Each year, the European Research Council (ERC) awards individual research grants to scientists working in a European country. The ERC funds original exploratory projects that lead to scientific, technical, and societal discoveries. All fields of knowledge are eligible, and innovative ideas at the intersection of traditional disciplinary fields are particularly sought after. Starting Grants are reserved for promising early-career researchers (two to seven years after completing their dissertation), providing funding of up to €2 million over five years to ensure the long-term viability of their research. This year, two early-career researchers were selected for the excellence of their research projects: Alexandre DETAPPE and Joanna WENCEL-DELORD.
The “TheranoImmuno” project is being developed by Alexandre Detappe’s laboratory (Strasbourg Europe Cancer Institute (ICANS), affiliated with CNRS UMR7178 and the ITI Strasbourg Institute of Medicines). The project aims to develop a nanomedicine approach that enhances the therapeutic efficacy of NK (Natural Killer) cells, immune cells with antitumor properties. In an ex vivo setting, the researcher plans to attach nanomolecules to NK cells to increase their ability to target tumor cells and fight certain cancers once these modified cells are injected into the body.
This approach differs from other immune cell-based cancer immunotherapies (notably CAR-T cells), which have proven effective in treating multiple myeloma but remain time-consuming and more expensive to develop.
The “AlCHiMIE” project is led by Joanna Wencel-Delord (Laboratory for Molecular Innovation and Applications (LIMA – UMR7042), Asymmetric Synthesis and Catalysis Team) and focuses on the study of sustainable pathways for the conversion of hydrocarbons.
Green chemistry focuses on designing processes for the synthesis of useful organic molecules while reducing waste generation and the use of rare and scarce resources. The AlCHiMIE project is developing complementary approaches for converting hydrocarbons (the most basic raw material) into high-value-added chiral alkanes that could become novel building blocks for medicine and agrochemistry.
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