The objective of our project is on the one hand to characterise, in a SARS-CoV-2 infected human pulmonary organoids, the molecular determinants involved in the pro-inflammatory response, including rate and kinetics of IFN type-I and type III production on the other hand to understand the influence of age and sex on SARS-CoV-2-induced inflammatory response. To this end we will use primary human bronchial organoid designed to mimic the essential of lung structures and the physiological environment conditions. In our preliminary results, we have validated the production methodology and the permissivity of bronchial organoïds to SARS-CoV-2. Using this model, we plan to address important questions in the first task including: to characterize the profile, rate and kinetics of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine production during infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Because our pulmonary organoid model contains essentially epithelial cells, we will focus essentially on the study of the rate and kinetics of IFN-III and pro-inflammatory cytokines / chemokines including IL-6, TNF-a, IL-8 and IP-10. By using lung organoids prepared from different age (young 60) or gender (male or female) we will measure if there is a relation between the age and gender for the rate and kinetics of infection-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production that can help to understand protection or susceptibility markers to develop severe form of COVID-19 ? Other questions will be to study the effect of infection-induced cytokine production (including IFN-III) on the control of SARS-CoV-2 replication, IFNAR (IFN-I receptor) and IFNLR (IFN-III receptor), expression level of ACE2/TMPRSSII viral receptors, innate immune viral sensor (TLRs, RLRs) expression and tissue damage. In the second task, we will analyze the innate immune receptors involved in SARS-CoV-2 sensing and the subsequent pro-inflammatory response. This will be investigated in A549 pulmonary cell line by both pharmacological and genetic approaches using CRISPR/Cas9 system. In the third task, the identified candidate sensors of SARS-CoV-2 (TLR, RLR e.g.) will be challenged in the more relevant physiological model of pulmonary organoid and their involvement in infection-induced inflammation confirmed after their invalidation by CRISPR/Cas9 approach. In parallel, we will test the effect of CPG-52364, a phase-I approved TLR8 inhibitor, and Salazopyrine and Leflunomide, two inhibitors of NF-kB approved by the FDA and currently used in the treatment of Arthritis, for their action on the SARS-CoV-2-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines. Ultimately, this project by using SARS-CoV-2/human pulmonary organoid model will help to better understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the induction of the hyper-inflammation state, including IFN-III, a deleterious response associated with COVID-19 disease and could contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies to treat, in particular, against the most severe forms of the disease.

The objective of the FUNGLASS project is to create a European network in the field of photonics and advanced photonic materials. The challenge is to achieve a scientific goal and to implement an innovative doctoral programme which will improve PhD’s training and foster their employability. The network will deploy a coordinated strategy and efficient working plan methodology in order to submit a proposal to the H2020-Marie Sklodowska-Curie European Training Networks (ETN) call (deadline 10 january 2017). The partnership will create collaboration across Europe between academic institution and industrial companies for the key enabling technology of photonics. The project will be coordinated by University of Bordeaux. The project FUNGLASS - FUNctional GLASS integration in photonics devices and components European Networking - addresses training, research and innovation in the design and manufacturing of optical components and systems. Among the materials used in photonics devices, glasses play a central role: they are used as laser sources, lenses, smart screen, fibers to name a few. Therefore, the research and development of glass- synthesis, shaping, functionalizing, processing and integration into device - is the positioned contribution of FUNGLASS. The challenging contribution of FUNGLASS relies on Local functionalization in glass by Laser writing or poling, offering extraordinary opportunity for fabrication of elementary bricks with unique topology, morphology and novel properties for the design of integrated multifunctional components and devices. Future developments require to address multiple properties issues such as transmission window, linear and nonlinear optical propagation of light, conductivity, surface chemical activity, photosensitivity, thermal and mechanical properties, etc. Furthermore, this R&D field requires to constitute a consortium of European partners with a very high degree of interdisciplinarity including physicists, chemists, material researchers from high-level research groups and process engineers from both SMEs and large Photonic companies. It is gathering unique expertise in glass design, local Laser/Field engineering controlled for functionalization in glass and integration in a component or device. The involvement of industrials guaranties the whole value chain from technology transfer to manufacturing and commercialization. The relevance of this project is to provide a highly synergetic combination of gathered scientific and technology expertise allowing to propose together future scientific collaborations for targeted applications, and PhD projects including mobility among the consortium (academic and industrial mobility will be proposed). The constituted network aims to be successful for European ETN project submission in January 2017. The ETN project will provide a unique training platform for doctoral research skills in glass-based components and systems for photonics. In addition to the scientific curriculum, the doctoral candidates will be trained in networking, communication and commercial exploitation, preparing them to be the highly skilled workforce in photonics which is penetrating many market sectors. The expected aid through ANR-MRSEI call is to facilitate exchanges between partners through the organization of workshops intended to refine the scientific proposal and the relevance of the training programme; to improve the relevance of the proposal within a H2020 call highly competitive; to enable the search for the most accurate industrial partners through the financing of market studies. The aid requested is € 29,160.

During the past 50 years, arboviral (arthropode-borne viral) diseases, including dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever, have (re-)emerged. The arboviruses are transmitted primarily by the tropical yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, and to a lesser extent by Ae. albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, capable of colonizing both tropical and temperate regions. Dengue virus is on the rise, causing about 390 million human infections per year, chikungunya virus spread worldwide in the early 2000s, Zika virus spread worldwide in the past 3 years, and yellow fever has resurged in Africa and the Americas. The expansion of these diseases can be explained in part by an intensification of the conditions favoring the dispersal and proliferation of Aedes as a result of global trade and unplanned urbanization, a lack of community engagement and political will, and inefficient implementation of vector control programs. Although a vaccine is available for yellow fever, it is not accessible to many living in disease-endemic areas and the recenty developed dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia® shows limited efficacy and safety concerns. In this context, preventing Aedes-Borne Diseases (ABDs) at a global scale continues to depend largely on controlling mosquito vector populations or interrupting human–vector contact. Unfortunately, control of mosquitoes using larval source management and public health insecticides is fraught with complications, including slow operational response, low community buy-in, ineffective timing of application and occurrence of insecticide resistance. A recent systematic review highlights that 57 countries (including Italy, Greece and Spain) reported resistance (or suspected resistance) to at least one chemical class of insecticides in Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus. Insecticide resistance is recognized as a major threat for the control of ABDs and has likely contributed to their re-emergence and spread worldwide. Unlike malaria vectors, the evidence-base to support Insecticide Resistance Management (IRM) in arbovirus vectors is weak which make prioritization for vector control difficult. In addition, important knowledge gaps remain for Aedes resistance including its distribution, evolution, mechanisms, fitness costs and its impact on vector control efficacy. Finally, most countries lack of capacity in monitoring insecticides resistance that is essential for guiding pesticide management systems on appropriate use and reduction of risks to human health and environment. A global, coordinated, multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral approach is needed to track insecticide resistance in vectors of emerging arboviruses and to guide the deployment of resistance breaking strategies. Such coordinated effort fits well with the MSCA-RISE-2020 call that promotes collaborative research and innovation activities between public and private organizations throughout the world. The WIN-RISE will improve the surveillance of insecticide resistance worldwide, fill knowledge gaps and guide decision making for improved IRM strategies and vector control in countries at risk of arbovirus transmission. It will develop comprehensive guidance on how and when to implement IRM to preserve the “susceptibility” of new/existing insecticides. The inclusion of all actors involved in vector control, pesticide development and regulation is key for success. The consortium will offer an attractive platform for stimulating the development of innovative vector control tools by fostering public-private partnerships. These actions will contribute to strengthen the vector research and training capacities of institutions located in low and middle-income countries, and to raise public awareness on vector resistance and control. The ultimate goal of the WIN-RISE is to sustain global efforts to reduce the burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases by 2030 (SDG3.3).

The project’s main objective is to identify and analyse fluxes and patterns of internal and transborder human migration induced by climate change. The observational study will take place in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) Delta in India and Bangladesh and the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam and Cambodia. The studies’ outputs will allow us to provide to governments and public actors involved accurate measures in a decision making process. These outputs will be based on the development of innovative analytical methodologies in order to support human migration and displacement and design adaptation solutions for local population. The cross-border aspect of these deltas and the issues they face by the diversity of their political links will allow the project to produce methodological tools and recommendations on migration management useful for the European Agenda on Migration. The project’s outputs will also respond to the objectives of the Paris Agreement in terms of local sustainable development. These two deltas (GBM and Mekong) are highly populated (respectively 1000 and 500 inhabitants/km2) and heavily exposed to monsoon, rainwater floods, flash floods, and cyclones floods as well as to the induced effects of climate change. Human Migration linked to climate change should lead by 2030 to a demographic spatial restructure of areas and territories already highly under pressure in most coastal and metropolitan cities. Access to services and housings for the new-comers are considered challenging for the hosting local authorities, notably in terms of forecasting urban planification and investment, in a precarious context of social and property policies. The project aims at an early stage, to produce tools to evaluate the vulnerability of human population migrating and local population in order to submit recommendations on land use planning on ‘under pressure urban and rural territories. Migration drivers are physical, social, and economic and differ according to the impacted communities. Risk perception is different for these communities, and their mitigation measures are usually traditional in terms of housing construction and adapted solutions. The project MOVINDELTA will include the integration of empirical analysis and computer-based social simulation modelling linking documentary evidence and socio-economic and -political data with model design, including a cognitive architecture, model source code and the outputs from simulation models. For the project considered as a whole, the specificity - and strength - of our consortium is to gather experts from very different fields, ranging from social and human sciences to fundamental environmental sciences. Our consortium has established a long-lasting collaborative framework with local institutes in Third as well as European countries working together on climate change, risks and vulnerability of population. Several projects in the GBM and Mekong deltas have been concluded successfully from this collaboration, leading to a strong network in the field of science, social sciences and sustainable development. Finally, the aim of the project is to broaden the partnership to researchers, lecturers, professors, the civil society (NGO) but also the private sector at an European (Germany, Netherlands and UK) and international level to extend the disciplinarity potential of the project within the call.