A postdoctoral position at France’s CEA-Marcoule center offers an opportunity to lead computational analysis for a project seeking to prevent Parkinson’s disease by using near-infrared light to reshape the gut microbiome. Supervised by Professor John Mitrofanis and L. Grenga at the Laboratoire Innovations technologiques pour la Détection et le Diagnostic (LI2D), the three-year grant will support work that integrates multi-omics data from rodent and non-human primate models treated with photobiomodulation.

Parkinson’s disease remains incurable, with treatments only addressing symptoms as brainstem neurons continue to die. Growing evidence points to the gut microbiome as a crucial player: patients show severely abnormal microbial communities, and gastrointestinal problems like constipation often appear first, suggesting the disease may originate in the microbiome and spread to the brain. The LI2D team is testing whether abdominal photobiomodulation—red to near-infrared light applied to body tissue—can protect the brain by improving both microbiome health and the survival of diseased brainstem cells.

The postdoctoral researcher will harness a unique longitudinal dataset combining metaproteomics, metagenomics, behavioral phenotyping, and neuropathological analyses. Core responsibilities include analyzing metaproteomics and metagenomics data from animal models, characterizing microbial taxonomic composition and functional activity, using state-of-the-art LC-MS/MS workflows, and integrating these molecular readouts with behavioral and neuropathological endpoints. The goal is to pinpoint microbiome-derived mechanisms, host responses, and microbial pathways linked to neuroprotection, generating critical preclinical evidence for a safe, non-invasive, and affordable preventive therapy.

Applicants must hold a Ph.D. in computational biology, systems biology, bioinformatics, or a related field. The ideal candidate brings hands-on experience with LC-MS/MS proteomics or metaproteomics data, multivariate statistics and longitudinal analysis, and strong programming skills in R and/or Python. Additional advantages include a background in microbiome research, multi-omics integration, host-microbiome interactions, and a solid publication record. Excellent communication and scientific writing abilities are essential, as the role involves high-impact publications and international conference presentations.

The selected scientist will join the ProGénoMix platform at LI2D-CEA Marcoule, working alongside globally recognized experts in microbiome research, metaproteomics, and computational biology. The project provides access to cutting-edge mass spectrometry technologies, extensive multi-omics datasets, and a highly collaborative international environment. The position comes with an attractive 3-year postdoctoral grant.

Contact: Malvina Billères, +33681265418, malvina.billeres@cea.fr.

Targeting a preventative treatment for Parkinson’s disease: shining light on the microbiome to improve health and well-being

Supervision : Pr John Mitrofanis – L. Grenga

Localization : Laboratoire Innovations technologiques pour la Détection et le Diagnostic (LI2D), CEA-Marcoule, France

Topic of the study

Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition with distinct motor signs and non-motor symptoms. The majority of diseased and dying cells lie deep in the brain, within a structure called the brainstem. Although there are treatments available that address the signs and symptoms, none stop the disease progression and the cells continue to die relentlessly. Further, there is no treatment that targets disease prevention; there are some suggested lifestyle changes, but nothing specific. Such a specific preventative treatment would be of immense value to the wider community, together with lessening the economic health burden considerably.

In this context, it has been shown recently that the microbiome – made up of microorganisms lying within the gastrointestinal system – is critical to the proper function and health of the brain. In Parkinson’s disease patients, the microbiome is severely abnormal and dysfunctional. In fact, many authors believe that the disease begins in the microbiome and spreads through the peripheral nerves to the brainstem; indeed, in many patients, the first symptoms are gastrointestinal problems, such as constipation. Hence, it stands to reason that a key target for the prevention of Parkinson’s disease would be the microbiome.

We already have initiated a preclinical study to develop photobiomodulation, the use of red to near infrared light on body tissue, as a preventative treatment for Parkinson’s disease by targeting the microbiome. Our rationale is based on two key recent findings showing that photobiomodulation improves; (1) the function and survival of the diseased cells in the brainstem and (2) the health of the microbiome. We will treat the abdomen of animals with photobiomodulation and examine the patterns of brain pathology, changes in motor behavior and the health of the microbiome. This preclinical study will provide us with a strong indication of whether photobiomodulation can be effective preventative measure in humans.

The project will generate an unprecedented longitudinal multi-omics dataset integrating metaproteomics, metagenomics, behavioralphenotyping and neuropathological analyses. This unique resource will enable the identification of microbiome-derived mechanisms associated with neuroprotection and provide critical preclinical evidence for the development of a safe, non-invasive and affordable preventative therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

Technical description

The postdoctoral researcher will lead the computational analysis, biological interpretation and multi-omics integration of large-scale longitudinal datasets generated within an interdisciplinary project investigating how photobiomodulation reshapes the gut microbiome to prevent Parkinson’s disease. By integrating metaproteomics, metagenomics, behavioral and neuropathological data, the project aims to uncover microbiome-driven mechanisms associated with neuroprotection.

The candidate will:

Disseminate the findings through publications in high-impact journals and presentations at international conferences.

Analyse longitudinal metaproteomics and metagenomics datasets collected from rodent and non-human primate models.

Characterize microbiome taxonomic composition, functional activity and host-derived proteins using state-of-the-art metaproteomics workflows.

Integrate omics data with behavioral assessments and neuropathological measurements to investigate microbiome–brain interactions

Identify microbial pathways, host responses and host–microbiome interactions associated with photobiomodulation

Applicant

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in computational biology, systems biology, bioinformatics or a related discipline.

The ideal candidate will have:

experience analysing LC-MS/MS proteomics, metaproteomics or other large-scale omics datasets

experience with multivariate statistics and longitudinal data analysis

strong programming skills in R and/or Python

excellent communication and scientific writing skills

Experience in microbiome research, multi-omics data integration and host–microbiome interactions will be considered an advantage, as will a publication record in peer-reviewed journals.The successful candidate will join the ProGénoMix platform at Li2D-CEA Marcoule and work alongside internationally recognized experts in microbiome research, metaproteomics and computational biology. The project offers access to cutting-edge mass spectrometry technologies, extensive multi-omics datasets and a highly collaborative international environment.

Conditions

The candidate will have the opportunity to have an attractive 3-year post-doc grant.

Contact

Malvina Billères

+33681265418

malvina.billeres@cea.fr

L’article Recruitment postdoctoral position est apparu en premier sur Fonds Clinatec.