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 received the following grades:

 Grading table of the unit: Genetics of Diabetes C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 A A A A+ A A 1  Introduction
History and geographical location of the unit:

The unit UMR-S958 "Genetics of Diabetes" originates from U730, "Génétique des maladies infectieuses et autoimmunes", an Inserm-Pasteur Institute unit directed by Ms Cécile JULIER. In 2007, the director of the unit left the Pasteur Institute, in order to focus the research entirely on diabetes and the unit was transiently hosted in the Centre National de Génotypage (Evry) initially with no other permanent staff. On 1/2009, the new unit, UMR-S958, was created following AERES evaluation, with only 2 permanent positions (3 members). The unit was entirely re-built at the Medical School Paris Diderot, site Villemin, located near Lariboisière Hospital, on a total dedicated surface of 386 m 2 (SHON: 540 m 2 ), plus additional common space (shared with other units). The reconstruction phase took several years but the laboratory is now set-up and functional.

Management team:

Ms Cécile JULIER (director) AERES nomenclature:

SVE1_LS2

Unit workforce: The visiting committee highlights several strong points:

• The international quality of the research focused on the genetics of type 1 diabetes (T1D).

• The expertise of the director.

• Two well-defined sub-projects (1-monogenic and strong genetic effects in type-1 diabetes and 2-functional genomics of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and interacting loci using eQTL-based strategies).

• A good network of collaborations which is expected to increase the scientific production.

• The originality of approaches including:

-the transcriptomic analyses of the MHC in lymphoblastoid cells.

-the study of monogenic atypical forms of diabetes in isolated populations and in populations with high rate of Consanguinity.

• The complementary expertise of the members in genetics, genomics, statistics, epidemiology, population genetics and medical studies.

• The strong bioinformatics skills.

• The availability of large and different biobanks.

• The shared enthusiasm of the team.

Weaknesses and threats:

The visiting committee detected the following potential risks for this unit:

• Limited number of permanent researchers.

• Limited scientific production co-authored by more than one member of the unit.

Recommendations:

The visiting committee makes the following recommendations:

• To strengthen the interactions with clinical teams on the site.

• The rapid recruitment of permanent researchers is mandatory.

• To encourage the HDR qualification of the permanent researchers for the development of the teaching and research activities of the unit.

• To restore the level of the publication where the team is in leader position.

• To reinforce the production of common publication between unit members.

• To avoid dispersion by putting strong emphasis on the 2 main projects that are the more advanced.

 Detailed assessments

Assessment of scientific quality and outputs:

The scientific production is good given the small size of the group.

The quality and the number of publications produced by the members of the team are satisfactory with important publications rank A (Nature Genetics, Diabetes, Genome Research...).

Due to the limited size of this unit, its overall activity relied mainly on an international consortium (T1DGC) and therefore on collaborations, which seems to be an efficient strategy leading to an active and acknowledged participation to international programs.

The approaches used are complementary with original points that ensure the study of both atypical forms of diabetes with a strong genetic component and common forms with weaker genetic effects.

However, there are some elements of confusion to take into account:

• Concerning the participation in the T1DGC, it is difficult to distinguish what belongs to scientific and administrative contributions in the Consortium vs research performed in the laboratory.

• There were only 8 publications in the last six years where one of the team members was first or last author. This is a rather low production rate probably explained by the recent reorganization of the unit.

• Only very few publications are cosigned by the team researchers, since all have been independent until 2012. This makes difficult to evaluate them as a team.

Assessment of the unit's academic reputation and appeal:

The director of the unit was a member of the steering committee of the international consortium T1DGC from start to end. The team has collaborations with several national and international networks.

A significant number of international and national collaborations are mentioned. These collaborations are able to provide the material and the methodological tools for the completion of the units' projects, specifically for functional studies. The position of the unit in these collaborations must be strengthened as well as their collaborations with on-site clinical teams.

The participation of the unit in national and international conferences reveals increased academic reputation.

The abilities of the director in the total restructuring of the unit are recognized and the recruitment of the new members anticipates a satisfactory evolution.

The director has developed important activities of expertise and report production for institutions such as INSERM.

The director followed the majority of the previous AERES recommendations especially those concerning the development of bioinformatics' competences.

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

The impact of this research is obvious, given the social cost and the increasing number of people affected by diabetes. The project plans to develop a more translational approach since members anticipated that the discovery of genes with strong effects could have a clinical impact and will require a reassessment of genetic counselling. Identification of unknown diabetes genes could introduce new mechanisms and possibly new drugs.

On the economic point of view, the international patents owned by the laboratory, as well as the impact in health, are promising.

The members of the unit have interactions with clinicians and with patients associations through different ways of diffusion of their results (review articles, books, conferences and courses). Furthermore, their international collaborations also promote cultural relations.

There is also important national and international funding.

Assessment of the unit's organisation and life:

Since 2009, the functioning and organization of the unit has been constantly adjusting to the phase of its relocation, installation, with transient and double locations, and re-growing. During this transition time, a "light" direction committee was used, with direct and frequent communication between members. Permanent researchers, engineers and associate professors now constitute the direction committee, who discusses key scientific and strategic issues and takes the decisions consequently.

Lab meetings have evolved during the reconstruction phase, and currently have different forms: 1) projects follow-ups, weekly technical and specialized discussions, according to the specific projects; 2) general lab meetings, weekly, with general presentations of key results or specific articles of interest to the unit, with discussion of points of general interest to the laboratory.

Members of the unit, students, researchers and engineers, regularly participate to scientific seminars and to specific workshops and trainings.

The unit is monothematic with complementary scientific orientations and expertise.

The adequate quality of the structure and the scientific logic are appreciated.

However, the limited number of researchers may cause organizational issues, given the educational duties and the wide range of independent projects proposed. The work load is expected to be enormous and focusing on the main projects could be useful. The recruitment policy must be strengthened. The research unit would benefit from the recruitment of at least one permanent researcher (CR). The recruitment of a clinician fellow by a "poste d'accueil INSERM" facility should be also very useful.

Assessment of the unit's involvement in training through research:

The unit reduced its recruitment of students during its reconstruction and because of the double location. In addition 4 M2 students are scheduled to join the unit in 2013.

The unit trained only one PhD student (University Paris 7, genetics thesis) who is in the last year of thesis, and another one started her PhD very recently (University Paris 7). The lack of doctoral students seems to come from the fact that there is only one permanent researcher with HDR.

One of the engineer will present her HDR next month and the associate professor and the other engineer have planned to do it also in 2013 and 2014 respectively, increasing the capacity of the laboratory to accept PhD students.

Furthermore, the unit participates to educational programs.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy:

The main scientific objective of UMR-S958 "Genetics of Diabetes" for the next 5-year renewal is to identify and study genetic factors involved in the diversity of diabetes, now extending to familial environmental factors. A specificity of this research is to investigate emerging issues and develop new concepts related to the genetics of diabetes, and perform the appropriate studies, which are complementary to large-scale studies that are performed by large groups and consortiums, to which the unit also participates.

Two main projects are presented:

1) Monogenic and strong genetic factors in diabetes, with the identification and characterization of monogenic entities and related genetic traits: monogenic atypical forms of diabetes, monogenic effects in patients with "extreme" presentation of traits selected from large T1D cohorts, monogenic contributions in clinically "typical" T1D/JOD patients with "extreme" familial presentation (multiplex families, population with high consanguinity rate), impact of newly identified genes on "common" diabetes (T1D and T2D), and functional studies of newly identified genes;

2) Functional genetic studies of the MHC and interacting loci, including the identification and characterization of new susceptibility genes (functional characterization of ZFP57, a MHC candidate for an epigenetic mechanism in T1D, identification of new T1D susceptibility genes and variants through an eQTL mapping approach with focus on the MHC); Two additional emerging projects are presented but they should be developed with caution given the limited size of the group.

The transversal research, including the clinical recruitment, patient's characterization and clinical translation, and the development of tools for analyses and data integration, bioinformatics set-up and support, which are of general interest to all research areas, represents a strong point of the unit.

The unit has a large number of collaborations that provide biological material and clinical data. It is important to note that the unit has a depository of all collections on site.

The committee recommends that more clinicians should join the unit.

Histogram

Hôpitaux Lariboisière et Saint--Louis. Le regroupement des services de diabétologie de ces deux hôpitaux sur Lariboisière (en cours), et le regroupement des unités de recherche du site prévue à terme également sur Lariboisière renforcera les collaborations entre génétique et clinique, qui sont centrales pour les projets de l'unité.

--Interaction avec l'environnement social, économique et culturel

Le comité a bien mesuré l'impact et les potentiels de nos recherches.

--Organisation et vie de l'unité. Composition de l'unité. Implication de l'unité dans la formation par la recherche

  Only 3 M1/M2 students were trained in 2009-2011 (one M2 in the Université Paris Descartes -Paris 5, speciality Genetics, one M1 in the Université Paris Diderot -Paris 7, speciality Genetics and one in the Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, speciality Statistics Engineering). In 2011-2012, they trained 1 M1 (Université Paris Diderot -Paris 7, Genetics specialty) and 3 M2 students (1 in Université Paris Descartes -Paris 5, specialty Chemical and Biological Analyses, and 2 in Université Paris Diderot -Paris 7, specialty Biology-Informatics).

«

  Limited number of permanent researchers (weakness and threat)/ The rapid recruitment of permanent researchers is mandatory (recommendation)». Cette situation découle également de notre stratégie de reconstruction, où nous avons dans un premier temps souhaité recruter principalement des ingénieurs ayant des compétences solides et complémentaires dans tous les domaines critiques, afin de mettre en place le laboratoire et les ressources, avant d'y inviter des chercheurs et étudiants, qui ont d'emblée des impératifs de production scientifique, peu compatibles avec les nécessités concrètes de la mise en place d'un laboratoire. Il est important de noter que les 4 IR/IE statutaires de l'unité ont pour la plupart des thèses d'Université (ou en ont le niveau), ont tous des activités de recherche, et deux d'entre eux ont des responsabilités de recherche. Leur implication réelle dans les activités de recherche n'était malheureusement pas très visible dans le tableau des « Workforces » présenté dans le rapport de l'AERES. L'étape de construction étant maintenant terminée, nous sommes en train d'initier cette nouvelle phase de recrutements. Le nombre relativement limité de doctorants provient également de l'historique de reconstruction de l'unité. L'activité d'encadrement d'étudiants a repris activement depuis 2011, deux étudiantes sont actuellement en thèse dans l'unité (dont une financée par une bourse du MESR obtenue en 2012), et une thèse en cotutelle avec une équipe collaboratrice est en discussion ; un projet de thèse d'un chercheur de l'unité a été présélectionné par l'Ecole Doctorale pour l'appel d'offre CORDDIM. L'activité d'encadrement va donc rapidement reprendre son niveau normal. Nous sommes bien conscients de la nécessité « to encourage the HDR qualification of the permanent researchers… (recommendation)», et un membre de l'unité a obtenu son HDR en 2013, deux autres sont prévus prochainement. « The recruitment policy must be strengthened ». Suite à notre installation définitive sur le site Villemin fin 2011, l'effectif de l'unité a doublé en 2012, résultant en une insuffisance de locaux, qui a été rapidement résolu par la Faculté de Médecine (rénovation de 100 m 2 de bureaux au même étage). Nous nous attachons maintenant à recruter des post-doctorants et chercheurs statutaires, mais aussi et tout particulièrement des étudiants ayant une formation médicale (M2, thèse), ce qui sera facilité par nos collaborations cliniques et par l'implication des membres de l'unité dans les enseignements de médecine et de master que suivent les étudiants de formation médicale. De plus, une CCA du service de Médecine interne 2 (Lariboisière), qui participe à un PHRC commun, a souhaité être rattachée au profil de l'unité.--Plan à cinq ans et stratégie Recommendation : «To avoid dispersion by putting strong emphasis on the 2 main projects that are the most advanced ».Nous sommes heureux que le Comité ait reconnu la maturité des deux projets développés depuis l'initiation de l'unité. Nous tenons è souligner ici la nature particulière des 2 autres projets, plus récents, qui constituent non pas des nouveaux projets indépendants, mais des extensions logiques des projets en cours, apportant dans les deux cas un « plus » important, et auto--financés : dans un cas il s'agit d'un développement méthodologique original, dont nous avons réalisé la preuve de concept (article en préparation), et qui augmentera la puissance des études de tous nos projets ; dans l'autre cas (facteurs d'environnement et interactions gènes--environnement), il s'agit d'une extension des projets en cours avec une nouvelle spécificité (l'environnement), tout en maintenant une cohérence stratégique (études familiales) avec les autres projets de l'unité. De plus ce projet s'appuie sur les collaborations cliniques fortes de l'unité et les équipes cliniques locales (Saint--Louis, Lariboisière), permettant ainsi d'enrichir et structurer ces collaborations cliniques. Enfin, ce projet débute par un projet pilote sur le diabète «africain» (PKD), en parfaite continuité avec les projets de l'unité, s'agissant d'un diabète atypique ayant une spécificité populationnelle, et qui de plus implique des facteurs viraux. Dans la mesure où le présent projet concerne les activités pour les 5 ans à venir, il nous a paru justifié de mentionner cet élargissement thématique, en parfaite cohérence avec les orientations de l'unité. En résumé, nous avons maintenant mis en place une excellente unité de recherche multidisciplinaire, répondant en cela à la critique majeure du comité AERES lors de la re--création de notre unité de «nous étoffer», nous avons établi des collaborations importantes avec des groupes de recherches, en particulier pour les études fonctionnelles détaillées, et des équipes cliniques, indispensables à la spécificité de nos projets, et nous avons mis en place des projets reposant sur des approches complémentaires et originales qui ont une grande puissance pour répondre aux questions posées. Les premiers résultats valident nos hypothèses et les publications suivront. Bien cordialement Cécile Julier, Inserm, DR1 Directrice de l'UMR--S958

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

	Unit workforce N1: Permanent professors and similar positions N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties) N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.) N5: Other researchers from Institutions (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.) N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties) TOTAL N1 to N6 Percentage of producers Doctoral students Theses defended Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit* Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions 2 2 Number as at 30/06/2012 1 [0.25 FTE] 2 [1.5 FTE] 5 [4.2 FTE] 2 [2 FTE] 1 [1 FTE] 11 [8.95 FTE] 1	Number as at 01/01/2014 1 [0.25 FTE] 2 [1.5 FTE] 5 [4.2 FTE] 2 [2 FTE] 10 [7.95 FTE]	1 1	2014-2018 Number of project producers 1 [0.25] 2 [1.5 FTE] 4 [3.8 FTE] 7 [5.55 FTE]

 Assessment of the unit Strengths and opportunities:

5 

 5 Statistics by field: SVE on 10/06/2013

	Grades

Critères C1 Qualité scientifique et production C2 Rayonnement et attractivité académiques C3 Relations avec l'environnement social, économique et culturel C4 Organisation et vie de l'entité C5 Implication dans la formation par la recherche C6 Stratégie et projet à cinq ans

	A+	67	62	52	73	65	60
	A	57	67	71	45	65	63
	B	12	7	4	7	6	14
	C	0	0	0	3	0	1
	Non Noté	3	3	12	11	3	1
	Percentages
	Critères	C1 Qualité scientifique et production	C2 Rayonnement et attractivité académiques	C3 Relations avec l'environnement social, économique et culturel	C4 Organisation et vie de l'entité	C5 Implication dans la formation par la recherche	C6 Stratégie et projet à cinq ans
	A+	48%	45%	37%	53%	47%	43%
	A	41%	48%	51%	32%	47%	45%
	B	9%	5%	3%	5%	4%	10%
	C	0%	0%	0%	2%	0%	1%
	Non Noté	2%	2%	9%	8%	2%	1%

Nous apportons ci--après des éléments de réponse aux points soulevés, qui sont pour la plupart en rapport avec l'historique récente de l'unité, avec sa reconstruction totale (locaux, infrastructure, équipements, équipe) sur le site Lariboisière/Villemin depuis sa re--création en janvier 2009, suite à notre décision stratégique. En effet, tant les points faibles que les points forts relevés par le Comité découlent de cet état de fait, qui a affecté temporairement le fonctionnement de l'unité et réduit sa production durant la phase de reconstruction, mais aboutit aujourd'hui à une équipe de qualité capable de réaliser les projets originaux qu'elle propose.

Evaluation de l'Unité --Forces et opportunités

Nous sommes heureux que le comité ait retenu la qualité de l'équipe et les compétences variées et complémentaires des personnes ainsi que leur enthousiasme, la qualité des projets et l'originalité des approches, et l'expertise toute particulière en bioinformatique. Ces aspects étaient des objectifs majeurs de la reconstruction de l'unité.

--Qualité scientifique et de la production « Limited scientific production co--authored by more than one member of the Unit (weakness and threat)/ To restore the level of publications where the team is in leader position/ to reinforce the production of common publications between Unit members (recommendations)». La réduction du nombre de publications et de celles cosignées par plusieurs membres résulte du fait que l'unité en tant que telle s'est constituée progressivement depuis janvier 2009, avec la dernière personne statutaire recrutée en juin 2012. Cela résulte également de l'effectif temporairement très réduit de l'unité, et de l'effort important de reconstruction, aux dépens en partie des activités de recherche proprement--dites. Depuis la visite du Comité, un article conjoint a été accepté, impliquant 5 membres de l'unité, dont les 1 er et derniers auteurs, et 2 articles sont en cours de révision, dont un est cosigné par 4 membres de l'unité. Plusieurs articles de l'unité sont en préparation, impliquant chacun plusieurs membres de l'unité. Concernant notre implication dans les activités du consortium T1DGC (précision): notre activité a été UNIQUEMENT d'ordre scientifique (membre du comité de pilotage), les activités administratives étant prises en charge par un chef de projet et les aspects financiers en discussion avec les responsables scientifiques du NIH, NIDDK et JDRF, également membre du comité de pilotage. Les études à très grande échelle du T1DGC ont été réalisées sur des plateformes extérieures, et tout le travail de décision quant aux approches et stratégies, l'organisation et la réalisation des études, l'analyses des données et l'écriture des articles ont été menés par les scientifiques du comité de pilotage. Ce travail a abouti à un grand nombre d'articles, qui font aujourd'hui référence dans la génétique du diabète de type 1, et a également permis de mettre en place des ressources biologiques et des données génétiques qui sont mises à la disposition des chercheurs, permettant ainsi de poser des questions nouvelles, au--delà des approches « classiques » réalisées dans le cadre du consortium T1DGC. Ces ressources sont importantes pour les projets de notre unité. L'activité du consortium T1DGC est aujourd'hui terminée, sa mission ayant été accomplie. Notre unité est maintenant impliquée dans un projet international de grande ampleur, financé par le NIH et qui fait suite à l'activité du T1DGC, dans lequel nous sommes en charge de l'étude transcriptomique de la région CMH et ses interactions.

--Evaluation de la réputation académique et de l'attractivité

Position de l'unité dans les collaborations en cours : notre unité a une place de leader dans la plupart des collaborations nationales et internationales actuelles dans lesquelles elle est impliquée. Cela n'était pas le cas pour le T1DGC, qui était un consortium de très grande ampleur, dépassant largement le cadre des activités de recherche d'une seule unité (cf ci-dessus), et cela n'est pas non plus le cas aujourd'hui pour le projet NIH (PI américain), où notre contribution cible un aspect particulier du projet, correspondant aux orientations et thématiques de l'unité. Dans les autres projets collaboratifs en cours ou en développement, nous avons une position de PI, nous appuyant sur des collaborateurs de réputation internationale et de très grande qualité.


President Michel Cosnard

Craig Faulds

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. The unit is composed of a staff of 58 permanents, with 7 professors, 14 lecturers (MCF), 8 researchers, 29 technicians and administrators, and shared 5 analytical platforms and 3 mutualized technical services. The unit is responsible of 6 collections, not only culture but also ancient and patrimonial collections.

UNIT PRESENTATION

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The MCAM Unit is headed by Mr Philippe GRELLIER, advised by the ex-Head of unit Ms Sylvie REBUFFAT.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

MCAM constitutes a unique pluridisciplinary scientific pole at MNHN devoted to the molecular mechanisms of communication and adaptation of microorganisms to their environment based on chemical, biochemical, biological, ecological and genomic approaches with the common objectives to study the role of microorganisms in the maintenance, the balance and the evolution of microbial systems. MCAM is organised into 4 research teams investigating: (1) the role, mechanism of action, and ecological roles of microbial proteins/peptides and metabolites; (2) the natural and chemical synthesis of fungal secondary metabolites and their role in the interaction of fungi with plants and algae; (3) the biodiversity of protists and nematodes and the mechanism of their adaption to the environment; and (4) the biodiversity of cyanobacteria and their toxins having an impact in their aquatic environment.

UNIT WORKFORCE

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

MNHN organisation enables MCAM to promote a unique national and international pluridisciplinary configuration in the communication between microorganisms and their adaption to different environments. The unit also hosts 6 enriched collections providing reference and environmental strains for fundamental and applied studies.

The unit has adopted such a pluridisciplinary approach within their research at the interface of biology and chemistry to address key questions involving the role of the different organisms in the global stability and evolution of ecosystems, and how these adaptations address important societal challenges related to the environment and health, and in providing innovation through bio-inspired novel molecules.

Members of MCAM have developed strong recognition and expertise in their areas, being highly involved in non-research activities as well as in a number of national and international publishing, evaluating and consultative activities. They have taken leading roles in the dissemination of their science to the public and to the academic community through high impact reviews and a very good publication record.

It is proposed to evolve the current research into four themes which will underpin the focus of each research team, adopting specific model organisms and an integrated comparative -omics approach in order to further increase the national and international visibility of the unit in the coming period. While this approach will lead to much more in-depth understanding of these organisms in their respective ecosystems, the challenge will be to further exploit the natural diversity of the collection. By undertaking a sharpening of focus and inter-team collaboration within the unit, this will lead to much more inspired discoveries in areas of high environmental and commercial importance, and place the unit at the forefront of their research and future socio-economic needs.

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 Evaluation abroad

INTRODUCTION

  HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNIT The Joint Research Unit N o 7245 of CNRS and the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) Molecules of Communication and Adaptation of Microorganisms (MCAM) was established in 2009 in Paris after a period of restructuring and merging of laboratories, and was labelled a UMR of CNRS in 2011.The unit is spread across 5 buildings around the garden and the "Ilôt Poliveau" of MNHN.

HCERES scientific officer: Mr Steven BALL Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies:

	Unit name:	Molecules of Communication and Adaptation of Microorganisms
	Unit acronym:	MCAM
	Requested label:	UMR
	Application type:	Renewal
	Current number:	7245
	Head of the unit (2017-2018):	Mr Philippe GRELLIER
	Project leader (2019-2023):	Mr Philippe GRELLIER
	Number of teams:	4
	COMMITTEE MEMBERS
	Chair:	Mr Craig FAULDS, Aix Marseille Université
	Experts:	Ms Corinne BURE, Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Bordeaux (supporting personnel)
		Ms Marie-France DELAUW-CESBRON, Université Grenoble Alpes
		Mr Paul DENNY, Durham University, United Kingdom
		Mr Marcel JASPARS, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom
		Mr Pierre LABADIE, Université de Bordeaux (representative of CoNRS)
		Ms Amel LATIFI, Aix Marseille Université
		Ms Anna-Maria ROVERO-PAPINI, Université de Cergy-Pontoise (representative
		of CNU)
		Ms Martine HOSSAERT, CNRS -INEE
		Mr Jean-Denis VIGNE, MNHN


President Michel Cosnard

Naomi Taylor

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 Unit name:

Genomes and Cell Biology of Diseases

INTRODUCTION HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNIT

The unit "Genomes and Cell Biology of Diseases" was formed in 1995 by Hugues de Thé and Ali Saib as a CNRS unit in the Hopital Saint Louis in Paris. In 2013, the unit was recreated as a CNRS-Inserm multi-team unit with the inclusion of 3 new teams. An additional team joined the unit in 2014 and an ATIP-Avenir team was created in 2017.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The head of the unit for the next 5 year period will be Mr. Jean Soulier.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE

SVE2-2; SVE2-3; SVE3-2; SVE5-4.

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The unit has a long history of bringing together fundamental research in the fields of genome structure, expression and stability, cell biology, chromatin organization, hematopoietic stem cell biology and leukemia pathogenesis with clinical/translational research in leukemia therapy, genome instability and viral infections.

UNIT WORKFORCE

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

The unit "Genomes and Cell Biology of Diseases" is a remarkable institute, bringing together fundamental and clinical research in hematology, virology, cancer and diseases associated with genetic instability. During the present evaluation period, unit members published in the most preeminent journals including NEJM, Cell, Science, Cell Stem Cell, Cell Reports, Nature, Nature Medicine and Nature Communications,. Furthermore, the unit's research has been funded at the highest level of national and international funding including three European ERC investigator and one NIH grants. It is also important to note that the unit has been at the forefront of clinical advances and teaching in hematology and more recently in virology. Finally, the unit coordinates several French and international teaching/training programs for scientists/clinicians and has contributed significantly to promoting science at the junior high school/high school level through an outreach program called "L'Arbre des Connaissances" ("Tree of Knowledge"). Thus, this is an outstanding unit, bringing together fundamental and clinical research in a wide range of fields at the highest level.

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 Evaluation abroad

  Non-permanent professors and associate professors, including emeritus 0Non-permanent full time scientists, including emeritus, post-


 Grading table of the team: UBIQUITIN AND DYNAMICS OF MOLECULAR SCAFFOLDS C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 A+ A+ NN A A A+

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 overall assessment and the following grades:

The unit directed by Mr Hugues DE THÉ is localised at Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris. During the period 2007-2012, 7 teams were present (1 joined the unit in 2010). Two teams left the unit, and 1 researcher left to develop his independent research project in a new environment, whereas a new team will join the unit, which therefore will be composed of 6 teams.

Management team

Mr Hugues DE THÉ will continue to manage the proposed structure composed by 6 teams.

AERES nomenclature : SVE1-LS4 2  Assessment of the unit Historically, the unit had a strong focus on leukemia research and virology. In 1995, Mr Hugues DE THÉ and another team leader, took over the direction of the unit and enlarged to different topics in cell biology, which have implications for human diseases. The existing groups work on virus entry, viral integration, leukemia and breast cancer. The unit will move to a new building, which will constitute a great opportunity to foster existing collaborations between the different groups and also recruit new groups. Ms Catherine DARGEMONT who has a strong basic background in protein modification and nuclear trafficking, will move from the Institute Jaques Monod to the new building once it will be operational. The research of the unit is outstanding with high international recognition as judged by the list of scientific papers in high profile journals and competitive funding obtained from both national (ANR, ) and European agencies (ERC, AVENIR, etc.) and the number of talks to international meetings. The projects are in most cases cutting edge and ambitious and for many projects carry very strong potential for translation into important clinical applications (leukaemia, breast cancers and virology). A remarkable contribution of the unit is its very high societal involvement with thousand of hours of teaching and science communication to the young people.

Strengths and opportunities

The main strengths of the unit are its outstanding research, its diversity, enthusiasm and its strong potential for future accomplishments. The unit will be hosted in a new research building, which will foster collaborations between the different groups that all have a strong basic cell biology interest. The director is conducting outstanding research and is very concerned to keep going a strong collegial and collaborative atmosphere in between the different group leaders. One of the most remarkable strengths of the unit is its societal implications with the leadership in giving classes to the CNAM (500H/year) and being the founder of association "L'arbre de la connaissance", for which they received high national (Prix Diderot de l'initative culturelle, catégorie espoir 2011) and international recognition (EMBO award for communication in life sciences). A great strength of the unit is the privilege access to human pathological samples as national center for leukemia, which is really unique compared to other international institutions. Once all the existing groups, including the group from Institute Jacques Monod, will join the new building, this will leave 35 spaces to recruit new group leaders, which represent a great opportunity to strengthen the basic science of the unit.

Weaknesses and threats

The teams are overall well funded. However, not all group leaders have permanent technical staffs, which is essential to ensure the scientific and technical continuity of the lab. The committee does not see any major weaknesses of the unit. It is important to realize that with the new lab space opening soon, there will be a recruitment phase to attract the best talents and the most promising group leaders. This is always a difficult enterprise in the French system since no one can promise a stable position from the beginning to this newly recruited group leaders, nor promise them they will be successful in their grant applications. One possible threat that should in theory last for a few months only will be the move to the new research building, which will induce a temporary disorganisation in the different units. Hopefully, no major delay in the moving seems to be scheduled. Another possible threat is the current absence of an administrative officer for the unit (due to the move of the previous one to another position), which leads to a further increase in work load for the PIs.

Recommendations

The committee has been unanimously impressed by the outstanding quality of the current research and the very strong potential of this unit, which represents a very successful and unique example of top quality Science, top quality teaching and top quality translational research being mixed harmoniously. The opportunity to recruit new group leaders in the new building should be focused in trying to recruit top-notch group leaders with strong basic science program to stimulate interaction with the more translational and clinically orientated research groups.

Assessment of the unit's academic reputation and appeal

The strong national and international reputation of the groups in this unit is attested by the numerous invitations to international meetings and talks in various universities, as well as the award of both national and international competitive funding (ATIPE/AVENIR, 2 ERC, INCA, ANR, plus several other international grants obtained through collaborative work (EU-FP7, NIH R01, …). In addition, one group leader is a coordinator of the LAbex "Who I am", which involved 27 laboratories from different horizons with a total funding of 11 millions euros. The most senior members of the unit have received prestigious national and international awards: Embo member, French academy of Science, French Légion d'honneur, Griffuel prize, Foreign collaboration award from the Chinese office for Science and Technology, director of the biology department of the conservatoire national des arts et métiers. The junior group leaders received national awards: prix Valerie Meillet 2008, prix Ana Panebeouf 2012, prix Yvelines cancer 2012, Helene Starc prize 2011. Many group leaders of the unit participate in expert of scientific committees (STIC/Inca, ATIP/Avenir, AERES, EUROCANCER, ARC, ANRS, European school of haematology, société française du cancer, French universities, clinical research board of the institut curie). All groups participate actively as referees for high profile and specialized scientific journals (Nature, Cell, Science, Cancer cell, Nature cell biology, Nature medicine, EMBO J, Blood, J. Virol, …) and some PIs are member of the editorial board of well respected journals (Cancer research, Cancer discovery, International journal of cancer, Leukemia). Many PIs have organised international and national conferences, symposia and workshops.

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

The unit has made major contributions to different initiatives of science communication and teaching, which have a great cultural impact in France. Members of the unit were the founding members of the "L'Arbre de la connaissance", which allows high school students to familiarize with scientific research. A unit member gave a radio interview to explain this action. This association has been extended to 13 other research centers in France and involved altogether more than a hundred researchers. This association has been supported by several public and private funds and has been awarded with the EMBO award for communication in life sciences. Moreover, the PIs communicate and give interviews for the popular press, radio and TV to highlight the impact of their research discoveries. Economically, the unit is involved in consulting and collaborating with the pharma industry and biotechs. Some PIs are members of scientific council of French scientific charities.

Assessment of the unit's organisation and life

The unit is organized in different groups, each under the direction of PIs, which are all responsible for the financial and scientific direction of their group, although solidarity exists between the teams. Common services (glassware, administrative, common supplies) are under the supervision of the director but common responsibilities are shared within staff members. The unit has a scientific advisory board run by prominent French and international researchers. The PIs can meet the director whenever they want. In addition, a formal Laboratory council is held twice per year. There is a weekly lab seminar during which all postdocs and PhD students present the results of their studies. There is also a weekly seminar with invited international and national researchers outside of the institute. The unit is marked by a convivial atmosphere, which was attested by the three categories of personnel during theirmeeting with the committee (ITA, PhD/Post-doc and Researcher). In general, people seem very happy with the scientific and technical opportunities offered by the unit.

Assessment of the unit's involvement in training through research

The unit is affiliated to the University Paris Diderot. Many group leaders and their associated researchers give a huge amount of hours and many classes in Paris Diderot University (Biochemistry…) and CNAM (>500 h/year). The unit signed an agreement with the CNAM , to wellcome assistant professors from the CNAM. The group leaders from the unit participate in several Master programs (Biologie cellulaire du cancer, thérapie ciblée, biothérapie et biotechnologies, génétique somatique du cancer), M2-students classes, DU, … The various teams and platforms of the unit have hosted 17 M2 students, 26 PhD students and 12 postdocs during the last 4-year period. 14 students have graduated and obtained their PhD.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The five-year project of the unit derives from individual teams projects, which have all been highly favourably evaluated (see individual teams evaluations). All the individual 5-year proposals were excellent, innovative, and feasible regarding the resources available.

Despite the apparent broad topics of research conducted in the unit, there is a very strong cohesion and collaboration between the different group members, which are all focused in defining new biological insights of human diseases. There is a strong focus on basic and translational researches on human cancers: promyelocytic leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, breast cancers. There are strong links in the study of posttranslational modifications such as ubiquitylation and sumoylation by different groups looking at the same pathways in different biological settings (virus integration, PML biogenesis, transcription, nuclear trafficking, autophagy), which contribute to the cohesion of the different teams of the unit.

In conclusion, the unit has developed over the last years into an outstanding unit, publishing regularly papers in top-notch journals and working in a very convivial atmosphere. Every PI developed a very clear strategy enabling many more new breakthroughs in biological sciences. This unit constitutes a reference for excellence in basic and translational research in France with a strong commitment to societal and educational participations. The team has gained international recognition for its work on Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia or APL. This particular form of leukemia is caused by gene rearrangements, most notably between the retinoic acid receptor-alpha gene and the promyelocytic leukemia gene. This rearrangement leads to the formation of a hybrid protein PML/RARA with altered and deleterious functions.

Using various approaches, the team has made several breakthrough discoveries on this disease both on its pathogenesis and in the treatment response mechanisms.

In particular, they have uncovered the mechanism by which arsenic can degrade PML/RARA and be therefore efficient as treatment for APL. They have also made the important observation that differentiation of APL cells is an independent process from disease eradication upon treatment by retinoic acid. Most of the work performed is clearly translational in nature, having as long term aim the benefit of patients suffering from APL.

The group has also uncovered important role of the PML proteins as redox sensors and further deciphered their implication in cellular senescence.

Their results have been published in top international journals (Nat Medicine, Nat Cell Biol, J Exp Med, Cancer Cell…), emphasizing the quality of the research performed in the team. The team was awarded an ERC grant, which are highly competitive, and a clear sign of the international recognition and excellence of the team.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The team leader has been elected at the French Academy of Science in 2011 and was awarded an ERC senior grant (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016). Other prestigious prizes and awards have been obtained by the team leader as well as team members, including the Foreign cooperation award of the Chinese Office for Science and Technology.

The team is very well funded with a number of important grants (INCa, Ligue contre le Cancer, CEE, ARC, ANR, NIH).

The academic reputation of the team can also be illustrated by the impressive number of invited conferences received by team members between 2007-2012 (71 in total) and also by the number of top-level reviews (Nat Rev Cancer, J Cell Biol, Cell Stem Cell).

As a general statement, the team is clearly at the forefront of international competition in its research area.

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

Four patents have originated from the work performed in the team. The team has ongoing contracts with pharmaceutical companies and one of the antibodies developed by a team member has been licenced to an antibody company.

The team leader is a consultant for several pharmaceutical companies.

Team members are founding members and president of "l'Arbre des connaissances", and especially the "Apprentis chercheurs", an action that is designed to bring high school students in contact with research laboratories during a whole year in order to encourage future scientific careers. This remarkable initiative has already trained 641 teenagers since 2004 and now employs 2 full time employees since it is supported by public and private funds. The researchers involved have given interviews on TV, radio and in newspapers.

The team leader is also a public figure when it comes to explaining the mode of action of arsenic to treat APL.

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

The team appears to work closely together. There is a friendly atmosphere and a strong support from the team member stimulating discovery and top research.

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

Four PhD students have been trained in the past 5 years. The team has also welcomed 6 post-doctoral fellows as well as 2 M2 students.

The teaching contribution of the team is otherwise important as already mentioned with the "Apprentis chercheurs" initiative, the responsibility of a master module "Biologie Cellulaire du cancer" and the classes given to medical students.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The team's project builds on previous results obtained in the past 5 years on the pathogenesis and treatment mechanisms of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia.

One project proposes to investigate the preleukemic phase of APL using murine and cellular models. A number of tools are apparently already available but have not been published yet.

Another direction will focus on studying the assembly and function of PML nuclear bodies and particularly the potential influence of sumoylation in these processes.

They will also pursue their search for the mechanism behind efficacy of retinoic acid/arsenic treatment of APL. This project will contain a translational aspect mixing both clinical research with APL patients and basic research.

One final project will widen a bit the scope of the team and proposes to test whether the biochemical pathways involved in PML/RARA degradation in APL could be similar to those involved in Tax degradation in HTLV1infected patients developing Adult T cell leukemia.

The project appears very coherent and solid. The funding available in the team will allow the proposed projects to be undertaken and therefore feasibility appears excellent. Collaborations are also in place to ensure good networking. -the committee could not see any weaknesses of the team.

Conclusion

 Recommendations:

-the committee congratulates the team leader with the results of the past 5 years and the plan for the next years: it is a focused research project with a clear goal, driving new findings in APL and related diseases. The new ideas are excellent and well funded on preliminary data.

4  Team-by-team analysis

Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

The group leader is known internationally in the field of retroviruses, and the research carried out is highly relevant. It concerns the interaction between host cells and retroelements, and more particularly the early steps of the life cycles for three of them: HIV1, Foamy Virus and the yeast retrotransposon Ty1. One original characteristic of the research is based on the fact that members of the team are respectively experts in the analysis of HIV1, FV and Ty1, which represent three exemplary case studies within the complex phylogenetic tree of retroelements. This gives a unique opportunity to combine functional and comparative approaches. More recently, the team has developed the analysis of simian to human transmission of FV in collaboration with two French teams.

The team has recently published new and original results. It was shown for the first time a novel pathway among retroviruses: foamy virus Gag mediates the chromosomal tethering of the FV DNA genome and the nuclear export of the FV RNA genome. Concerning Ty1, the characterization and the role of a Ty1 anti-sens transcript as a regulator of Ty1 transposition is a new result published recently by the team. Finally, the fact that HIV1 Integras sumoylation is important for efficient viral replication was first published by the team, then this result was acknowledged in several following publications.

The team published in total 18 primary research papers (Plos Pathogens, Blood, Traffic, JBC, J Virol, Oncogene, Retrovirology, NAR, MCB), 8 reviews and comments, and 27 oral and poster presentations in national and international conferences.

The quality of research is excellent thus leading to a high impact within the scientific community involved in virology and retroelement biology.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

Multiple national and international collaborations are listed. The members of the team participate actively in international and national conferences. The team leader received numerous prestigious awards (EMBO and Académie des Sciences prizes) highlighted by many collaborative grants (ANRS, Sidaction, ANR, EU FP7). The senior scientist in charge of Ty1 topic has obtained grants from CNRS and ANRS. Both are involved in several editorial boards and organization of national and international meetings.

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

The team leader has initiated an highly relevant organization involved in communication in life science ("l'Arbre des connaissances") and participates to conferences cycle at la Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie. He is also in charge of the "observatoire de la biologie de synthèse" which concerns the impact of the development and applications of synthetic biology on the society.

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

The team is composed of one professor (team leader), two associate professors and two research scientists (1 DR2 CNRS and 1 CR1 INSERM). The team leader delegates responsabilities among the other scientists within the team because his administrative tasks (first as the manager of the research department at the CNAM from 2009 to 2012, then as « recteur »).

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

The PI is full professor at CNAM, and two assistant professors ("maitre de conférences ") at CNAM are also members of the team: they report together high teaching activities at Paris 7 and CNAM. Four PhD students have been trained in the past 5 years and two post-doctoral scientists have been welcommed. Three PhD students are currently trained.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The team has a feasible and long-term strategy that builds on its current strengths. The rational of the two main projects is clear: it concerns 1) the intranuclear trafficking of FV and Ty1 Gag and 2) the regulation of retroelements integration through site selection and Integrase sumoylation. These projects are strengthened by a strong interaction between members within the team, but also with members from the others teams.  Weaknesses and threats:

Conclusion

-small number of publications in journals with high impact factor (> 10); -sustainability of funding programs.

 Recommendations:

The committee recommends to keep pursuing their current research and if possible develop new collaborations with the other teams.  Detailed assessments

Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

Scientific production is of high quality relative to the size of the research group with regular publications in journals with high / very high impact factor (Blood, Nat Genet, J Clin Invest, J Exp Med, Cancer cell, Cell Stem Cell). This is even more remarkable given the medical duties of most of the staff members and the current absence of senior scientists with permanent positions. These publications are related to the 2 main research themes of the group that aims at characterizing genetic alterations and oncogenic mechanisms driving leukemogenesis. Their integrated approach, mainly based on patient samples, has allowed them to make some breakthrough discoveries in the pathogenesis of T-ALL and Fanconi anemia. In addition to these major publications, members of the group have been participating in collaborative projects that led to almost 50 publications in good to excellent journals. Research programs are well supported by important funding resources from national and international agencies (ANR, INCa, ARC, ERC).

Members of the group have medical responsabilities in St Louis Hospital that represent a strong added value to their own research since they are involved in diagnosis of leukemic patients and directly participate in bio-banking of valuable samples that they use for their basic and translational research programs.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The scientific production has provided the group an excellent international reputation, in particular in the field of FA and T-ALL for which the group coordinates national networks (INCa project). Different members of the group have important responsabilities as research institute director, director of a PhD program, members of national committees (CNU, specialized commissions) and hematology-related academic societies (European School of Hematology). The team leader is regularly invited to international (17 in the past 5 years) and national (34 in the past 5 years) conferences. The research group is well connected and is driving interesting collaborations, at both the national and international levels. The group is attractive for students and post-docs and its attractiveness will likely improve in the coming years with the ERC-funding. The principal investigator is associate editor of Haematologica.

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

Recent interactions with 1 biotech company for drug screening in the context of T-ALL are mentioned but not detailed. The group leader participates in meetings organized by FA-related family associations in France, Spain and Germany where he gives advices and discussions. As other teams from IUH, the team participates in the "arbre de la connaissance", an interesting initiative that fosters scientific interactions with young students.

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

Overall organization of the group appears good, with regular meetings including all members of the group.

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

The group hosted several students (some of them being outstanding) at both the master and PhD levels, some of them being MDs with clinical duties. The group also hosted 2 post-docs so far, one of them has not yet published as first author, the second one left the group after only one year of training. One of the team members is head of the doctoral school B2T and other team members are involved in higher education training (European School of Hematology courses, M1 and M2 courses on oncogenesis and somatic genetic of cancer).

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The group will continue to develop ambitious cancer genomic projects related to leukemia development and progression using their own collection of samples harvested during the course of evolution of the disease (diagnosis versus relapse). It would enhance the project if sequential tracking of T-ALL samples could be conducted in parallel with analysis of Minimal Residual Disease (MRD). Ambitious profiling of these samples using next-generation sequencing, exome sequencing and RNA-seq will likely generate a very large amount of interesting data. The group wish to continue modeling specific oncogenic alterations occuring in T-ALL and AML in FA patients using relevant mouse models (using humanized models of FA on immunocompromised mice and genetically enginereed mouse mutants in syngenic models). The project appears very coherent and solid. The funding available in the team will allow the proposed projects to be undertaken and therefore feasibility appears excellent. Collaborations are also in place to ensure good networking. At the current moment, mechanistic studies do not appear to be as well described as the translational programs.

Conclusion

 Strengths and opportunities:

The group develops excellent translational research programs with potential direct applications in oncohematology. Translational programs are supported by excellent ties with clinical departments that may result in clinical trials in the context of T-ALL and AML in FA patients. The PI is the head of the National Reference Center for Constitutional Bone Marrow Failure syndromes, a situation that guarantees a privileged access to patients samples. Their ambitious programs should help redefine paradigms regarding leukemia progression and might lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Expertise in animal modeling and bio-banking activities are the basis for strong scientific collaborations involving various research groups with international reputation in France and abroad. Excellent funding has been secured for the coming years that should provide the group with a strong opportunity to recruit more post-docs and PhD students.

 Weaknesses and threats:

Although the translational research programs are well developed, basic research programs could still be improved. As mentioned by the PI, there is currently no full-time researcher with permanent position dedicated to more basic science programs. Only few experienced post-docs have been hired so far.

 Recommendations:

Hiring permanent staff scientists at the "chargé de Recherche" level or senior post-docs with a more basic science profile could help re-inforce the leadership of the group within the onco-hematology community, and complete their current lines of research. This should help the group to take even more benefits from their cancer genomic / profiling efforts. The group should further secure their stratgy in term of bioinformatic analyses by completing their current expertise and extending their knowledge to a higher number of lab members and/or future post-docs. In the past years, team members have made some important discoveries 1) about the role of the ubiquitin ligase CBLL1 in flaviviruses replication and 2) in the identification of new entry factors allowing Dengue virus to infect human cells. Additional work performed by the team has allowed to distinguish different entry pathways for the wildtype yellow fever virus and the attenuated strain used for vacination. They have also participated in a collaboratve study aimed at identifying factors involved in yellow fever virus entry and replication using an RNAi screen.

The team published from 2007 to 2012 nine primary research papers (J of Virology, Virology, J Infect Dis, 2 Cell Host Microbe), 4 reviews and comments, and 7 oral and poster presentations in national and international conferences. Their last paper has a high impact within the scientific community: it describes two receptors that enhance Dengue virus infection. This last study shows that Dengue virus is able to hijack an ubiquitous phenomenon, the clearance pathway of apoptotic bodies ("eat-me signals"), in order to enter their target cells, thus explaining why the Dengue virus can infect very different cell types. Two others major results were obtained, concerning the entry and replication of flaviruses : 1) the ubiquitin ligase CBLL1 was identified as a mediator during WNV endocytosis 2) different entry pathways were identified for the wild-type yellow fever virus and an attenuated strain used for vacination, opening new interesting perspectives for vaccin design.

The work performed in the team clearly appears of very good quality.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

Numerous national and international collaborations are listed. Several national and international grants were obtained as PI or Co-PI (ANR, EU, FRM, NIH, Gates Foundation). The team leader belongs to several French scientific committees.

The team leader has been invited to a few national and international conferences. Recent results about the TIM and TAM role in Dengue virus entry in cells will help increase the international recognition of this team.

Assessment of the team's interaction with the social, economic and cultural environment At this moment, the team does not have interactions with pharmaceutical companies. This point could eventually be improved as their results may hold some promising leads for vaccine development especially for Dengue virus infection.

As for the other teams of the unit, this team is involved in communication in life science (« l'Arbre des Connaissances »).

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

The team is composed of two full-time research scientists (CR1 Inserm), one post-doc, 2 PhD students and one technician (half-time).

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

The team welcomes high school students through the "Apprentis chercheurs" action.

One student has defended his PhD in 2010 and two more are in training. The team has also welcomed 1 postdoctoral fellows as well as 1 M2 student.

The team leader is responsible for a Virology module in a PhD program and is teaching fundamental virology to M2 students from Paris Diderot and the Pasteur Institute.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The project is based on a robust strategy and is divided into 3 parts: 1) the role of phosphatidylserine receptors TIM and TAM during Dengue virus entry, in the continuity of their last paper published in Cell Host Microbes suggesting that DV mimics apoptotic signals to infect cells 2) the analysis of the interaction between CD300 and DV 3) the characterization of the endocytic pathways used respectively by the YFV wild type and an attenuated vaccine form during entry. The project appears very coherent, building on previous work and results obtained in the team. The funding available in the team will allow the proposed projects to be undertaken and therefore feasibility appears excellent. Collaborations are also in place to ensure good networking.

Conclusion

 Strengths and opportunities:

-Very promising emerging team; -Importance of the thematic in a global public health perspective; -Good funding.

 Weaknesses and threats:

-Small team; -Difficulty in the recruitment of stable staff member(s).

 Recommendations:

The team should be reinforced through the recrutement of a full-time technician. The "Translational Cancer Group" was created at the beginning of 2012. The two team leaders have previously acquired expertise in translational research in the field of breast cancer and obtained significant results during the 2008-2012 period concerning the identification of predictive biomarkers (mRNA signature and p53 status) of chemotherapy in neoadjuvant setting and the definition of patients with a molecular apocrine signature. The research on p53 is linked to the previous research activities of the unit and has the potential for increased interaction with the basic science teams.

The future team is small and composed of 6 part-time researchers (the two PIs (MCU-PH), 2 doctorants, 2 medical oncologists, one half-time technician for animal experiments). Nevertheless, they have developed several national (essentially in Paris) and international (Copenhagen, Brussels, MD Anderson Texas) collaborations which enabled them to have a significant number of publications during the 2007-2012 period : 21 major contributions, 30 collaborative publications and 5 reviews. The publication output from the team is very good (PLOS med, Int J Cancer, Cancer Res, Clinical Cancer Research, BMC Cancer, Med Oncol..) but not outstanding.

The team has coordinated molecular studies in several national multicentre trials, which indicates a good research network and access to clinical samples. For this, the additional expertise of the team in diagnostic molecular pathology is of great value. It should be emphasized that many national and international breast cancer groups are currently actively seeking collaborations with molecular diagnostic experts, and this could be a very interesting opportunity for the further development of the translational group.

The team leaders are PI of at least one academic grant per year (INCa/DHOS 2012;ANR 2011;Ligue 2011;InCa transfert, ARC, IHU 2009), which enables them to function autonomously.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The team has a strong academic reputation on the national level, one of the team leaders is a member of the administrative staff of the French Cancer Society and has been coordinator of the Board for clinical research at the Institut Curie. Futhermore, one PI has been the expert for STIC on the INCa committee. The team leaders have achieved international recognition for their research output (e.g. molecular apocrine and p53). The international recognition as invited speakers is however limited, since they have been invited to give talks only in French meetings or European congresses (Eurocancer) organized in France. They have a large number of national and international collaborations with excellent groups, which is a good basis for the further development of the group and will lead to increased international reputation.

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

In the Breast Cancer field, there is a strong culture of patient advocate groups. The translational team is well linked with this social environment. One of the PIs is a member of the scientific board of Europa Donna France, non profit organisation, which aims at improving breast cancer education for patients.

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

Both PIs are working only part time for research, as they are doing molecular diagnostic as well. However, this could also be seen as strength of the group and provides a direct link to the field of molecular diagnostics for patient diagnosis and treatment, which is essential for efficient translational research. They organize weekly Lab meetings to discuss science and the organization of the lab. There is a very close interaction and extensive discussion of projects between the team leaders and the students and residents. This group has two PIs, which share the responsibility for the projects, which provides a good basis for the further development and the long-term perspective of the translational group. It is not very clear how the two team leaders share responsibility for the three projects. It is the visiting committee's impression that both PIs have a very good interaction and personal communication and are very dedicated. The current co-PI structure provides good opportunities for training and personal development and provides a basis for the long-term development of the translational group.

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

The team has recently recruited 2 doctorants. They supervised 2 M2 students and train regularly 3-4 residents for six months each. The two team leaders are highly involved in teaching duties in cancerology and biochemistry courses (L1 and L2 Sante, DIU, DESC, co-organization of a L3 unit of cancerology). They have half-day project meetings every week.

Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The results obtained during the last period together with the expertise acquired in translational research and their facilitated access to patient samples have led them to propose a project divided into three tasks :

-The validation of early predictive markers of response to chemotherapy in neoadjuvant settings (links between mRNA expression of proliferation network and metabolic shut-off); -The clarification between the link between P53 status and response to chemotherapy (isogenic p53-modified breast cancer cell lines and nude mice xenografted with these cell lines); -The exploration of molecular apocrine subgroups (Androgen receptors and signaling).

The question raised are clinically relevant, such as the AR/apocrine issue. The direct involvement of the group in the translational investigations of a current prospective clinical trial on apocrine cancer provides a very good opportunity for further validation. It would be ideal if a similar situation (prospective clinical validation trial) could be developed for the other main research topic of the group, the role of p53 in therapy response. The present results are very interesting, but an additional prospective validation would be a basis for transfer into daily clinical practice and of great additional value. We would encourage the team to further actively try to get funding for such a prospective clinical validation study focused on p53.

The future plans and the scientific programme are ambitious considering the present size of the team. Furthermore, the field of predictive biomarkers is very competitive. The interactions with local clinicians and national clinical groups have already reached a very good status. For further development the interaction with industry and international clinical groups should be intensified. The translational group has the potential to form a link between basic science and clinic. Currently, the personal interactions with the basic science groups in the institution are good, however the scientific interactions could be improved to reach a higher level of international recognition. There is no other team in the unit with a major research focus on breast cancer and the recruitment of such a team should be considered for the further development of the unit.

Conclusion Strengths and opportunities:

-Wide experience in translational reseach in breast cancer; -Scientific production and grant fundings; -Direct connection with clinical molecular diagnostics; -Access to large collections of clinical samples and integration in ongoing clinical trials; -Clinically relevant questions raised, such as the AR/apocrine issue; -Several national (essentially in Paris) and international (Copenhagen, Brussels, MD Anderson Texas) collaborations.

Weaknesses and threats:

-No other team in the unit working on breast cancer and lack of interaction with basic scientists; -Limited size of the team compared with the large number of proposed projects and international competition in the field. -Top priority should be given to the recruitment of a full-time researcher with a focus on translational breast cancer research; -The interaction with clinical groups should be further intensified;

-The unit should consider to recruit an additional basic science breast cancer group, which would facilitate the interaction;

-The personal development of the Co-PIs is important for the long term perspective of the translational group. Assessment of the five-year plan and strategy

The five-year scientific plan and strategy addresses 3 different topics related to nuclear export and postranslational modifications. Collaborations are expected to arise through a move of the « Ubiquitin and Dynamics of Nuclear Scaffold » team in the field of cancer/sumoylation/ubiquitination in cells of higher organisms. Also, analysis of the spatiotemporal organization of mRNP will involve an important technological collaboration outside of the "Molecular Pathology and Virology" unit. With time, it could be of interest to implement these leading microscopy strategies in the unit for the benefit of everyone.

Conclusion

 Strengths and opportunities:

A team with a strong expertise, a high visibility, and a very good scientific production.

The relocation of the team provides an opportunity to move to higher eukaryotes and establish synergies with local teams.

Access to new technology will favour one of the proposed research line.

 Weaknesses and threats:

Need to integrate into a unit with more clinical orientated questions, implying refocusing part of their project with more emphasis on mammalian cells.

 Recommendations:

The team should quickly integrate the unit once the new research building will be finished (end of 2013) and and establish collaboration with its new (clinical) colleagues.

 Conduct of the visit Visit dates

Start: Thursday, 14, February, 2013 at 9:00 End: Friday, 15, february 2013 at 2:00 pm Visit site: Hopital Saint Louis Address : Rue de La Grange aux Belles, Paris Specific premises visited:

Conduct or programme of visit: The visit had been carefully prepared and members of the committee liked the scientific quality of the oral presentations. During the visit, the comittee members were able to discover the information essential to the understanding of the life of the unit.

Day one -February, 14th

  Representative(s) of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Ms Corinne ALBERTI, University Paris Diderot Ms Evelyne JOUVIN-MARCHE, CNRS Ms Chantal LASSERRE, DSA INSERM 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit

3

   Detailed assessments Assessment of scientific quality and outputs The scientific production of the unit during the last five years has been excellent. All PIs, including the young group leaders have produced outstanding research papers published in high profile journals (since 2007: 2 Cancer Cell, Nature Medicine, 2 Nature Cell Biology, Nature Genetics, 2 Journal of Experimental Medicine, Cell Stem Cell, Journal of clinical investigation, 2 Cell host and microbes, Mol Cell, Journal of Cell Biology …) or in the best specialized journals of their field (PLOS pathogen, PLOS medicine, nucleic acid research, Journal of Virology, …). The current research is highly innovative and has led to several major papers with extremely important implications for the understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of several human diseases including promyelocytic leukemia, lymphoid leukemia, Fanconi anemia, infection by flavivirus, and breast cancer.



  Strengths and opportunities: -Impressive record in term of quality of the publications; -Strong leadership; -Strong international recognition; -Complementarity between basic and clinical research; -The collaborations are excellent, and further support the viability of the studies.  Weaknesses and threats:



  Strengths and opportunities: -Comprehensive knowledge of retroelements, from exogenous orthoretroviruses to non infectious retrotransposons; -good production of papers; -High cohesion of the group; -Strong teaching activities; -Strong interactions wth the social environment; -Good funding.

  Permanent EPST or EPIC researchers and similar positions N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties) N4: Other professors (PREM, ECC, etc.) N5: Other EPST or EPIC researchers (DREM, Postdoctoral students, visitors

2 N3:

 2 Permanent professors and similar positions N2: Permanent EPST or EPIC researchers and similar positions 2 2 Other permanent staff (without research duties) N4: Other professors (PREM, ECC, etc.) N5: Other EPST or EPIC researchers (DREM, Postdoctoral students, visitorsquality and outputs The team has joined the unit only two years ago, moving from Institut Pasteur. The group leader is an expert in the field of flaviviruses. The research carried out in this team concerns the mechanisms of virus entry and the highjacking of the host cell machinery by the virus during its life cycle. The team tackles important public health issues related to arboviruses (Dengue viruses, west Nile virus and yellow fever virus).

  Name of team leader: Ms Patricia de CREMOUX, Ms Jacqueline LEHMANN-CHE Permanent EPST or EPIC researchers and similar positions N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties) N4: Other professors (PREM, ECC, etc.) N5: Other EPST or EPIC researchers (DREM, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.) spent at least 12 months in the unit Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions 2  Detailed assessments Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

  Permanent professors and similar positions N2: Permanent EPST or EPIC researchers and similar positions 2

9: 00

 00 (closed-door) Visiting committee with the AERES Scientific advisor 9:15 AERES representative: the role and procedures of AERES 9:30 Director of the unit (30' presentation, 30' discussion): Presentation of the past activities and project 10:30-11:00 Coffee break 11:00 Team 1 -BIOLOGY OF EMERGING VIRUSES (20' Talk + 25' discussion, including 5' only with the team leader) Mr Ali AMARA 11:45 Team 2 -DYNAMICS OF RETROVIRUSES AND RETROTRANSPOSONS (20' Talk + 25' discussion, including 5' only with the team leader) AND CANCER (20' Talk + 25' discussion, including 5' only with the team leader) Mr Jean SOULIER 17:00 Team 5 -TRANSLATIONAL CANCER STUDIES (20' Talk + 25' discussion, including 5' only with the team leader) Ms Patricia de CREMOUX/ Ms Jacqueline LEHMANN-CHE 17:45 Debriefing on the team presentations 6  Statistiques par domaine : SVE au 10/06

Unit workforce 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	14	14	13
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions	7	8	8
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)	12	10	9
	N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.)	1	0	0
	N5: Other researchers from Institutions (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)	12	14	12
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)	3	3	3
	TOTAL N1 to N6	49	49

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

	Doctoral students
	Theses defended
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit*
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken
	Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	11+2

Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions

 Detailed assessments Assessment of scientific quality and outputs

Considering its size, the production of the team « Ubiquitin and Dynamics of Nuclear Scaffold » is very good both in quantity and quality. It includes regular publications including in top journals in Molecular and Cellular Biology such as Nature Cell Biology or Molecular Cell. The team published in total 15 (+3 from a member of the team) primary research papers in international journals with high/very high impact factor (including Nat Cell Biol, Molecular Cell, Genes and Dev, Nature Structural and Mol Biology, J Cell Biol, PNAS, PLoS Genetics), 4 reviews and comments. These publications reflect the scientific quality of the team production as assessed by their peers. These publications contributed to the visibility of the Institut Jacques Monod where the team was located.

Presentation at conferences is good. The PI was obviously invited as speaker in many occasions.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The team has a good visibility and appears to be attractive. This is in part reflected by its move to a new location, demonstrating interest for its work outside of the institute where it was previously located. Its visibility/attractiveness is also demonstrated by the participation of the team in networks, both national and international. Some permanent lab members left the group, at least for one of them to take a group leader position elsewhere. The team « Ubiquitin and Dynamics of Nuclear Scaffold » has numerous interactions with other teams in the Paris area supported by appropriate funds: LabEx, ANR and FP7 grants... These occured mostly with teams outside the Institut Jacques Monod where the team was located. It will be important to establish working interactions with teams present in the new unit. Collaborations extend to the national and international levels. The PI is coordinating a Labex of 11 000 000 Euros. The team leader has been elected at EMBO and received the Grand Prix JP Lecocq from the French Academy of Sciences. A junior scientist obtained the Prize H. Starck from the French Association against Cancer. The group leader was invited to 17 international conferences (EMBO, FASEB..). Research programs are supported by national and international agencies (Equipe labellisée LNCC, ANR, Labex, ARC, EU).

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

The team « Ubiquitin and Dynamics of Nuclear Scaffold » has participated to several actions that differ from the usual path of scientific production and that had an impact on the society (education, ecology…). It also hosted two young students (from "collège"). If it wishes so, this team will probably have opportunities to strengthen interaction with the social environment by joining the "Arbre des Connaissances" action of the new unit.

There is no specific impact on the economic environment but this is not unexpected given the basic research program of this team.

Assessment of the team's organisation and life

The life in the team is organized as in most teams with similar size and activities: the group main objectives are defined by the PI and developed by permanent researchers, students or postdocs with some technical support. (It is noteworthy that some of the permanent researchers moved to form independent groups during the last 4 years.) Internal life is supported by lab meeting discussions, organization of seminars, and lab retreats. The PI is responsible to foster synergy between the various sub-projects of the group, and with the host institute. (The latter will be critical after moving to a new environment). When necessary, collaborations with internationally recognized experts are organized allowing the team to effectively implement new strategies and/or investigate new areas. At the Institute level, members of the team invested their time in common unit activities (e.g., radioactivity follow-up). This underlines the involvement of this team in the local organization and life.

Assessment of the team's involvement in training through research

The team is implicated in training both in the lab (2 M2 students, 5 PhD students (3 completed), 7 post-doc (2 on-going), 2 others (L2 and engineer school)) and through lectures by the permanent staff of the unit. This includes the organization of a M2 cursus. This is an important activity and implication given the team size. We would first like to gratefully acknowledge the members of the AERES committee, not only for their work, but also for their very positive comments concerning the activity of the laboratory.

Concerning team 6 (Ubiquitin and Dynamics of Molecular Scaffolds) and in order to homogenize its report with those of the other teams of the unit, it is important to precise that:

Assessment of scientific quality and outputs:

The team published in total 15 (+3 from a member of the team) primary research papers in international journals with high/very high impact factor (including Nat Cell Biol, Molecular Cell, Genes and Dev, Nature Structural and Mol Biology, J Cell Biol, PNAS, PLoS Genetics), 4 reviews and comments.

Assessment of the team's academic reputation and appeal

The team leader has been elected at EMBO and received the Grand Prix JP Lecocq from the French Academy of Sciences. A junior scientist obtained the Prize H. Starck from the French Association against Cancer.

The group leader was invited to 17 international conferences (EMBO, FASEB..).

Research programs are supported by national and international agencies (Equipe labellisée LNCC, ANR, Labex, ARC, EU).


President Michel Cosnard

Chairwoman Anna Lindholm

Mr Heiko

Georg Rödel

Christian Mr

Burban

Jean-François Mr

Hocquette

Jean-Pierre Mr

Astruc

Article 8, paragraph 5); 2 The evaluation reports "are signed by the chairman of

INTRODUCTION HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNIT

The LEEC was founded more than 40 years ago at "Université Paris 13", and is situated at the "Institut Galilée" at the Villetaneuse campus. It belongs to the faculty of "Lettres, Langues, Sciences Humaines et des Sociétés". Following the retirement of the previous director, the direction of the team changed since the previous evaluation.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Head: Mr Heiko RÖDEL; deputy head: Mr Christophe FÉRON.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE

SVE4 Neurologie; SVE1_2 Agronomie, Biologie Végétale, Écologie, Environnement, Évolution.

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The unit focuses on ethology, the study of animal behaviour, with a strong empirical research approach. There is a Tinbergen inspired focus on proximate and ultimate causes of behaviour, including an ontogenetic and comparative approach. Research questions fall into the themes of "Individual differences", "cognition and communication", and "reproductive strategies". A diversity of organisms are studied in the laboratory and in the field, primarily social insects, polychaetes, and mammals. The LEEC performs fundamental and applied research, in particular investigating the evolution of behaviour and its underlying mechanisms.

UNIT WORKFORCE

Unit workforce

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

Since the previous evaluation, the unit has integrated two teams into a single one, and improved its scientific productivity. The major strengths of the unit are their skill pool, the originality of some biological systems, and good management practices resulting in strong cohesion of the whole research team. Further strengths are regular scientific exchanges, continuous and strong involvement in training and higher education at both national and international levels, attractiveness to foreign students and researchers, the astute development of non-academic partnerships, and good integration of applied and fundamental research. The main weaknesses of the team are that the number of HDRs remains moderate, and the scientific productivity of team members is unequal. New opportunities for the unit include a promising new biological model and an opportunity to benefit from a partnership with IRD ("Institut de Recherche pour le Développement"), and teaching the Master degree in English to reinforce international attractiveness. Threats to the team are the risk of losing teaching or technical and animal care positions, the risk of reducing group cohesion through merger with another unit, and the risk of not fully benefiting from the investment from the "Chaire d'excellence" program if the partnership with IRD is not realised.

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

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

expert committees and signed by their chairman." (the expert committee".


President Michel Cosnard

Chairman Daniel Mertens

Ms Nadine Varin-Blank

Daniel Mr

Mertens

Mr Laurent

Jean-Paul Mr

Lalles

Jean-Pierre Mr

Astruc

Ms Christine Chomienne

INTRODUCTION HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE UNIT

The unit "Unité Mixte de Recherche Inserm 978/Université Paris 13" "Adaptateurs de signalisation en hématologie" (ASIH) belongs to UFR SMBH (Santé, Médecine, Biologie Humaine), Université Paris 13 at Bobigny. It was created in 2009 to develop a common project in the field of chronic lymphoproliferative neoplasms based on fundamental research and applied hematology at Avicenne Hospital, and renewed for the 5 past years as a convergence between the research group directed by Ms Nadine VARIN-BLANK and members of the EA 3406 University unit (Cell Signalling and Oncogenesis, Université Paris 13) hosting the "Service d'hématologie biologique", "Service d'anatomopathologie" and "Service de biochimie" of the Avicenne Hospital.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The ASIH unit is headed by Ms Nadine VARIN-BLANK.

HCERES NOMENCLATURE

SVE5-4.

SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN

The research activities of the ASIH unit are based on the role of key signalling complexes and pathways altered in haematological chronic diseases: chronic lymphocytic leukemia and Mantle cell lymphoma.. The scientific objectives of ASIH are related to the study of interactions between normal or pathological cells and their microenvironment, more specifically in the field of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and mantle cell lymphoma. They focus on BCR signalling, WNT and NFAT, survival, proliferation, and microenvironmental interaction e.g. mobility (CXCR4) and T-cell interaction and immune evasion.

UNIT WORKFORCE

Unit

GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIT

The scientific strategy further reinforces a continuum of basic and translational research, and members of the unit transfer their knowledge into daily practice for stratification of disease progression. This is reflected in the publication record of the unit for the last period that shows an exceptionally large body of literature. A number of articles were published in the best journals of the field.

Members of ASIH are experts of the scientific community and are involved in local, national and international structures and committees (e.g. University Research Council, University and APHP). The unit actively participates in high-level meetings and takes the lead in structured international networks, thereby strengthening its international reputation. Members of the unit are also deeply involved in training young researchers, most notably by the coordination of Master course, doctoral schools and through the coordination at the medical faculty. In addition, the unit develops excellent technological tools and platforms.

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 Evaluation abroad

  personnel (ITAs, BIATSSs and others, notably of EPICs) 8

, the composition of which is specified below. The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial reviewing by the committee.