The extraordinary health crisis currently sweeping the
globe makes only more obvious the crucial role that scientific research plays
in the future of humanity. Around the world, universities are not only
crossroads at which knowledge is gained and transmitted to young generations,
but also battle lines ready to face the immense challenges in innovation in
front of us.
From the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic, like
many of its counterparts, Paris-Saclay University has been mobilizing its
competencies. As a key part of its efforts, the university, with its partners,
launched a dedicated, exceptional research program involving an internal call
for proposals.
That program comprises :
-> a short-term objective of participating in
international research and contributing to knowledge production to better
control the pandemic and limit immediate health consequences;
-> a long-term objective of anticipating
post-crisis research and constructing a sustainable post-COVID-19 world."
Of the 23 projects retained (total of 46 submitted) by
the jury for a cumulative funding of €795,700, two were the fruit of divisions
within the François Jacob Institute of Biology :
The first is COVIDOGEN, or "Integrated genetic
analysis of susceptibility, evolution and response of patients infected by
SARS-CoV-2," proposed by Jean-François Deleuze of the National Center of
Human Genomics Research (CNRGH). This project will involve mixed genetic studies
(candidate genes and pangenomic association studies) on host predisposition to
SARS-CoV-2 infection combined with an analysis of viral genome variants in the
CORIMUNO cohort. It aims at identifying stratification and treatment markers
and furthermore providing data on viral strain diversity to aid the development
of vaccines. The transdisciplinary COVIDOGEN project will call upon the
competencies of other institute divisions such as IRCM and IDMIT.
The second is BIOTHETARCOVI, or "Characterization
of biomarkers and therapeutic targets of COVID-19-associated
inflammation," proposed by Paul-Henri Romeo of the Research Laboratory on
Repair and Transcription in Hematopoietic Stem Cells (LRTS) within the Research
Institute of Cellular and Molecular Radiobiology (IRCM). This project has three
primary objectives: (1) characterize biomarkers that may predict the intensity
of the inflammatory reactions observed in severe cases of COVID-19; (2) search
for possible deregulation of the KEAP1-NRF2 signaling pathway, which inhibits
inflammation progression; (3) assess KEAP1-NRF2 activator molecules as a path
toward therapies able to prevent extreme inflammatory responses.
The exceptional research program illustrates the
determination of the partner institutes and work communities to, in coherency
with their missions, take part in the production of knowledge to better battle
the COVID-19 pandemic. The program takes existing, national and international
calls for proposals and initiatives into consideration, with the goal of
reinforcing their effectiveness or forwarding complementary projects.
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