PhD Position - Development of a novel regulatory T cell therapy for type 1 diabetes - European project ARTiDe

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an incurable disease, often starting in childhood, caused by the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells, yet the standard of care is insulin replacement, acting only at the symptom level. Thus, T1D is a disease with a high unmet need for innovative therapy.

Our goal is to develop a cell-based therapy using TCR-engineered Tregs for cell therapy in T1D.

This project is funded via the European consortium ARTiDe coordinated by S. Fillatreau. ARTiDe involves 8 partners providing novel technologies for the systematic identification of autoantigen-specific Tregs and Teffs in humans, the selection of optimal TCR to produce protective Tregs, innovative humanized T1D pre-clinical models to test their efficacy and safety, the development of industrial process for TCR-engineered Treg production, and new Treg supporting strategies in vivo.

Institut Necker Enfants Malades (INEM) is a biomedical research center located on the Necker campus. It benefits from numerous state-of-the-art core facilities. The Campus has a long-standing reputation for scientific excellence and key pioneering medical contributions (transplantation, biotherapy, gene therapy). It provides a vibrant environment for basic research and translational innovation.

The Immunity in Heath and Disease team, led by Simon Fillatreau, investigates the roles of B and T cells in autoimmune and infectious diseases, with a particular emphasis on identifying and characterizing novel pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory T cell, B cell and plasma cell subsets.

For PhD position:

Candidates must have a Master degree in Science, strong knowledge in Immunology is highly prefered. Candidates who are motivated, self-driven, independent, and creative with strong organizational, writing, and communication skills are encouraged to apply. Fluency in English and the ability to work in a multicultural environment are essential. Working with murine model is expected.

The PhD student will learn to work on 1) the molecular characterization of autoreactive Teffs and Tregs at single cell level in patients with T1D and control in order to decipher the basis for the loss of immunological tolerance in this human disease, as well on 2) the evaluation of the selected autoreactive TCR obtained through the single cell studies above for their capacity to produce protective Tregs using a novel humanized model for T1D.