CityRENNES WebsiteStreet9 avenue du Prof. Léon Bernard Postal Code35000 E-Mailcontact@2PE-bretagne.euSTATUS: EXPIRED

Expected salary

Location

Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine

Job date

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:05:40 GMT

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