President Michel Cosnard

Ann Vanreusel

This report is the sole result of the unit's evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee. LECOB currently has 337 m 2 of allocated space in the A building of the marine station of Banyuls.

UNIT PRESENTATION

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Nadine Le Bris has been the director since the creation of LECOB in 2010. Pierre Galand has been nominated deputy director in 2017.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE

SVE1 Agronomie, Biologie Végétale, Écologie, Environnement, Évolution.

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

LECOB activities focus on marine benthic ecosystems. LECOB's interdisciplinary research lies at the interface of functional ecology and environmental sciences, in agreement with the thematic priorities of section 30 of the CoNRS. Research on ecosystem dynamics and functions in marine benthic environments is mainly based on the present expertise of LECOB permanent staff in scientific domains such as benthic biodiversity (macro and meiofauna), microbial ecology, molecular biology marine chemistry and geochemistry, coastal oceanography and biogeochemistry. LECOBs research that is highly interdisciplinary has been organized along 2 research axes over the past 5 years, which will be continued in the next period. The first axe is focusing on "community dynamics and functions" the second on "ecosystem response to disturbances". An additional future focus is identified as a third axe entitled "the study of the impacts of human forcing on these systems". The group is also in charge of a monitoring program on Mediterranean benthic soft bottom communities.

UNIT WORKFORCE

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

The scientific outputs, reputation and appeal of the UMR LECOB is excellent, with an impressive publication record and notable interdisciplinary research, very good international collaborations and cuttingedge technological developments. Also LECOB's involvement in steering and scientific committees and advisory boards, both at national and international levels, is prominent. LECOB also shows an excellent record at the level of institutional collaboration (e.g. impact assessment, contribution to monitoring issues), while their contribution to outreach activities is very good being focused on aspects of marine biodiversity and ecology that are less known by the general public.

There is an excellent engagement in teaching by the UPMC teachers at LECOB, and their implications in European Masters and PhD programmes is highlighted. However, there are also some logistic difficulties with teaching tasks related to the distance from UPMC Paris. Overall LECOB is an excellent PhD environment although the recent PhD recruitment rate is low due to difficulties in obtaining national scholarships and the lack of access to regional grants.

LECOB has an excellent interdisciplinary, multifaceted scientific strategy to answer innovative research questions and to be successful in applications for national and international funding. The integration within the Research Federation (FR) "l'Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls" (OOB) can be improved in order to ensure access to appropriate lab space and facilities, benefit from the FR staff, and enhance the scientific exchanges with the other UMRs of the FR.

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INTRODUCTION

  HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNITLECOB is a joint research unit of the "Université Pierre et Marie Curie" (UPMC-U Paris 6) and CNRS. LECOB is one of the UMRs of the Ecology and Environment Institute of CNRS (CNRS INEE). It is part of the Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls (OOB-FR3724) associating 4 research units and the infrastructure and support services at the marine station. LECOB was created on January 1 st 2010 under an initial temporary status (Formation de Recherche en Evolution FRE3350) and established as a Joint Research Unit (UMR8222) on October 1 st 2012. It was formed by the association of an existing benthic ecology group, previously depending on the Biological Oceanography Laboratory (restructured in 2009-2010) with 4 scientists who recently joined the group (2 UPMC teacher-researchers, 1 CNRS researcher, 1 assistant engineer).

  time research associates (Chargés de recherche) and similar positions 3 3Other scientists ("Conservateurs, cadres scientifiques des EPIC, fondations, industries, etc."


President Michel Cosnard

Marc Hoylaerts

This report is the sole result of the unit's evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee.

UNIT PRESENTATION

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The head of the unit is Ms Pascale Gaussem, and the deputy head is Ms Catherine Boisson-Vidal.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE

SVE5_2.

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The team is active in the field of vascular and cellular haemostasis and on the development of new therapeutic approaches. Its activities were subdivided along three axes: 1. Vascular biotherapy; 2. Platelet production and function; 3. Response to antithrombotic agents. Since then, these themes are slightly reorganised along two major axes: Theme 1, Haemostasis, angiogenesis and vascular differentiation; Theme 2, Haemostasis and antithrombotic agents. The projects proposed rely on expertise in stem cell biology (endothelial cell and megakaryocyte progenitors); vascular biology (endothelial cell function in various contexts), hematology (megakaryopoiesis and thrombopoiesis), haemostasis (platelet function, coagulation) and thrombosis (anticoagulants, venous thromboembolism).

UNIT WORKFORCE

Unit workforce

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

The unit has two main themes (Vascular biotherapy and Haemostasis + antithrombotic agents) with basic and clinical researches. The scientific production of the unit was remarkable and of excellent quality. The unit has been extremely active in obtaining national and international grants. Two start-up companies have been created by members of the unit. The unit is highly implicated in teaching and providing a high level of training by research to their numerous PhD students. The next five-year plan aims at deciphering new aspects of haemostasis and angiogenesis. The projects are of great importance in terms of management of patients treated with anti-thrombotic agents and realistic because of the strong interactions between researchers, biologists and physicians in the unit.

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INTRODUCTION

  HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNITThe unit is located in the faculty of Pharmacy of Paris and headed by Ms Pascale Gaussem. The unit has a long history as it was created in 1995 by Ms Martine Aiach and directed from 2006 until 2010 by Mr Joseph Emmerich. In 2012, Ms Pascale Gaussem was appointed as acting director and the unit was recreated in 2014 as a single team working on three interconnected themes. The restructured unit is focusing on integrating clinical and experimental approaches, fostering integration of basic and translational research. The unit is part of the "Unité mixte de Service CPR2", with full access to several core facilities, all on the same site.

  personnel (ITAs, BIATSSs and others, notably of EPICs)

HCERES scientific officer: Ms Florence PINET Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies:

	Unit name:	Innovative Therapies in Haemostasis
	Unit acronym:	IThEM
	Requested label:	UMR_S
	Application type:	Renewal
	Current number:	UMR_S 1140
	Head of the unit (2017-2018):	Ms Pascale GAUSSEM
	Project leader (2019-2023):	Ms Pascale GAUSSEM
	Number of teams:	1
	COMMITTEE MEMBERS
	Chair:	Mr Marc HOYLAERTS, KU Leuven, Belguim
	Experts:	Mr Ramaroson ANDRIANTSITOHAINA, Université d'Angers (representative of
		Inserm CSS)
		Mr Denis ANGOULVANT, Université de Tours
		Mr Jean-Christophe GRIS, Université de Montpellier (representative of CNU)
		Ms Nathalie JOUY, Université de Lille (supporting personnel)
		Mr Pierre MANGIN, Université de Strasbourg
		Mr Raymond BAZIN, Inserm
		Mr Jean-Louis BEAUDEUX, Faculté de pharmacie
		Ms Pascale MARTEL, Inserm
		Mr Stefano MARULLO, Université Paris Descartes


President Michel Cosnard

Chairman Debashish Bhattacharya

This report is the sole result of the unit's evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee.

UNIT PRESENTATION

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

AD2M is involved in a wide variety of basic research topics. These include descriptive, functional and evolutionary ecology, as applied to marine biota and their ecosystems. The previous seven areas of focus have now been consolidated to three for the next funding period. These are ECOMAP, DYDIV, and EDYCO. These groups investigate the functioning of coastal ecosystems facing environmental disturbances, promote the establishment and relevance of integrated coastal time series and observatories, and study the diversity and function of symbioses in natural ecosystems. Specific areas of focus include: study of the structure and dynamics of planktonic communities, analysis of the diversity and functioning of coastal benthic ecosystems, and extent and nature of intraspecific diversity. AD2M has expertise in ocean monitoring using sampling and deployment of in situ sensors (former CHIM team), the nature of coastal benthic communities in terms of diversity and functioning (primary and secondary production, food webs) using both in situ and lab-based methods (former EFEB team), dispersal in the marine environment including analysis of human-mediated long distance dispersal (former Divco team), adaptation of invertebrates to the extreme, deep sea environment such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and polar environments (Arctic and Antarctic) (former ABICE team), study of marine algal diversity, distribution, and temporal dynamics using genetic and genomic methods (former DIPO team), the role of cyanobacteria in global biogeochemical cycles using genetic, genomic, and physiology based approaches (former MaPP team), and analysis of the biodiversity and ecological biodiversification of protists using phylogenomic and systems biology approaches (former EPEP team).

UNIT WORKFORCE

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

AD2M is a highly successful research unit that wishes to maintain its focus areas of research in the next 5 years although the most important development is that teams will now be reorganized into the following three: EDYCO -ecogeochemistry and dynamics of coastal ecosystems; DYDIV -dynamics of marine diversity; and ECOMAP -ecology of marine plankton. Over the last period AD2M has published over 420 publications, including not only the best journals in their speciality but also the highest impact multidisciplinary journals such as Nature, Science and PNAS. AD2M, in particular ECOMAP is an extraordinarily successful group and world leaders in the fields of marine biology, oceanography, and the application of modern genetic and genomic methods to studying marine biodiversity. In the next 5 years one of the focus areas will be to integrate the different data streams to enable effective monitoring of coastal ecosystems, which is one of the main missions of the Roscoff Marine Station. AD2M will also focus on creating a more collaborative work environment at Roscoff using strategies such as incentive funding of research projects and students and new workshops and poster sessions.

AD2M has been well funded by federal, provincial, and private agencies and numerous students have defended their theses. AD2M members have also contributed to teaching, Specifically, the TARA Oceans project has been an immense success and led to many public outreach products.

Very few weaknesses were identified in AD2M. However there was concern that some AD2M units pursue too many different research projects on different marine species, which makes it difficult for them to focus more deeply into functional questions with the most promising models.

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INTRODUCTION

  HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNITFounded in 1872, since 2001, the Station Biologique de Roscoff (SBR) has been organized as a "Fédération de Recherche" (FR 2424) with supports services, research facilities, and several Research Units. The SBR is located in Brittany (Bretagne), France and is jointly run by the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC, Paris). The research unit being reviewed here belongs to the Station Biologique de Roscoff, "Adaptation et Diversité en Milieu Marin" (AD2M, UMR 7144) was founded in 2005 and has been twice renewed, in 2009, and in 2013. Currently, AD2M is comprised of 82 members including 46 permanent members (16 CNRS researchers, 14 professors, 16 engineers and technicians) and 37 temporary members (24 PhD candidates, 10 postdoctoral fellows, 3 engineers). MANAGEMENT TEAM Present unit head: Mr François LALLIER Present deputy head: Ms Frédérique VIARD Future unit head: Mr Fabrice NOT Deputy head: Mr D DAVOULT,


This report is the sole result of the unit's evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee.

UNIT PRESENTATION

INTRODUCTION HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNIT

The CART unit Inserm U965, one of the very few Inserm surgical research units, was created in 2009 in a partnership with the "Institut des Vaisseaux et du Sang" (IVS), with a focus on angiogenesis and translational research. In 2013/14, IVS scientists left the unit, which was then recreated under the direction of Mr. Marc Pocard with a focus on angiogenesis in peritoneal metastasis (PM). During the last mandate, the group of Ms. Nathalie Kubis was also part of the unit with own research focused on angiogenesis in cerebral plasticity.

The CART unit Inserm U965 research lab is located at Hôpital Lariboisière/ Groupe Hospitalier Fernand Vidal, in close vicinity to the gastrointestinal surgical unit headed by Mr. Marc Pocard, creating a real transfer between bench and bedside.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The monothematic CART unit is focussing on therapy-driven and disease-driven research on peritoneal metastasis (PM). French surgical oncology in PM:

1) Surgical research -oncology;

2) Peritoneal metastasis -prevention and therapy;

3) Technology for health -photodynamic therapy; drug delivery systems; 4) Clinical studies.

UNIT WORKFORCE

Unit workforce

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

Peritoneal metastasis (PM) is an emergent topic and a major, unmet societal and healthcare challenge with estimated 16,300 deaths/year in France. During the last period, CART unit has been one of the most active groups in PM research internationally. CART has setup and validated several preclinical models and assessed innovative biomedical technologies for prevention and therapy of PM. The team has several strengths: major unmet medical need, high societal impact, ambitious and innovative research, high competitiveness, own validated models, clinical studies supported by PHRC funding, research contracts with industry, valorization through patents, integration in national and international networks, superior scientific output, worldwide reputation, remarkably successful teaching activity and high level of identification and satisfaction of the team members. For the next research contract, a new structure will be set up -"Carcinose Péritoine Technologie Paris" (CAP Paris-Tech) -with the aim of speeding up and scaling up development and assessment of innovative health technologies in PM by integrating academic and industrial research partners. Funding in the frame of larger national and international competitive research programs is absent. Several tenure-track physicians have been trained within the unit; yet there is a need for more permanent research scientist positions in the laboratory.

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  scientists ("Conservateurs, cadres scientifiques des EPIC, fondations, industries, etc."

HCERES scientific officer: Ms Urszula HIBNER Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies:

	Unit name:	Carcinomatosis Angiogenesis and Translational Research
	Unit acronym:	CART
	Requested label:
	Application type:	Renewal
	Current number:	U 965
	Head of the unit (2017-2018):	Mr Marc POCARD
	Project leader (2019-2023):	Mr Marc POCARD
	Number of teams:	1
	COMMITTEE MEMBERS
	Chair:	Mr Andreas BIKFALVI, Université de Bordeaux
	Experts:	Ms Marie-Christine BOUTRON-RUAULT, Institut Gustave Roussy Villejuif (representative of Inserm CSS)
		Ms Muriel MATHONNET, CHU Université de Limoges (representative of CNU)
		Ms Gertraud OREND, Université de Strasbourg
		Mr Marc REYMOND, University of Tübingen, Germany
		Mr Francois HIRSCH, Inserm
		Ms Béatrice ISABEY, APHP
		Ms Laurence LOMME, Inserm
		Ms Sylvie ROUSSET, Université Paris 7
		Mr Philippe RUSZNIEWSKI, Université Paris 7

  The director of the unit is Mr Marc Pocard, M.D. PhD, a board-certified digestive surgeon. He is assisted by Mrs Clarisse Eveno, M.D. PhD for clinical research and by Mr Massoud Mirshahi, PhD for laboratory research.

	HCERES NOMENCLATURE
	SVE5_4 Cancer.


President Michel Cosnard

Chairwoman Frances Brodsky

Sebastian Mr

Amigorena

Monsef Mr

Benkirane

Nicolas Mr

Fazilleau

Ms Geneviève Almouzni

Ms Evelyne Jouvin-Marche

INTRODUCTION HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNIT

The INSERM Unit 932 was created in 2005 as the result of the fusion between two existing immunology units (U520 and U653) at Curie Institute. The unit is composed of 8 teams, dispatched in two nearby located buildings within the Research Campus.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The INSERM Unit 932 is headed by Mr Sebastian AMIGORENA, supported in his duties by the deputy director Mr Olivier LANTZ.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE SVE3_4 Immunologie

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The main topics addressed by the unit support an integrative research program focused on tumor biology and immunology. The common objective of the teams is to gain a better understanding of the basic molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie immunity, by analyzing critical molecular and cell biological mechanisms of adaptive and innate immune responses.

UNIT WORKFORCE

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

The unit under review is one of the premier immunology research units in France. They also enjoy a highprofile international reputation as world-leading scientists. Their research program is globally attractive to young researchers. The scientific highlights of the unit are evidenced by publications from all the teams, uniformly appearing in high profile journals. Examples of these findings are new discoveries about the cell biology (membrane traffic) and molecular mechanisms (cytoskeleton) of antigen presentation (conventional and cross-presentation), which are relevant to eventual manipulation for vaccination strategy. Other fundamental discoveries include characterization of the role of chromatin dynamics in regulating gene expression during T cell development and the role of the nuclear envelope in the function of innate immune cells, as well as biophysical analysis of T cell and B cell immune responses. Several studies had key findings regarding cells that are active during HIV infection (both T cells and innate immune cells), and others made significant advances in understanding gut immunity. An important output of the unit that emerged during the period of support under review was the initiation of studies on breast cancer immunotherapy, including identification of biomarkers. Other studies made progress in translational areas including characterization of auto-antibodies that develop in type 1 diabetes. Since the last evaluation of the unit they have continued their world-leading basic research but also extended this enterprise to translational and clinical studies. This new direction of translational research is flourishing and is embodied in a new cancer immunotherapy center, located in the Curie Hospital.

Overall the unit was assessed as outstanding with strengths in productivity, international reputation, collegial atmosphere, student training and world-leading science, as well as recognition of clinical applications of their work. No weaknesses were noted in the review.

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Unit workforce Number 30/06/2017 Number 01/01/2019 Permanent staff

	Full professors and similar positions Assistant professors and similar positions Full time research directors (Directeurs de recherche) and similar positions Full time research associates (Chargés de recherche) and similar positions Other scientists ("Conservateurs, cadres scientifiques des EPIC, fondations, industries, etc.") High school teachers Supporting personnel (ITAs, BIATSSs and others, notably of EPICs) TOTAL permanent staff Non-permanent staff Non-permanent professors and associate professors, including Non-permanent supporting personnel PhD Students TOTAL non-permanent staff emeritus Non-permanent full time scientists, including emeritus, post-docs TOTAL unit	3 1 7 5 0 0 12,5 28,5 33 9,5 16 58,5 87	3 1 7 5 0 0 12,5 28,5

signed by their chairman." (Article 8, paragraph 5); 2 The evaluation reports "are signed by the chairman of the expert committee". (Article 11, paragraph 2).


 Grading table of the team: Spatio-temporal Regulation of Antigen Presentation C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6

Grading

Once the visits for the 2012-2013 evaluation campaign had been completed, the chairpersons of the expert committees, who met per disciplinary group, proceeded to attribute a score to the research units in their group (and, when necessary, for these units' in-house teams). This score (A+, A, B, C) concerned each of the six criteria defined by the AERES. NN (not-scored) attached to a criteria indicate that this one was not applicable to the particular case of this research unit or this team. Criterion 1 -C1 : Scientific outputs and quality ; Criterion 2 -C2 : Academic reputation and appeal ; Criterion 3 -C3 : Interactions with the social, economic and cultural environment ; Criterion 4 -C4 : Organisation and life of the institution (or of the team) ; Criterion 5 -C5 : Involvement in training through research ; Criterion 6 -C6 : Strategy and five-year plan.

With respect to this score, the research unit concerned by this report (and, when necessary, its in-house teams) received the following grades:

table of the unit: Cancer Immunity C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 A+ A+ A A+ A+ A+  Grading table of the team: Dendritic cell and T cell biology C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 A+ A+ A+ NN NN A+  Grading table of the team: Exosomes and tumor growth C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 A+ A+ A NN NN A+  Grading table of the team: Cross talk between T cells and dentritic cells

The INSERM Unit 932 is the product of fusion between the two former immunology units at the Institut Curie, U520 and U653, which took place in 2005. Today, the U932 includes 8 teams, located in 3 different buildings.

Management team

The Unit is directed by Mr Sebastian AMIGORENA. All management and strategic decisions are discussed in regular group leader meetings (1-2 times a month), where recruitment (personnel and teams), budget, applications to grants and fellowships are discussed.

In addition, the Unit has a weekly laboratory meeting, in which two staff scientists, students or postdoctoral fellows present the advancement of their project. All teams have additional weekly group meetings. The Unit also organizes a weekly journal club and a yearly retreat and a monthly Immunology Seminar program.

Finally, the "Conseil d'Unité" meets once a year, with all members of the Unit. The director presents the marking events of the past year and the main perspectives for the future, as well as the budget. An open discussion ensues. Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions 9

AERES nomenclature

SVE1_LS6

Unit workforce

2  Assessment of the unit

Strengths and opportunities

Excellent scientific record of the unit; well-thought management; high potential social and economic impact; excellent training; recruitment of young reseachers; original projects of major interest for the next years.

Weaknesses and threats

None (eventually some projects risky or in a highly competitive environment)

Recommendations

The commission was impressed by the quantity and quality of the work of the Unit and advises to simply continue… 3  Detailed assessments

Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

The work performed and published by the unit represents a major breakthrough in the field of immunology, as assessed by the scientific production (articles published in TOP journals) and the models, tools and methods developped. 149 articles, signed as first or/and last authors by a group leader of the Unit, have been published from 2007-2012 in peer-reviewed journals. 27 articles were published in journals with an impact factor >10 (Nature, Cell, Science, Nat Immunol, Immunity; etc...).

Assessment of the unit's academic reputation and appeal

The Unit has gained an outstanding international reputation in the field of immunology. Researchers of the Unit are regularly invited in international conferences; foreign postdocs are recruited and some teams are leading or participating in international programs. For example, four teams have obtained ERC grants between 2008 and 2011. In 2011, a budget of 1 028 568 EUR was allocated from the European Commission. In 2012, the Unit was granted a Labex (DC-BIOL, where the unit director is one of the 2 co-directors).

Assessment of the unit's interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

The Unit has several sustained industrial collaborations and has registered several patents (in the field of crospresentation, exosomes, HIV innate sensing). In addition, the Unit is involved in Immunology teaching, has organized major conferences, and has participated in the publication of a book. Importantly, the observations of the Unit in basic immunology are likely to be translated to clinical research (cancer, HIV, inflammation) and may have a major impact in medicine. In particular development of new immunotherapies are currently developped in melanoma patients, human psoriasis, HPV infection, HIV; etc... The study of tumor microenvironment should provide new insights in the regulation of tumor resistance in vivo.

Assessment of the unit's organisation and life

The philosophy of the Unit concerning the scientific projects of the individual team leaders is a complete freedom and independence. This philosophy promotes risky science and innovative research across disciplines.

The governance appeared excellent, as assessed by the scientific output and the statement by the members of the team themselves. The meeting of subcommittees with directors/students-postdocs/technicians engineers revealed a management recognized as excellent. The technicians/engineers however asked for a better internal communication and would like to be informed about the critical decisions made during team leader meetings.

Common facilities are well organized and fully available, as for example P3 facility, technological platforms and the platform for translational research.

Assessment of the unit's involvement in training through research

The Unit hosts between 10-15 students and 30-35 postdocs. Their training as being part of the Unit includes their participation to laboratory meetings, journal club, yearly retreat and monthly immunology seminars.The students are well integrated in the scientific activities of the Unit, and appeared well guided. The technical platforms are fully available for training and performing experiments.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The program of all teams was evaluated as ambitious, innovative and of major scientific and medical interest. There is clearly an adequacy between goals and means, in terms of budget, technical competence, availability of equipment and scientific excellence.

Although the philosophy of the Unit is a complete freedom and independence for the individual teams, there is clearly a common scientific interest, creating fruitful collaborations. In addition, the functioning of the Unit relies on the core facilities from the Curie Institute.

Most if not all projects should give rise to major breakthroughs in the field. Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

In the past 5 years the team has published several seminal publications and made several important discoveries providing important insights into the mechanisms controlling cross-presentation, the ability of regulatory T cells in increasing the avidity of primary CD8 + T cells and on the epigenetic control of Th2 differentiation. The team has published 42 articles in the last five years, a high number in top journals (Science, PNAS, Nat Rev Immunol, J. Exp. Med, in 2012).

Assessment of the team academic reputation and appeal

The results obtained demonstrate the breadth and depth of the team leader's research interests and are testimony of his vision, originality and outstanding scientific abilities. He is a world class investigator in the field of DC research and over the years he has made several major contributions in the field of DC biology, Tregs and more recently epigenetic regulation of Th1 and Th2 polarization. The team leader has been invited in in 52 conferences since 2009. The team has attracted numerous postdocs and PhD students (9 postdocs are presently members of the team).

Assessment of the team interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

The team has filed several patents, which are attracting the interests of several pharmaceutical companies. It is likely that the findings of his basic research will translate into important therapeutic findings.

Assessment of the team organisation and life

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the unit's involvement in training through research

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

In the next 5 years, the team will develop two main research programms, which are both an extension of the results and concepts developed by the own team during the past 5 years: 1) antigen cross-presentation by DCs and 2) epigenetic determinants of T cell polarization and memory. The recent discovery of the role of Sec22B in linking the ER to phagosomes will be extended by engineering Sec22b DC conditional knock-out mice to analyse in vivo the role of Sec22B in the presentation of microbial and tumour antigens. Experiments will be carried out to dissect the signals and signalling events integrated by DC upon stimulation of different Pattern Recognition Receptors to clarify steps involved in the transport of antigen proteins from lysosomes to the cytosol and in the regulation of phagosome functions during DC maturation. The recent article in Nature published by the group describing the role of H3K9me3/Suv39h/HP1 in Th2 differentiation highlights a previouly unanticipated degree of epigenetic control of adaptive T cell immune responses. It is anticipated that the results of these studies will lead to truely novel discoveries in immunology with diagnostic and therapeutic protential in cancer and inflammatory disorders.

Conclusion

 Strengths and opportunities:

The programme developed by this group is outstanding. The results of the experiments described in the proposal are likely to provide important insights into the role of DC in cross presentation and on the epigenitc control of T cell polarization.

 Weaknesses and threats:

No weaknesses.

 Recommendations: This is an outstanding programm led by an outstanding scientists, who is a world leader in the field.

Team 2 :

Exosomes and tumor growth Name of team leader: The team leader is a pioneer in the exosome field in which she has been working since 1999, resulting in many publications in high-ranking journals. From 2007 to 2012 she has made remarkable progress in her studies on the cell biology of exosomes, specifically the characterization of the intracellular origin of exosomes and the mechanisms of secretion, and functionalities in immune responses and tumor development. Among others, she has discovered the critical role of Rab27 for exosome secretion (Nature Cell Biol. 2011), but she also found Rab27-independent pathways. It is now realized that cells may release different types of extracellular vesicles with distinct functions on biological processes, as reviewed by the team leader (Nat Rev Immunol 2009).

Previously, there was much enthusiasm about the potential use of tumor exosomes for anti-tumor immunization, among others fostered by a study from the team in which it was shown that tumor-derived exosomes represented a very powerful vaccine, in particular when a tumor antigen was introduced as a fusion protein with the C1C2 domain of MFGE8 lactadherin, a major component in exosomes (Cancer Res 2008). However, by additional elegant work in the team, using tumor cells in which exosome secretion was prevented by Rab27 knock-down, it was found that exosomes could also support tumor progression (Cancer Res. 2012). Thus, the team has contributed to a paradigm shift concerning the clinical use of tumor exosomes. Following this line of research, the team could show a pro-tumor effect of MFGE8 expression in the development of mouse bladder tumors, and also increased MFGE8 expression during human bladder carcinoma progression. Thus, MFGE8 may represent a novel target for therapeutic intervention. Therefore, the team has initiated the production of monoclonal antibodies against MFGE8 together with a biotech company, which are presently being tested for inhibition of human bladder carcinoma in mouse models. Altogether, the research of this 5-year period is original and interesting, with 20 important publications in very good international journals.

Assessment of the team academic reputation and appeal

Ms Clotilde THERY has been working on exosomes since 1998. At this time, exosomes were not widely studied but the pioneering work of the team leader has certainly drawn the attention of other scientists, not only in immunology but also in other areas, with the consequence of an exponentially growing number of publications on this topic ever since, with more than 1300 at this date. The concept that exosomes can provide important modes of intercellular communication is now widely accepted. Other scientists, but also industry, are now investigating the potential of exosomes in body fluids to be used as biomarkers for disease. In 2010, the team leader organized a very successful exosome meeting in Paris at Curie, which was attended by > 200 scientists from all over the world. This was followed by the foundation of the International Society of Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) by the team leader and others in 2011, of which the team leader was interim vice-chair. Currently, the team leader is the secretary general of the executive board of ISEV. The first annual ISEV meeting was held in Gothenborg in 2012 and counted > 600 participants. The next ISEV meeting is scheduled in 2013 in Boston. ISEV has recently lounched a new journal, the Journal of extracellular vesicles (JEV), of which the team leader is Editor-in-Chief.

Assessment of the team interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

The studies resulted in filing in 2012 of a patent on new antibodies directed against MFGE8 that decreased tumor cell survival and cell migration.

Assessment of the team organisation and life

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the team involvement in training through research

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

In her future project, the team leader plans to continue with her previous line of research, and to concentrate on the role of different types of secreted membrane vesicles and relevant proteins on tumor derived extracellular vesicles in tumor growth and interaction with the immune system. As her work made it clear that more basic research on the biogenesis and diversity in types of extracellular vesicles is required, immunotherapy with exosomes is at present not directly pursued in this laboratory, but 2 clinical phase I/II trials on dendritic cell derived exosomes are ongoing in collaboration with another group.

Subproject 1, Comprehensive cartography of secreted vesicles

As exosomes are heterogenous in size, protein content, and origin, it is planned to isolate more homogenous sub-fractions by differential ultra-centrifugation, density gradients, anion-exchange chromatography, etc. Thereafter, the effect of the different vesicles on immune cells (T cells, APC, NK, Treg, etc.) will be tested. This will be followed by establishment of a quantitative proteomic and RNAomic signature of each vesicle type. Moreover, shRNA will be used to inhibit specifically secretion of particular types of exosomes. This subproject is very interesting from a cell biological and biochemical point of view but it is uncertain whether biochemical separation techniques will yield vesicle fractions which differ according to protein composition, sub-cellular origin, or immune function.

Nevertheless, when successful, it will be of great interest to see how various distinct vesicle populations influence the immune system. Attempts for molecular intervention with the incorporation of relevant cargo into extracellular vesicles (from distinct origin) may also be useful. The spin off from subproject 1 would certainly have additional impact on for the use of extracellular vesicles in subprojects 2/3. Subproject 2, Relationship between MFGE8 and other alphaVbeta3/5 integrin ligands.

In the context of tumor cell growth and interaction with the immune system, this subproject is directly derived from the team leader's discovery of the pro-tolerogenic properties of MFGE8/lactadherin. The authors plan to analyze the pro-tolerogenic properties also for the human system. In particular, the effect of MFG8 and other αV(3/5 integrin ligands on the tumor microenvironment will be investigated (pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine profiles and cellular sub-populations, eg. M1/M2 macrophages, etc.). This is an interesting project, which may lead to new tumor therapies aiming at inhibiting MFGE8 and other integrin ligands, e.g. with the antibody produced together with a biotech company. The group already showed that MFGE8 is secreted in association with at least two distinct populations of extracellular vesicles, and that rab27a dependent extracellular vesicles (exosomes) from mammary carcinoma cells promoted tumor progression.

Subproject 3, Role of decorin in development of tumors

In the investigation of mouse bladder cancer cell lines, the THERY team has discovered that decorin expression has pro-tumoral effects, similar to expression of MFGE8. Thus, decorin will be analyzed in a way akin to MFGE8, namely effect on the tumor environment, tumor growth, etc., including the production of blocking antibodies against decorin for therapeutic intervention. Also this project is novel and interesting with potential clinical relevance. It could be interesting to investigate vesicles from rab27 depleted cells in relation to decorin.

Altogether, the future projects are original, well founded on previous research, and very promising to provide interesting and novel results.

Conclusion Strengths and opportunities:

1. previous work by this group provides a solid foundation of the research plans 2. Original ideas, novel concepts 3. The roles of MFGE8 and decorin in tumor development will be studied, irrespective of their incorporation in tumor exosomes, making subprojects 2/3 independent of succes searched in subproject 1. 4. High international interest/impact 5. Many national and international collaborations  Weaknesses and threats: Extracellular vesicles (including exosomes) are multicomponent signalling devices which, due to their complexity, are difficult to study. The observation that multiple types of extracellular vesicles can be formed by the same cell type may complicate studies even further. However, this should not put a brake on this type of investigations. By studying two selected functional components of extracellular vesicles (MFGE8 and decorin) this risk is reduced to a minimum.

 Recommendations:

Continuation of the team work is strongly recommended.

Team 3 :

Cross talk between T cells and dentritic cells

Name of team leader:

Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

This is a well-established team investigating the early events during T cell receptor signaling and immunological synapse formation. Notably, they were the first to show that the intra-cellular pool of LAT is crucial for initiation of T cell responses. To the biochemical and imaging techniques used so far, the group has recently added a biophysics project aiming at analyzing the biomechanics of the early events of T cell activation upon interaction with antigen-presenting cells. The biomechanics of interaction of immune cells is still an underdeveloped field among immunologists, although it may turn out to become very important and to generate exciting results.

The research projects conducted are divided into three subgroups.

Subproject 1: Analysis of the role of the formation of the immunological synapse (IS) in T cell activation of dendritic cells. Most studies on immune synapse (IS) formation between APC (DC) and T cells concentrate on the role of IS for T cell activation, whereas they have analyzed the role of IS formation for activation of DC by T cells. They could show that IS formation induces modification of the cytoskeleton in DC, leading to increased DC motility, and, thereby, to increased T cell activation. Moreover, in T cells, polarization of MTOC and CD40L is required for induction of IL-12 secretion in DC. However, this is not an absolute requirement. These are new and interesting findings, published in various journals, include one article in Blood and two articles in J Immunol.

Subproject 2: Biomechanical responses in T cell activation. Based on their finding that IS formation is accompanied by changes in the cytoskeleton, which is important for rigidity/stiffness and motility, the team has employed biophysical approaches in collaboration with UMR 168 (Curie Institute, Paris), to study if the degree of rigidity in APC would influence T cell activation. In a first and very interesting study using artificial model APC the team could show that T cells can sense the biomechanical properties of APC inducing a series of pulling and pushing events in the T cells, the precise force of which can be measured. The associated respective publications include two articles in PLoS One and one in Langmuir.

Subproject 3: Defective/deregulated activation of pathological T lymphocytes (in collaboration with IMAGINE, Hôpital Necker, Paris). Respective publications include a article in Eur J Immunol and several collaborative articles in high profile journals such as Immunity, Embo J, N Engl J Med, J Allergy Clin Immunol, J Virol… Altogether, the work is interesting with an impressive output. There are 16 original publications and reviews, which appeared in the very good journals such as Blood and JI, and several collaborative articles in high profile journals (Immunity, Embo J, N Engl J Med…).

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The team is well-known for its work in the field of TCR signaling and immunological synapse.

The team leader is a member of the Scientific Committee of La Ligue contre le Cancer (2005Cancer ( -2008) ) and of SIDACTION (since 2009).

Assessment of the team's interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

None reported

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

In pursuing ongoing studies, the future plan is organized around two main axes: namely the contributions of immunological synapses in T cell signaling, and the role of T cell mechanosensitivity for T cell activation.

The first part of the project is based on the recent observation that VAMP7 SNARE protein can control recruitment and phosphorylation of the vesicular pool of LAT and formation of LAT signalosomes. For their studies, the team employs an impressive combination of molecular silencing approaches and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. This will be combined with in vivo approaches, e.g., testing of the importance of vSNARE VAMP7 in vivo using the VAMP7-deficient. mice. This subproject is underway with much progress and a publication on LAT/VAMP7 is presently under revision in Nature Immunology.

The second subproject aims at elaborating the importance of biophysical rigidity/stiffness of APC for T cell activation. This project is based on recent observations in other biological systems showing that the mechanical stiffness of stimulatory cells and matrices is of great importance for the biological outcome, including cell migration, proliferation, and apoptosis, and notably also for directed differentiation of stem cells. The studies by the team will be performed in collaboration with a biophysicist from the Institute Curie, who has developed an original custommade single cell rheometer. The use of this rheometer will give the group an advantage over other immunological groups who are interested in the role of APC rigidity for T cell activation.

Altogether, this is a very original and novel project, adding a new (biophysical) dimension to the mechanism of T cell activation by APC. As at the beginning of this project in vitro experiments will be performed using synthetic matrices of different stiffness, a major issue in the discussions during the site visit was how these in vitro studies could be validated in vivo. It is hoped that the in vitro studies will lead to the definition of molecules /molecular interactions that determine stiffness of a cell, because stiffness must be controlled by molecular events. The identified molecules/biochemical processes may then be used as markers for rigidity of different immune cells at different microenvironments in vivo. In conclusion, this is a demanding project entering a new territory, and the results could be very interesting.

Conclusion

 Strengths and opportunities:

Strong collaboration with biophysicists within and outside the Curie Institute, thereby providing the chance for the team to play a leading role in the biomechanics of the interaction of immune cells, a field that is still in its infancy.

The group has obtained original observations on the VAMP7 dependent vesicle trafficking in LAT dynamics and function that can be published well and exploited in future studies.

Excellent environment of the INSERM unit 932

 Weaknesses and threats:

With the biophysics project the group is entering new territory where the outcome is uncertain. It is likely that in vitro a contribution of the stiffness of the stimulatory matrix to T cell activation can be observed. However, it will be very challenging to validate and demonstrate such effects in vivo, where immune cells are constantly moving through densely packed tissues and lymphoid organs, a process that may be accompanied by constant changes in stiffness. Even if a role for APC rigidity in T cell activation can be shown in vivo, it will be very demanding to determine the precise contribution of APC rigidity to antigen presentation in the concert of the many other parameters required for efficient antigen presentation. However, progress in a new field is frequently accompanied by risk.  Detailed assessments

Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

The stated aim of the group is to 'unravel the fundamental cell biological processes that regulate the life and functions of professional antigen presenting cells'. More specifically they are trying to integrate the basic cell biology of cell migration, endocytosis and receptor signaling via the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) with the events of antigen capture, processing and presentation to T cells. Of course these latter events have been intensively investigated for more than 20 years it can be argued that the immunobiology needs to be better integrated with the cell biology.

Over the past 5 years the group has achieved the above aim in several project areas and in some cases have produced exceptional results. In particular the article published in Science produced the very unexpected and interesting result that the invariant chain chaperone for class II MHC acts as a brake on DC migration so that its destruction alongside antigen processing provides at least part of the signal for DC to migrate. The data were convincing and made biological sense. Several other strong articles focusing on B cells have also been produced. Some extend earlier work from others which showed that convergence of compartments carrying BCR-linked antigen and class II MHC is driven by BCR signaling. The team extended this by showing key roles for Syk and myosin II and provided mechanistic insight by showing that myosin II is linked to the invariant chain. In a more recent study, the team has switched the spotlight to the cell surface of the B cell showing that bead-bound antigen can be extracted by the BCR in a reaction apparently aided by protease secretion and recruitment of cell polarity molecules Cdc42 and atypical PKCξ. The committee feels this was another unexpected and provocative article well supported by the data though not as yet by evidence that these features of antigen extraction occur in vivo.

Overall, this relatively recently established team has done extremely well producing at least 2 really novel stories that deservedly were published in the highest ranked journals: Science, as mentioned above, and Immunity (B cell synapse and antigen processing and presentation).

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The team leader has been invited speaker at "Keystone Symposium" and "Gordon Conferences".

Assessment of the team interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

Interviews for magazines "Research" and "Arte Magazine" in the context of the action of communication "The legacy of Marie Curie." Participation in the creation and publication of the book "Cell, surprise me" by Editions Berlin, 2007.

Assessment of the team organisation and life

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the team involvement in training through research

Organization of three "Summer Schools in Cell Biology" in partnership with the Curie institute and different South American universities. Participation in the Master II "Membrane Dynamics" at the Paris 5 University.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The team leader proposes further work in the 2 areas outlined above that have produced the most high profile articles. 1. Co-ordination of antigen presentation and DC migration and 2. The role of cell polarity in antigen presentation in B cells. She sees these areas as highly complementary not least because apparently unpublished data now links different myosin isoforms to the dynamics of the B cell synapse, in other words non-muscle myosin biology is a common theme in both projects.

Medium scale screens are planned to search for new gene products controlling these events which will be followed up eventually at the tissue level. The methodologies/models are multi-disciplinary and at the interface between immunology, cell biology and biophysics, which include among others single molecule imaging, two-photon microscopy, shRNA silencing, transgenic and knock-in animals. These studies will be performed in close collaboration with biologists and physicists/biophysicists both inside and outside the Curie institute.

The team leader wishes to focus on systems biology approaches to identify new genes involved in DC migration and in the formation of the B cell antigen synapse. It was clear from her presentation and subsequent one to one discussions that she will also be following up the immunobiological implications of her very interesting recent studies, particularly the concept of antigen extraction at the B cell synapse. There are many interesting questions that can be addressed here. For example, is there any in vivo evidence that B cells create a sealed synapse into which H + and proteases can be secreted? How important is this as a mode of antigen processing and capture in vivo? What is the situation when a surface other than a latex bead is used to immobilize antigen and can the need for protease driven extraction of antigen be manipulated depending on the strength of interaction between antigen and the BCR? Also, as was discussed at her lecture, how similar are the synapses that B cells and T cells make with antigen bearing cells and surfaces?.

The team leader gave an excellent presentation and plans to address these issues alongside shRNA screens for new gene products that control cell polarity and migration. Overall, this is a strong, ambitious and feasible research program.

Conclusion  Strengths and opportunities

The team leader has a clear ability to formulate new concepts and is able to co-ordinate the experimental programmes needed to test them. Her work is highly interdisciplinary synchronizing studies between immunology, cell biology and biophysics. She is able to see a 'big picture' and to see connections between cellular events that are not obvious. This is impressive in someone who is still at a relatively early stage in her career. She also has strong national and international collaborations with the best experts in the fields.

 Weaknesses and threats

The committee does not feel there are any significant issues.

 Recommendations

Continuation of the team work is strongly recommended.

 Detailed assessments Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

The team has continued its main focus on the cell biology of HIV, its interface with the endocytic pathway and more general aspects of virus interaction with the immune system. The team's approach reflects the leader's background in protein and vesicle 'trafficking' and makes extensive use of light and electron microscopy, knockdown strategies, co-immuno-precipitation etc. A very attractive feature of the team's recent work is a general aversion to using cell lines and a willingness to 'go the extra mile' and conduct experiments in more technically challenging primary cell systems, including primary human cells. This gives them a distinct edge and identity in the competitive areas they work in.

The team recent output is not huge but is of high quality: 15 publications in very good to excellent international journals (Cell Host & Microbe, J Cell Biol, PNAS, Blood) during the last 5 years.. A look back at the group's publications from the previous 5 year period (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) suggests that it has reached a higher level since 2007 and has addressed more substantive issues. This is reflected in the journals it has published in. In some cases, its use of primary human cells has probably limited the range of experiments possible (and perhaps the target Journal) compared with the more manipulable mouse system. For example, the work on MHC class II trafficking in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) published in Blood reported very similar results to their competitors, who, working with murine pDC managed to publish in Nature Immunology with a bit more data. New projects have been started for example the study on TLR3 processing and trafficking. This again produced an article in a good journal.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The group leader has been invited to a number of conferences including a Gordon conference and an International workshop on Antigen Presentation as well as several conferences on retroviruses and macrophages.

Assessment of the unit's interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

The team has filed 2 patents regarding potential HIV infection treatment in 2010 and 2012.

Assessment of the team organisation and life

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the team involvement in training through research

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The team leader plans 2 main areas for development over the next 5 years.

First, the team plans to continue studies on Toll like receptor 3 (TLR3) trafficking and signaling. In part these studies will compare TLR3 in different human and mouse DC sub-types. They also plan to take advantage of a new technology developed by Institut Curie colleagues that allows synchronized release of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum. Preliminary data shows that this will allow a kinetic analysis of TLR transport, processing and the acquisition of signaling function to be studied alongside imaging studies. The aim is to determine when TLR3 becomes competent to signal and whether different signals emanate from different compartments, though this could be challenging to establish. A number of groups are working on TLRs such as TLR3 that signal from the endocytic pathway so this is a very competitive area. Nonetheless, the use of this novel technology should allow the group to maintain an edge in this area.

The second area to be continued is the cell biology of HIV assembly, transport and release from macrophages. The team has been instrumental in demonstrating the important role of macrophages as viral reservoirs in HIV infection and has characterized intracellular compartments where new virions are assembled. Very interestingly, the team recently generated new data indicating that the scavenger receptor CD36 may be crucial to the biogenesis and/or stability of this compartment which appears to be distinct to conventional endosomes. Knockdown of CD36 or exposure to anti-CD36 antibodies suppresses release of new HIV virions so CD36 could be a novel target for antiretroviral therapy. A patent on this subject has been filed. A variety of tools including 2-hybrid libraries, antibodies and various mutants of CD36 are under construction to permit full exploitation of this potentially important finding. Again, this is obviously a competitive area but the group is well established in it and has plenty of interesting new data.

Conclusion  Strengths and opportunities

The group leader has a strong background in cell biology which gives him a distinct perspective on the virological and immunological questions he is addressing. He has embraced and indeed runs some of the technology platforms at the Institut Curie which again gives him a competitive advantage. His focus on and experience in working with primary cells also sets him apart from many other groups who use cell lines. Overall, the quality of the projects and the wider scientific environment should ensure continued productivity and innovative science.

 Weaknesses and threats

The team is working in very competitive areas: TLR signalling and HIV so inevitably there is a risk that other groups may publish first in key areas. As outlined above, it has some new technologies and more importantly, preliminary data that should ensure their competitiveness.

 Recommendations

The committee recommends to continue the current work  Detailed assessments

Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

The team develops 3 research themes. After the seminal article published in Nature describing the role of MR1 for the activation of MAIT cells by the commensal flora, the group has published a steady string of articles characterizing the development and specificity of MAIT cells and in 2010 demonstrated the ability of MAIT cells to recognized bacteria infected cells. Generation of MAIT TCR transgenic mice has allowed to study the role of MR1 in the positive selection of MAIT cells. In addition to this program, this group has continued to develop a tumor immunology program. Experiments in mice revealed a high mortality due to a cytokine storm possibly related to the ability of long peptide to be presented by B cells. The team is the international leader of this small field of immunology.

The committee observes a very strong expertise in the field of CD4 T cell biology, in the capacity to generate very innovative and difficult animal models to answer to mechanistic problems. The team developed tools for studying MAIT cells. These tools are unique in the world and will give major insight in the biology of this cells population. During the last 5 years, this group has published 25 articles in very good to excellent high impact factor international journals (Blood, Plos Biology, PNAS, Nature Immunology). Altogether, the scientific output of the team is excellent. The financial support is excellent.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The team leader is well recognized in the field of fundamental immunology especially in the field of tumor vaccine, MAIT cells and CD4 T cell responses. Altogether, the scientific reputation of the team is excellent. The team leader has been invited in 8 international meetings since 2008.

Assessment of the team's interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

The team is currently developing translational programs in melanoma patients, which may provide important finding for future clinical trials.

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

See assessment of the unit

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The program is divided in 3 themes:

1. The major part of the work focuses on MAIT cells and follows the previous results published in the last 5 years. The team will study the ontogeny of MAIT cells using B6/cast mice. The objective will be to determine how MAIT cells acquire their specific features in the thymus and to identify the cells that trigger their differentiation. Then the team will study the biology of MAIT in the periphery and determine how interactions between B cells, bacteria and MAIT drive their proliferation and activation. Then the team will search for the specific master transcriptional factor(s) of MAIT and try to generate MAIT tag mice. Finally, in human the team will search whether some populations are deficient in MAIT and search for a clinical relevance of this observation.

The second part of the program on MAIT is the characterization of MAIT cell ligand from bacteria using biochemical and genetic approaches.

The third part of this theme is to study the functions of MAIT cells. The team will focus on context dependent activation in in vitro model of MAIT activation; then analyze their role in the control of bacterial infections and in the context of BCG therapy in bladder cancer.

2. The second theme involves tumor immunology and consists in the generation of a model of spontaneous tumor with a dominant antigen expressed only in the cancer cells.

3. The third theme aims at developing new cancer vaccine. The idea is to associate long peptide with MAIT ligand to test whether this complex may enhance tumor immunity.

The committee considers the program focus on MAIT cell an exciting and novel chapter in Immunology and the Lantz team will certainly be amongst those groups that will significantly contribute to the field. The BCG project in bladder cancer patients, linked to the analysis of MAIT cells in the blood and urine is an exciting program which may provide insight into the therapeutic properties of BCG treatment in bladder cancer patients. A clinical trial is also planned to assess the ability of long peptides to elicit an immune response in melanoma patients in the presence of CpG, NKT cells agonist and MAIT cell agonist.

Conclusion

 Strengths and opportunities:

The committee notes the regular recruitment of post doctoral fellows and the large financial support from funding boardings. The expertise in the field is exceptional. The work on MAIT cells will lead to important fundamental discovery.

 Weaknesses and threats:

None.

 Recommendations:

The committee recommends to continue the current work.

 Detailed assessments Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

The focus of the team is dendritic cell biology. The team developed a strong expertise in the field of human dendritic cells biology, in particular on plasmacytoid dendritic cells. The team leader discovered the key function of TSLP and is continuing to work on this with an international reputation. The group has now moved toward a more integrative approach using a systems biology approach. The publication track-record of the team, the financial support, and the international recognition are excellent. The team has published 24 articles in very good to excellent (Blood, Nature Immunology, J. Exp. Med.) international journals in the last five years. The team leader has been invited in 6 international conferences.

During the past 5 years, the team leader has developed a new line of research based on computational data integration. The team can take advantage of the local infrastructure and the integrative biology program provided by the Institute. The team leader is also a hemato-oncologist in the Curie Hospital. This activity favours the excellent collaboration with the clinic and his research on the tumor microenvironment development of immunotherapy trials. Alltogether, the scientific output of the team is excellent.

Assessment of the team academic reputation and appeal

The team leader has a undisputed reputation as the discoverer of TSLP function in 2001. As a postdoctoral fellow, he discovered the role of pDC in adaptive immunity (Science) and the role of TSLP in driving DC-mediated allergic T cell responses (Nature Immunology). As an independent investigator in the Unit since 2004, he has continued to work on these topics very successfully with several high impact publications, including J. Exp. Med., Nature, Nature Immunology. This discovery has generated an entire research field and TSLP is now being developped as a therapeutic for allergic asthma and atopic dermatitis.

The team leader is also recognized as an international expert in DC biology and is regularly invited to international meetings on the topic (such as Keystone meetings). The team leader has been invited in 6 international conferences. Altogether, the reputation of the team is excellent.

Assessment of the team's interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

The team leader is hematologist with half day clinic a day. His research activity involves immunotherapeutic clinical trials aiming at directly testing and improving patient's life.

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The program is divided in 3 parts:

1. The use of mathematic modeling to analyze large scale data and perform the subsequent experimental validation. The work is based on transcriptomic profiling. The objectives are to determine how DC and T cells integrate combination of signal such as TLR signal and other cell signals.

2. The role of TSLP in immune biology. The team will look at the role of TSLP in DC migration, the role of TSLPR (function and downstream pathway. The team will also determine molecules involve in the production of TSLP and the prognostic ole of TSLP in cancer setting.

3. Characterisation of tumor microenvironment in the context of head and neck and breast cancer will be performed. This work focuses on cross talk between DC and cancer cells and will be based on integrative biology with large transcriptomic analysis. This an ambitious, innovative research project which has a high potential for translational research.

Conclusion

 Strengths and opportunities:

The use of bioinformatic strategy to answer to biological question and the possibility to perform some multiple large scale analysis on patients with breast cancer is a very innovative and unique strategy that may lead to new and important discoveries. The team leader has shown the ability to acquire a large amount of funding for his research and to publish high-impact articles.

 Weaknesses and threats:

The work on multimodal integration of signals is vast and high risk. In particular, it seems challenging to use these data to model in-vivo biological processes. However, the team leader has already shown feasibility of his systems biology approaches with some high-impact publications such as Nature Immunology. Furthermore, the team leader has created a network of bioinformaticians and mathematicians to support his work.

 Recommendations:

We highly recommend the team leader to continue his work. The high-risk but innovative work on integrative biology and the well-established work on pDC and TSLP are a good combination to guarantee the continued success of the team.

 Detailed assessments Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

The team leaderl has past contributions for a junior scientist which are of very high calibre with a recent Nature publication that was obtained during his post-doctoral time in the US. He also successfully obtained an ERC grant which is prestigious since his return in France. Since he has been in the Curie Institute, he has already produced new results that can lead to high impact publications in a short period of time. He has already enough results for two future publications of excellent quality. Overall the committee ranks the scientific output as excellent based on his postdoctoral time in the USA.

Assessment of the team academic reputation and appeal

The scientific reputation of the team leader in the field of HIV is already strong and he is likely to become a future leader in this area. At his stage, not all junior scientists have already achieved recognition in the international research community. This is of course early to extensively comment on this as he may need several years to be wellestablished.

Assessment of the team's interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment

The team leader has filed a patent as a result of his basic science and recent results. He also extends his basic research into transnational research that can benefit patients. Finally he is studying HIV-2 infection which is an area of unmet needs and has been understudied and represents probably a neglected tropical disease.

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

Not applicable.

Assessment of the team involvement in training through research

See assessment of the unit.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The team leader's future projects are promising, based on his recent results in particular on the cryptic innate response to HIV-1 in DC. We are confident that his research programme will be successful and lead to additional scientific discoveries and high profile publications. His projects are clear and well designed and composed of a good portfolio of high risk and medium risk projects.

Conclusion

 Strengths and opportunities:

The team leader is a bright new investigator and should make significant contributions to his scientific field in the coming years. He has already impressive publications and new data. He is currently well funded which will help him to develop his research on this competitive topic. He has also an excellent environment to succeed in his future projects.

 Weaknesses and threats:

The team leader works on a very competitive topic and will need to make significant progresses with his projects to achieve high impact publications.

  location of the unit: 26 rue d'Ulm -75005 Paris

  Permanent professors and similar positions N2: Permanent EPST or EPIC researchers and similar positions 3

  Other professors (PREM, ECC, etc.) N5: Other EPST or EPIC researchers(DREM, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)

  She received the Gaston Rousseau Prize from the French Academy of Sciences, 2012 and the Olga Sain Prize from the League against Cancer, 2009. She is the recipient of a "Young Investigator Grant" ERC, 2010-2014. She is coordinator of the consortium MICEMICO (Cell Migration in Confined Environment) 2009-2013. She worked as scientific advisor for AERES "life sciences and earth" section, 2010-2011. She has been advisor of Immunology-Hematology ITMO of Aviesan since 2009. She is a member of the scientific committee of the Curie institute, 2006-2010 and of the scientific recruitment committee of Paris 7 University, 2006-2009.

6

  Statistics by field: SVE on 10/06

Unit workforce Number as at 30/06/2012 Number as at 01/01/2014

			2014-2018
			Number of
			project producers
	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions	14	12	12
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)	17	14	7
	N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.)
	N5: Other researchers from Institutions (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)	67	23
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)	28	8
	TOTAL N1 to N6	126	57	19
	Percentage of producers	100 %
	Unit workforce	Number as at 30/06/2012	Number as at 01/01/2014
	Doctoral students	35
	Theses defended	21
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit*	45
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken	8

Ms Clotilde THERY Workforce Team workforce Number as at 30/06/2012 Number as at 01/01/2014

	 Detailed assessments
	Assessment of scientific quality and outputs
			2014-2018
			Number of project
			producers
	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions
	N2: Permanent EPST or EPIC researchers and similar positions	1	1	1
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)		1	1
	N4: Other professors (PREM, ECC, etc.)
	N5: Other EPST or EPIC researchers (DREM, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)	1
	TOTAL N1 to N6	2	2	2
	Team workforce	Number as at 30/06/2012	Number as at 01/01/2014
	Doctoral students	2
	Theses defended	1
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit	2
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken
	Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	1	1

  Ms Claire HIVROZ

	Workforce
	Team workforce	Number as at 30/06/2012	Number as at 01/01/2014	2014-2018 Number of project
					producers
	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions
	N2: Permanent EPST or EPIC researchers and similar positions	1	1		1
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)	1	1		1
	N4: Other professors (PREM, ECC, etc.)
	N5: Other EPST or EPIC researchers (DREM, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)
	TOTAL N1 to N6	2	2		2
	Team workforce	Number as at 30/06/2012	Number as at 01/01/2014
	Doctoral students	1
	Theses defended	2
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit	1
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken
	Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	1		1

 Detailed assessments

 Supervising bodies' general comments

Team 6 :

Innate like and CD4+ T cells in cancer

Name of team leader: Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions 1 1

Team 7 :

Integrative Biology of human dendritic cells and T cell

Name of team leader: Specific points to be mentioned:

The entire review committee attended all presentations and discussions of the team leaders. Each 25 min presentation was followed by 20 min discussion.

The review committee was then split into three subcommittees in order to meet (1) the staff scientists, (2) the students and postdocs and (3) the technicians and engineers.


President Michel Cosnard

Chairwoman Mirjam Van Der Burg

This report is the sole result of the CIC's evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee.

CIC PRESENTATION

MANAGEMENT MODULE

The director of the CIC-BT is Ms M. Cavazzana; the vice director is Ms I. André-Schmutz.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE

SVE6 Santé Publique, Épidémiologie, Recherche Clinique.

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The CIC-BT's main mission is to develop clinical research studies in the fields of cell and gene therapy for the treatment of acquired and hereditary diseases in patients of all ages, in connection with the research/healthcare themes and priorities on the Necker Children's Hospital campus. The CIC-BT develops new trials in three areas: (i) genetic diseases; (ii) vascular diseases, and (iii) immunohematology.

CIC WORKFORCE

CIC workforce

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE CIC

The scientific work of the CIC-BT is outstanding. The quantity and quality of the papers are very high and the papers are published in top ranking journals. The outstanding nature of their work is also illustrated by the high number of academic prices awarded to the coordinator and several of her team members. It is a challenge to maintain this quality and fruitful strategy. The interactions with outside academia are also outstanding. There are many links with companies, which is important for current and future funding. In addition, the CIC-BT has an open attitude to patient organisations. The grant manager, who has been appointed since the last evaluation visit (2012-2013) is of great support for managing the large number of projects and grants, but also for new grant applications.

Ms Marina Cavazzana, the coordinator, has built an outstanding team of motivated and well respected personnel with a high female labour participation and a very good atmosphere. The CIC-BT is well positioned and integrated in a fairly complex network of organisational structure.

The scientific strategy is outstanding: primary immunodeficiencies are used to explore new biological treatment possibilities that can be exploited in other genetic diseases or in gene therapies for other more frequent conditions, which impact on public health. CIC-BT is a world-leading center with this strategy. Since the last evaluation visit, the team clearly opened their scope to wider range of disease beyond the very rare PID including the ex vivo accelerated T lymphocyte differentiation and proliferation prior to their injection in patients transplanted with hematopoietic stem cells, and a double gene therapy including CCR5 invalidation and CD46 transfer for HIV patients.

T he evaluation reports of Hceres are available online : www.hceres.com

Evaluation of clusters of higher education and research institutions Evaluation of higher education and research institutions Evaluation of research Evaluation of doctoral schools Evaluation of programmes International evaluation and accreditation

research group is

  Biotherapy Clinical Investigation Centre (CIC-BT) is an integral part of the Western Paris University Hospital Group (GHU Ouest) composed of Necker Children's Hospital, Cochin Hospital, and Georges-Pompidou European Hospital. It was founded in 2005 with support from the French Directorate General for Healthcare Provision (DGOS), the French Institute National of Healthcare and Medical Research (INSERM), and the French Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM). located in the Imagine Institute. It is part of the Human Lymphohaematopoiesis Laboratory (located on the fifth floor of the Imagine Institute, INSERM Unit U1163). It helps to evaluate ongoing trials and implement preclinical trials, and collaborates closely with the Biotherapy Department's Cell and Gene Therapy Laboratory (LTCG); -the Cell and Gene Therapy Laboratory (LTCG) is also located on the Necker campus in the basement of the Hamburger building on the Necker Children's Hospital campus. Its role is translate basic work into clinical trials;

	name:	Centre d'Investigation Clinique Intégré en Biothérapie
	number: The CIC-BT is located at several sites on the Necker Children's Hospital campus:
	Requested label: -the Translational
	Application type:	Renewal
	Head of the CIC (2017-2018):	Ms Marina CAVAZZANA
	Project leader (2019-2023):	Ms Marina CAVAZZANA
	Number of modules or
	themes:
	COMMITTEE MEMBERS
		Mr Philippe VANHEMS
	Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies:
		Ms Samia DEGHMOUN, Inserm
		Ms Hélène ESPEROU, Inserm

Chair:

Ms Mirjam

VAN

DER BURG, LUMC -Dept. of Pediatrics, Laboratory for Immunology, Leiden, The Netherlands Experts: Mr Seiamak BAHRAM, CHU Strasbourg Mr Pierre COULIE, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium HCERES scientific officer: INTRODUCTION HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE CIC Thethe Immunodeficiency Reference Centre (CEDI) is an integral part of the CIC-BT; its role is to perform immunological monitoring of patients in ongoing trials and in the Therapeutic Haemapheresis Day Hospital. CEDI is located on the second floor of the Lavoisier building on the Necker Children's Hospital campus; -the Biotherapy Department's Therapeutic Haemapheresis Day Hospital is located on the first floor of the Hamburger building on the Necker Children's Hospital campus; -the Mother & Infant CIC and the Clinical Research Unit is coordinated by Mr Jean-Marc Tréluyer and located on the Necker Children's Hospital campus (not evaluated).


President Michel Cosnard

Chairman Vincent Geli

This report is the sole result of the unit's evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee.

UNIT PRESENTATION

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

Over the time-period, the output of this unit is excellent; the average impact of the papers exceeds the standards of the Curie Institute. The excellent publication level has maintained the high international visibility of the unit and has contributed to the attractiveness for the recruitment of new young teams and the establishment of international collaborations mainly with academic laboratories. However, while the unit has managed to publish in journals with high impact factors maintaining a steady output of high-level publications, the scientific production varied from team to team.

The unit has an outstanding involvement in national and international training activities and its public outreach is impressive given the relatively small size of this unit.

The research program is excellent with several exciting and cutting-edge projects. On a general level, the research programs aim to address important and timely questions about the role of chromatin dynamics and 3D organisation of the nucleus in in a broad range of biological processes. The research programs also integrate methodological developments at the cutting edge of technology supported by the facilities of the IC and new interdisciplinary engagement to resolve the biological questions. The committee also appreciates that the unit develops new translational research programs, although these programs belong essentially to one team.

During the time period of the evaluation, the unit was reorganized with the departure of 2 junior teams that were compensated by the arrival of two other junior teams. This has reinforced the scientific coherence of the unit and imports exciting complementary approaches and expertise. The high turnover of teams in the unit, however, has also impacted on the life of the unit. While there is recruitment of new talents, there has been loss of expertise.

The evaluation reports of Hceres are available online : www.hceres.com

Evaluation of clusters of higher education and research institutions Evaluation of higher education and research institutions Evaluation of research Evaluation of doctoral schools Evaluation of programmes International evaluation and accreditation

INTRODUCTION

  HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNITThe unit of Nuclear Dynamics (UMR 3664) is a mixed unit with three supervising institutions: Institute Curie, CNRS and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie. The UMR 3664 is hosted by the Institute Curie which comprises 12 mixed research units. The UMR 3664 is located in the Pasteur building within the Campus of the Curie Institute. This research unit was created in 2014 as a continuation of the UMR 218 entitled Nuclear Dynamics and Genome Plasticity created in 2000. Initially, it encompassed 5 research teams including 2 senior teams and 3 junior teams with in 2016 a total of 48.35 FTP people. In 2013, one junior team was promoted as senior team. In 2016, the unit was reorganized with the departure of 2 junior teams which were compensated by the arrival of two other junior teams focussing the scientific topics of the UMR 3664.MANAGEMENT TEAMCurrently, Ms Angela TADDEI directs the UMR 3664 with the assistance of Ms Nathalie DOSTATNI as deputy director. Ms Geneviève ALMOUZNI acted as a director until September 2015 with the assistance of Ms Angela TADDEI as deputy director. Ms Angela TADDEI took the direction of the unit in September 2015.HCERES NOMENCLATURESVE2_2; SVE2_3.SCIENTIFIC DOMAINScientific activities at the UMR 3664 are part of the Institute Curie domain 2: "Development, cancer, genetics and epigenetics". The UMR 3664 is a relatively small multidisciplinary unit with a strong focus on chromatin organization and dynamics. The research topics range from epigenetic plasticity, nuclear compartmentalisation, and dynamics in the nucleus to responses to environmental cues during cell division and development. Recently, new topics emerged with the arrival of new teams, including unconventional models of chromosome segregation and spatial and temporal regulation of transcription. personnel (ITAs, BIATSSs and others, notably of EPICs)


President Michel Cosnard

Chairman Pierre-François Lenne

This report is the sole result of the unit's evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee.

UNIT PRESENTATION

INTRODUCTION HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNIT

The laboratory Physico-Chimie Curie (PCC, UMR168) was created in 1996 with the aim of developing and applying physical concepts, particularly soft-matter and statistical physics, to the study of living systems. The unit is located at the heart of the Paris site of the Institut Curie, specifically in the Pavillon Curie, one of the two original buildings of the "Institut du Radium" founded by Marie Curie in 1909.

Over the past 20 years, under the successive leadership of Mr Jacques PROST, Mr Jean-François JOANNY and Mr Maxime DAHAN, the unit has increased significantly in size and now counts about 110 people.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Mr Maxime DAHAN (director) and Mr Axel BUGUIN (deputy-director).

HCERES NOMENCLATURE ST2 Physics SVE Life and environment sciences SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The research unit aims at understanding the physical and physicochemical mechanisms that underpin biological systems. Within this framework, the research topics cover biomimetic and reconstituted systems to cell biology, physical approaches to developmental biology, nuclear biology, immunology as well as translational research and clinical applications.

UNIT WORKFORCE

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

The PCC unit is a vibrant unit gathering physicists, physical chemists and biologists that aim to uncover the physical principles that govern biological systems. By combining theoretical expertise, statistical physics in particular, with sophisticated experimental approaches, they have significantly contributed to the understanding of living matter, after decades dominated by molecular genetics.

The combination of a solid theoretical framework and elegant experiments is still quite unique in the world and therefore attracts talented young researchers. Recent recruitments and turnover of the groups have led to the development of new themes since the last evaluation. By maintaining also internationally recognized topics, the unit has thus succeeded to maintain a leading position in a rapidly evolving field. The ability to develop sophisticated experimental approaches and technologies for fundamental and medical research is also a strong and recognized asset to the unit.

The unit should maintain its strategic position by reinforcing and extending work combining, as much as possible, experiments and theory, which is the recognized strength of the unit.

The evaluation reports of Hceres are available online: www.hceres.com

Evaluation of clusters of higher education and research institutions Evaluation of higher education and research institutions Evaluation of research Evaluation of doctoral schools Evaluation of programmes International evaluation and accreditation

HCERES scientific officer: Mr Christian BORDAS Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies:

	Unit name:	Laboratoire Physico-Chimie Curie
	Unit acronym:	PCC
	Requested label:	UMR
	Application type:	Renewal
	Current number:	UMR 168
	Head of the unit (2017-2018):	Mr Maxime DAHAN
	Project leader (2019-2023):	Mr Maxime DAHAN
	Number of teams or themes: 14
	COMMITTEE MEMBERS
	Chair:	Mr Pierre-François LENNE, CNRS Marseille
	Experts:	Mr Jordi GARCIA-OJALVO, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelone, Espagne
		Mr Pascal HEBRAUD, CNRS Strasbourg, (representative of CoNRS)
		Ms Kinneret KEREN, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
		Ms Agnès PIEDNOIR, CNRS Villeurbanne (supporting personnel)
		Mr Olivier THEODOLY, CNRS Marseille
		Mr Roland WEDLICH-SÖLDNER, Universität Münster, Allemagne
		Ms Nathalie WESTBROOK, Université Paris Sud, (representative of CNU)
		Ms Geneviève ALMOUZNI, Institut Curie
		Mr Alexandre LEGRIS, CNRS

Mr Bernard PERRIN, université Pierre et Marie Curie

Unit workforce Number 30/06/2017 Number 01/01/2019 Permanent staff

	Full professors and similar positions	2	2
	Assistant professors and similar positions	4	4
	Full time research directors (Directeurs de recherche) and similar positions	13	13
	Full time research associates (Chargés de recherche) and similar positions	10	9
	Other scientists ("Conservateurs, cadres scientifiques des EPIC, fondations, industries, etc.")	0	0
	High school teachers	0	0
	Supporting personnel (ITAs, BIATSSs and others, notably of EPICs)	11	11
	TOTAL permanent staff	40	39
	Non-permanent staff
	Non-permanent professors and associate professors, including emeritus	3
	Non-permanent full time scientists, including emeritus, post-docs	28
	Non-permanent supporting personnel	6
	PhD Students	31

TOTAL non-permanent staff 68 TOTAL unit 108


President Michel Cosnard

Claude Desplan

This report is the sole result of the unit's evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee.

UNIT PRESENTATION

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The unit "Genetics and Developmental Biology" is currently headed by Dr. Edith Heard. Dr. Yohanns

Bellaiche serves as a deputy director. However, upon her departure to become head of EMBL, Dr. Heard will be replaced by Dr. Pierre Leopold who will move from Nice.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE

SVE2-1; SVE2-2; SVE2-3.

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The unit is composed of 10 teams that cover a broad range of Developmental Biology projects and

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

The "Genetics and Developmental Biology" unit is relatively small, with only 10 teams, but it is doing particularly well, publishing important papers in the best journals, with seven of its research teams benefiting from support from a prestigious ERC grant. All of them are involved in producing breakthrough research and promoting this research and their own scientific interests through extensive outreach programs.

The educational mission of the unit is also successful with 16 current PhD students who should graduate in about three years with at least one published paper, often in the highest profile journals.

Diversity is also well represented and the gender balance is perfect. The impact of the unit on science and society is important and several of the team leaders are among the most successful French or European scientists in their field.

It is clear that the unit has performed very well in the last four years and is promised to a bright future for the upcoming five years.

The evaluation reports of Hceres are available online : www.hceres.com

Evaluation of clusters of higher education and research institutions Evaluation of higher education and research institutions Evaluation of research Evaluation of doctoral schools Evaluation of programmes International evaluation and accreditation

  Cancer. The fields of research covered go well beyond classical developmental biology and include extensive cell biology, genomics, epigenetics and chromosome architecture, leading to a broad set of complementary themes that synergize well. and Developmental Biology, UGBD, CNRS, Inserm, Inst Curie, U Paris 6, Ms Edith HEARD, Mr Pierre LEOPOLD Full time research directors (Directeurs de recherche) and similar positions

  Genetics and Developmental Biology" of the Institut Curie was created in 2009 by Dr. Daniel Louvard and Prof. Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas who wanted to develop a multidisciplinary unit at the Institut Curie that would address problems of Developmental Biology and Cancer. The goal was to have a program that would take advantage of modern approaches of molecular genetics, genomics as well as powerful imaging tools. This benefited from the construction of a new state of the art building in the Paris campus. The long-term hope was that understanding developmental biology would allow a better understanding of cancer, which would fit well with the overarching goals of the Institut Curie. The teams to be recruited were to include fundamental research groups using a variety of model organisms as well as more applied teams looking at problems of cancer. A search committee recruited four initial teams, two established (Dr. Edith Heard and Dr. Yohanns Bellaiche) and two junior teams (Dr. Deborah Bourc'His and Dr. Jean-René Huynh). Six other teams were then recruited through open international searches. The Genetics and Developmental Biology unit has now 10 active groups and 106 researchers, permanent or PhD students and postdocs. The teams and the administration of the unit occupy most of the new building (The Computer Science Department of the Curie Institute occupies the rest of the space). It is financially supported by the Institut Curie, the CNRS, the INSERM, as well as UPMC and PSL.

	INTRODUCTION
	HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNIT
	The unit "
	Unit name:	Unit of Genetics and Developmental Biology
	Unit acronym:	UGBD
	Requested label:	UMR et U
	Application type:	Renewal
	Current number:	UMR 3215 -U 934
	Head of the unit (2017-2018):	Ms Edith HEARD
	Project leader (2019-2023):	Mr Pierre LEOPOLD
	Number of teams:	10
	COMMITTEE MEMBERS
	Chair:	Mr Claude DESPLAN, New York University, United States
	Experts:	Ms Sarah BRAY, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
		Mr Josh BRICKMAN, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
		Ms Cathie ERB, IGBMC, Illkirch (supporting personnel)
		Mr Robert FEIL, Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier
		Mr Norbert GHYSELINCK, IGBMC, Illkirch (representative of CoNRS)
		Ms Anna-Katerina HADJANTONAKIS, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,
		United States
		Ms Petra HAJKOVA, Medical Research Council London, United Kingdom
		Mr Michele TRABUCCHI, Université de Nice (representative of Inserm CSS)
		Mr Julien VERMOT, IGBMC, Illkirch
	HCERES scientific officer:
		Mr Hinrich GRONEMEYER

Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies:

Ms