M Marc Verin

Mrs Christine Tranchant

M Luc Defebvre

M Antonio Pisani

M Marc Savasta

Aeres Scientific

M Bruno Bontempi

M Claude Labit

This unit has been judged excellent particularly in regard of the originality of its research and its pluridisciplinary. It was the first French team to focus its research in the field of behavioral and basal ganglia. It has obtained interesting findings within the three main axes envisioned, that are "Emotion and basal ganglia"; "Motivation and basal ganglia", and "Therapeutic applications". Its research activity has led to very good publications in Brain, Neurology, PloS One, and Movement Disorders, and to the creation of a startup called "Syneika", which offers technical innovations in the field of transmagnetic stimulation (rTMS). The management team appeared very dynamic and efficient in developing new projects and raising funding (University, PHRC, Industry…).

• Strengths and opportunites

The topic of the research developed, which focuses on the role of basal ganglia in emotion and motivation in humans, and the scientific approach used (centered on deep brain stimulation data) are very original and very specific to this unit.

The numerous medical and scientific domains (neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, neuroradiology, functional imaging, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, biostatics…) which are actively explored allow to establish a solid ground for this original and creative approach.

The third research theme of the unit has led to technical innovation and to the creation of a startup called "Syneika".

The team has demonstrated a great ability to collect funds [University (78kE), PHRC (974kE), Industry (518kE), France Park (18kE), Bourse AXA (120KE)].

The team has developed pertinent collaborations and partnerships.

Students benefit from very good training, and availability of the scientific staff.

• Weaknesses and threats

Despite the fact that this unit is not associated with any research agency, the absence of full time researchers and its small size could become a handicap in the near future. However, one of the researchers, Julie PÉRON, will postulate in 2011 for a CR2 INSERM position and the objective of the unit is to merge with the INSERM units 642, 746 and 936 for the next "quinquennal plan".

Absence of dedicated administrative or technical supports in the unit

• Recommendations

The team should focus on a fewer neurological and therapeutic aspects of its research Recruitment of full time researchers The committee wishes to state that the impact factor of these publications is not fully representative of the quality of the work accomplished since clinical journals do not benefit from very high impact factor compared to other journals in the field of Neuroscience. In the field of basal ganglia however, and of behavioral disorders, these papers are very important as demonstrated by the exponentially growth of the index citation of the unit for the last 4 years (from less than 50 citations in 2006 to more than 200 in 2010).

Four PHD thesis have been produced since 2006, and 6 other are in progress.

Besides its multidisciplinary approaches, this unit has developed interactions and contact with several other laboratories at the University of Rennes, and also at the national and international levels (Switzerland, Belgium, and USA).

At the University of Rennes, the unit:

-Has very good interactions with other local research groups, with the project of fusion to create a bigger IMSERM unit within the next three years.

-Is a member of the GIS "Cerveau-Comportement-Society" directed by Martine Hauberger, and has collaborations with INSERM U74 (IRMf), INSERM U642 (electrophysiology), UMR CNRS 6552 (ethology).

Several projects have been realized in collaboration with the National center of competence in the affective sciences (Pr K Scherer) in Genève, with the "Unité de Neuroscience cognitive" of the Catholic University of Louvain la Neuve in Belgium (Pr. PHILIPPOT), and with the Sobell Department of motor neurosciences and movement disorders (Pr.

BROWN) in London (UK).

New models of DBS electrodes and stimulators are tested in collaboration with industries in the USA (Boston Scientific and Medtronic)

• Appreciation on the impact, the attractiveness of the research unit and of the quality of its links with international, national and local partners:

The number of national and international communications is good (16 oral communications among which 7 international) considering the topics and the youth of the unit. The unit is very attractive for medical fellows implicated in research: 6 PhD students are now working in the laboratory: 4 psychiatrists, 1 neurologist and 1 neuropsychologist. The unit is also quite young (created in 2006) which might explain why it has not yet recruited post-doctoral researchers.

This research unit has demonstrated an excellent capacity to raise funds and numerous grants has been obtained: University (78kE), PHRC (974kE), Industry (518kE), France Park (18kE), Bourse AXA (120KE). It is actively implicated in the French DBS network. Its members are co investigators in several national projects (STOC, STOC uni/bil), and main leaders in two programs of DBS related to depression (PréSTHYM, STHYM).

Research activity of this group has led to the creation of one startup named "Syneika", which proposes the use of a neuronavigator to select anatomic targets for transmagnetic stimulation (rTMS). A collaboration with the CIC and the department of medical computing has allowed the elaboration of a multimodal data base for patients with DBS.

Newly developed DBS electrodes and a "clever" adaptable stimulator are now being tested in the unit (collaboration with industrial partners and CIC-IT).

• Appreciation on the management and life of the research unit: Translational research and therapeutic applications are successfully developed (technical innovation in DBS; brainmachine interface for TMS).

Six members of the unit are implicated in teaching (M1, M2, medical studies). Marc VERIN is co-director in the Master "Human and animal behaviour".

• Appreciation on the scientific strategy and the project:

The project is in direct continuity with the past activity of the unit and will rely on multi-and transdisciplinary approaches. The main research theme listed in the project will tackle the fascinating question of the role of basal ganglia in emotion and motivation processes in a variety of physiological and pathological situations. New approaches and new tools of investigation such as sEEG, signal analyze, PET new tracers and rTMS coupled with neuronavigation will be used to provide significant advances in the field. All these techniques are already mastered by local teams in Rennes and no problem of feasibility are to be envisioned.

The section of the project dealing with experimental therapeutic is particularly interesting and innovative. The This unit has an exceptional ability to get funding. Consequently, the current search of funding for the project is not an issue.

•

  Date and execution of the visitThe visit took place in Rennes on February 16, 2011 from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm. The scientific program included an overall presentation of the Unit by its director, followed by scientific presentations of the past activity and projects organised into three main research themes. Meetings with PhD students, administrative and technical staff and researchers were also organized before a final door-closed meeting during which the members of the committee exchanged their opinions • History and geographical localization of the research unit, and brief presentation of its field and scientific activities The research unit, titled "Behavior and basal ganglia, is located in the Faculty of medicine, at the University of Rennes 1. It has been recognized as "Unité de Recherche Universitaire-Equipe en emergence" (URU-EM425) in October 2006. Its topic is the study of non motor functions of the basal ganglia in humans, and it has developed three research themes: Emotions, Motivation and neuropsychiatric therapeutic applications. • Management team The unit is directed by Marc VERIN, Neurologist, PUPH. Each of the 3 research themes is headed by one of the 3 PUPHs of the team: Emotion and basal ganglia (Marc VERIN); Motivation and basal ganglia (Dominique DRAPIER); and Neuropsychiatric therapeutical applications (Bruno Millet).

•

  Production results Despite the youth of the unit (it has been created only in 2006) and research themes dedicated to the clinical research field, the level of publication is high with a good progression of the citation index over the last five years. A1: Number of permanent researchers with teaching duties (recorded in N1) who are active in research 6 A2: Number of permanent researchers without teaching duties (recorded in N2) who are active in research 2 A3: Ratio of members who are active in research among staff members [(A1 + A2)/(N1 + N2)] 1 A4: Number of HDR granted during the past 4 years (Form 2.10 of the application file) 1 A5: Number of PhD granted during the past 4 years (Form 2.9 of the application file) 4 3 Specific comments • Appreciation on the results: This unit proposes a very original, multi-and transdisciplinary clinical research in the field of behavioral and basal ganglia. It was the first team in the French community of Neuroscience to focus on behavioral aspects rather than motor aspects of the subthalamic nucleus, and to emphasize its role in emotions and apathy. Its multidisciplinary composition, including neurologists, psychiatrics, neuropsychologists, neuroradiologists and neurophysiologists constitutes one of its strengths. Taking advantage of observations in Parkinson's disease and obsessive compulsive disorders patients treated by Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), this group has chosen to develop three main complementary research themes: » emotion and basal ganglia"; "motivation and basal ganglia", "therapeutic applications". It has demonstrated a very high level of creativity in clinical research. The main findings of the team are: -The role of the subthalamic nucleus in the recognition of negative emotions -The role of the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala in fear recognition -The causal link between disruption of mood monitoring and apathy -The correlation between posterior cortex activation and apathy Members of this research unit participate in most French multicenter studies using DBS in the field of Neurology and Psychiatry. They are leaders in an ambitious project dealing with the treatment of depression with DBS. Consequently, research activity of the group has led to several therapeutic innovations including the use of a neuronavigator to select anatomic targets for transmagnetic stimulation (rTMS), and the development of novel DBS electrodes. Since its creation in 2006, this unit has published 70 papers among which 24 were original papers and 14 published in reviews with an impact factor >4 (Brain 2008, Neurology 2009 (X2), PLOS one 2010, Mov Disord 2009 (X2), Neuropsychologia 2008, 2009, 2010, Neuropsychology 2010, Psychiatry research 2006, 2010, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2010; Biological psychiatry 2011).

  Organization and communication as well as training and availability of the director are attested by all members and partners of the unit. The research themes which are developed are very original and denote a high level of creativity. Several unit members have made a post-doctoral or research stay in one of the foreign collaborators of the unit to import new techniques and new approaches (fMRI, electrophysiological recordings, signal analyses).

  development of clever stimulators (with modulation of stimulation according to biological brain signals) is a totally new concept but appears also very challenging at the technical level. Success will require efficient collaborations which are already in progress.

Sciences du Vivant et Environnement

			Statistiques de notes globales par domaines scientifiques
					(État au 06/05/2011)
	Note globale	SVE1_LS1_LS2	SVE1_LS3	SVE1_LS4	SVE1_LS5	SVE1_LS6	SVE1_LS7	SVE2 _LS3 *	SVE2_LS8 *	SVE2_LS9 *	Total
	A+	7	3	1	4	7	6		2		30
	A	27	1	13	20	21	26	2	12	23	145
	B	6	1	6	2	8	23	3	3	6	58
	C	1					4				5
	Non noté	1									1
	Total	42	5	20	26	36	59	5	17	29	239
	A+	16,7%	60,0%	5,0%	15,4%	19,4%	10,2%		11,8%		12,6%
	A	64,3%	20,0%	65,0%	76,9%	58,3%	44,1%	40,0%	70,6%	79,3%	60,7%
	B	14,3%	20,0%	30,0%	7,7%	22,2%	39,0%	60,0%	17,6%	20,7%	24,3%
	C	2,4%					6,8%				2,1%
	Non noté	2,4%									0,4%
	Total	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%
	*
	Intitulé UR / équipe	C1	C2	C3	C4	Note globale
	COMPORTEMENTS ET NOYAUX GRIS CENTRAUX	A+	A	A	A	A
	C1 Qualité scientifique et production
	C2 Rayonnement et attractivité, intégration dans l'environnement
	C3 Gouvernance et vie du laboratoire
	C4 Stratégie et projet scientifique

les résultats SVE2 ne sont pas définitifs au 06/05/2011. Intitulés des domaines scientifiques Sciences du Vivant et Environnement • SVE1 Biologie, santé SVE1_LS1 Biologie moléculaire, Biologie structurale, Biochimie SVE1_LS2 Génétique, Génomique, Bioinformatique, Biologie des systèmes SVE1_LS3 Biologie cellulaire, Biologie du développement animal SVE1_LS4 Physiologie, Physiopathologie, Endocrinologie SVE1_LS5 Neurosciences SVE1_LS6 Immunologie, Infectiologie SVE1_LS7 Recherche clinique, Santé publique • SVE2 Ecologie, environnement SVE2_LS8 Evolution, Ecologie, Biologie de l'environnement SVE2_LS9 Sciences et technologies du vivant, Biotechnologie SVE2_LS3 Biologie cellulaire, Biologie du développement végétal


president Michel Cosnard

Patrick Linder

Evaluation report

This report is the sole result of 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 name:

Bacterial regulatory RNAs and Medicine

Management team

The unit is headed by Mr Brice FELDEN.

Scientific domains

The unit has a strong focus on bacterial infections with an emphasis on the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. The regulation of gene expression is central to the adaptation of this opportunistic pathogen to different growth conditions and it has been shown in pioneering work by this unit and by other groups that small regulatory RNAs play an important role in gene expression. The work in the unit is complemented by the clinical work of a clinician.

Unit workforce

Unit workforce

Number The unit started with important work in trans-translation and then switched to the analysis of small regulatory RNAs. Small regulatory RNAs in bacteria play important roles in regulating gene expression, either positively or negatively. There are different types of sRNAs, such as transacting sRNAs that may act on different targets either by hybridisation or by interacting with regulatory proteins, antisense RNAs that regulate the complementary mRNA, or RNAs that act as riboswitches. The switch from trans-translation to the study of sRNAs has been fully and successfully confirmed in the recent period of evaluation and the subject has been consolidated. The unit has reported on the discovery of several small regulatory RNAs that control expression of virulence factors or the expression of bacterial toxin-antitoxin modules, which may play important roles in stress management and persistence.

Global assessment of the unit

The unit addresses a timely subject in an important pathogen. The subject is highly competitive, but the unit is clearly at the forefront. They have published several high impact publications with the head of the unit as senior author, have written reviews on the subject of regulatory RNAs. They have also been invited to international and competitive conferences and have ongoing collaborations with other laboratories in France or abroad. Through the reviews and the establishment of a Staphylococcus aureus sRNA database, the unit evolved to a reference center of small regulatory RNAs. The unit obtained 5 patents in the evaluation period, of which 2 are in further elaboration. The unit will be joined by two clinician researchers from the nearby Hospital. This new addition of medical microbiologist and infectiologist will allow the establishment of a fruitful translational research.

Strengths and opportunities in the context

The strength is certainly the combination of a strong fundamental research with an important clinical issue. The proximity to a Hospital is an advantage. The quality of the research is reflected by an excellent publication record and the international visibility of the unit and its director. The organisation of the unit and the training of students are good. Members of the unit are trained in skills for the evaluation of virulence factors.

Further fundamental research will contribute to the visibility of this unit and will further be strengthened by the presence of three physicians.

The head of the unit has initiated an "RNA club" to federate with other groups of similar interests. Invited seminars are organised and expose the members to new ideas and other research topics.

The strong wish to patent their work resulted in 5 patents, of which two are further developed.

Weaknesses and threats in the context

Attracting postdoctoral fellows would strengthen the unit, although this is not an easy task. Moreover the unit does not benefit of a full time researcher. However, for the next years, the University of Rennes offered to exempt the director of his teaching duty, allowing him to do full-time research.

The planned link to the clinic with the integration of physicians is important and will further strengthen the translational aspects of their research. However, it will be important that the physicians have sufficient time to really interact with the members of the unit, and not only with the head of the unit. Nevertheless, the fundamental research needs to be pursued.

Recommendations

The fact that all members of the unit are French speaking does not favour helding the weekly seminars in English, although this would be of great benefit for the students to get prepared for the participation at international meetings. The presence of foreign scientists would impose such a language change. Participation at meetings is important for the junior scientists, and not only for PhDs students; and care should be taken that they learn to present their work to other scientists. The unit should develop an active strategy of career development.

As mentioned above, it is important to implement at best the integration of the physicians within the unit, but at the same time also continue strong fundamental research. Both are not trivial.

The opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen. In view of the One Health concept and the importance of animal farming in Bretagne, it may be important to develop new contacts with veterinary services. In respect to the small regulatory RNAs, it could be expected that the regulation of virulence factors is different.

  José BUTEL, Paris Descartes University (representative of the CNU) Ms Marie-Cécile PLOY, University of Limoges (representative of the CSS INSERM) Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Ms Catherine SCHUSTER Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies: Mr Claude LABIT, University of Rennes Ms Stéphanie POMMIER, Inserm Head of Doctoral School: Ms Nathalie THERET, Doctoral school n°92 "Vie-Agro-Santé -VAS" 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit The unit "Bacterial regulatory RNAs and Medicine" UMR 385 has been renewed in 2011. It has its origins in the creation of a young research unit in 2000, headed by the current director Mr Brice FELDEN, that was recognised as it is today in 2006. The unit is located at the Medicine-Pharmacology-Odontology campus that is part of the UFR Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biology of the University of Rennes. The unit is located near Rennes University Hospital, which is important for the development plan as presented.

  HCERES nomenclature SVE1_LS1 Biologie moléculaire et structurale, biochimie SVE1_LS6 Immunologie, microbiologie, virologie, parasitologie SVE1_LS1 Biologie moléculaire et structurale, biochimie SVE1_LS2 Génétique, génomique, bioinformatique

on 30/06/2015

			Number on
			01/01/2017
	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions	6 (FTE 2.8)	8 (FTE 3.9)
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions
	N3: Other permanent staff (technicians and administrative personnel)	7 (FTE 5.8)	7 (FTE 5.8)
	N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.)
	N5: Other researchers from Institutions (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)	2
	N6: Other contractual staff (technicians and administrative personnel)
	N7: PhD students	3
	TOTAL N1 to N7	18 (FTE 13.6)

Qualified research supervisors (HDR) or similar positions 2

	Unit record	From 01/01/2010 to
		30/06/2015
	PhD theses defended	4
	Postdoctoral scientists having spent at least 12 months in the unit	2
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) obtained during the
	period
	2  Overall assessment of the unit
	Introduction


M Brice

M Knud

H Nierhaus

M André Gerber

M Philippe Chavrier

Ms Catherine Dargemont

Ms Christine Tuffereau

The visit occured at the 8th December 2010 from 14:00 to 16:30. The director gave a short overlook about the history and organization of the group and afterwards described the scientific activities in the past and the already achieved results concerning their current and future main topic, namely non-coding RNAs and their relationship to the virulence of S. aureus. After a 30 min scientific discussion we met PhD students and postdocs, engineers technicians, administrative assistants, and permanent researchers, and we discussed issues of group management. The visit finished with a 30 min discussion with the director alone. Then some aspects of the managemnt of the group were discussed with representatives of the university and INSERM.

 History and geographical localization of the research unit, and brief presentation of its field and scientific activities

The research unit is located at the faculty of pharmacy, Rennes. This research unit studied the function and structure of the bacterial transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA). This RNA, only present in prokaryotic cells, is responsible for unblocking ribosomes stalled on problematic messenger RNAs. Two additional projects dealt with (i) development of conjugates working against hepatitis C virus (HCV) and (ii) the detection and analysis of non-coding RNAs in the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus that play probably a role in virulence.

 Management team

Due to the small size of the research-unit the management team consists only of the director and the secretary.

 Staff members (on the basis of the application file submitted to the AERES) In all three fields (tmRNA, compounds against HCV and non-coding RNAs in Staphylococcus aureus) the group has developed ingenious ideas and originality in the design and performance of the experiments. A main feature of the group is their strict focus on relevant research goals. They identify problems to be solved and do not hesitate to collaborate with leading groups in order to increase their research impact. Another point pertinent to this aspect is that they do not hesitate to stop a research track, if they recognize a scientific dead end. All these points result in a high scientific impact of the group well recognized by corresponding scientific communities. In topics "transtranslation" and non-coding RNAs in S. aureus they belong to forefront players internationally. It is noteworthy that the achieved results and the future plans are well presented.

 Strengths and opportunities

The work of the unit greatly improved the knowledge on the trans-translation and described new RNAs in S. aureus. The latter research is of great interest in both basic knowledge and translational regulation. These RNAs could lead to interesting novel targets for diagnostic purpose and anti-staphyloccocal drugs. This unit has already a recognized expertise concerning this theme. The current strength of this unit is the future focus on non-coding RNAs of the human pathogen S. aureus. Another positive feature is seen in establishing various collaborations, allowing them to accelerate and deepen the investigations.

 Weaknesses and threats

The group would certainly benefit, if a full-time scientist could join. We also consider the absence of PhD students and postdocs from abroad as a disadvantage.

 Recommendations to the head of the research unit

In the context of the already obtained impressive results we recommend to consider an implementation of a study on the epidemic appearance of new S. aureus strains and to check them for specific expression of non-coding RNAs. These RNAs could play a prominent role in the virulence of these subspecies and thus could be an important contribution to the already selected RNAs. Overall we consider the experimental strategy as highly attractive. Recruitment of people from abroad would have the important consequence that lab-meetings should be held in English. In general, people of the lab seem to be isolated from international science, e.g. obligatory Journal Club meetings could help. Group leader could apply to Institute Universitaire de France to dedicate more time for research.

 Production results

The scientific production of this small unit is at a very high level, with 24 publications between 2005 and 2010, 18 of which with the director as last author. Most of the pubications appeared in journals with a good or high impact factor (Nucleic Acid Research, PNAS, EMBO Report, PLoS Pathogens…). Moreover, two patents have been obtained. The research unit pursued three objectives:

1: Principles and mechanisms of trans-translation.

In the center of this bacterial emergency system stands tmRNA, a monster of about 350 nucleotides with an mRNA and a tRNA module, the latter can be charged with Ala. This system rescues ribosomes stuck at the end of a fragmented mRNA lacking a stop codon. Binding of tmRNA to the decoding center in the absence of a codon requires a special factor SmpB, the binding is supported by EF-Tu and the ribosomal protein S1. During the last research period the research group has made important contribution, examples are: (i) SmpB mimics the lacking codon-anticodon interaction, usually codon-anticodon interaction is an absolute requirement for a tRNA binding to the ribosomal A site; (ii) SmpB co-migrates with the tRNA module through the ribosome (together with colleagues from Moscow); (iii) S1 supports tmRNA binding; (iv) single particle reconstructions of 70S•tmRNA complexes via cryo-electron microscopic, first with a group in New York, later with local colleagues. These achievements demonstrated how SmpB is mimicking codon-anticodon interaction and showed how this monster occupies the A site and is translocated to the ribosomal P site. In summary, the results have significantly broadened our knowledge about this important bacterial emergency system. This topic has been now forwarded to the group of a former colleague, who is also an expert of transtranslation.

2: Constructing and testing some compounds fighting HCV (hepatitis C virus).

The group pursued the promising concept of developing an oligo-DNA complementary to an initiation site of HCV and carrying at one side an imidazole residue capable of cleaving the virus RNA. One of the compounds showed hydrolysis activity at low concentrations in vitro and antiviral activity in vivo. However, a dose-dependent effect observed in vitro could not be reproduced in vivo. For this reason the experimental line was abandoned.

3: Small RNAs (sRNAs) in Staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogenic bacterium in man. Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) seem to play important roles for the pathogenicity and virulence of this bacterium. In a pioneering paper (PNAS, 2005) the group has identified 13 sRNAs mainly expressed from so-called pathogenicity islands of the genome, loci that are known to code for many virulence factors. For this reason the group concentrated their research on the possible roles of sRNAs in causing diseases. Therefore, they have established a whole arsenal of techniques for disruption of sRNA genes, complementing this KO strains via expressing the corresponding sRNA from plasmids, and eventually overexpressing sRNAs. They further master methods to judge the phenotype of the mutated/altered strains including an animal model (mice). As published 2009 the activity of certain sRNAs in S. aureus does not seem to involve the Hfq RNA-binding protein. Although a negative result, it is interesting that at least some sRNAs appear not to depend on Hfq in S. aureus, since a myriad of RNA effects in E. coli and other bacterial strains are known to involve Hfq. Recently they published another set of 14 sRNAs and could show, that one sRNA was involved/responsible for disease in a mouse model of infection. This topic has now become the main interest of the research group. The group therefore has an excellent position to analyze the selected non-coding RNA with respect their molecular functions and role in virulence.

The scientific production of this small unit is at a very high level, with 24 publications between 2005 and 2010, 18 of which with the director as last author. Most of the publications appeared in journals with a good or high impact factor (Nucleic Acid Research, PNAS, EMBO Report, PLoS Pathogens,…). Moreover, two patents have been obtained.

The group has a number of stable collaborations: three local, three national and one international.

 Appreciation on the impact, the attractiveness of the research unit and of the quality of its links with international, national and local partners

The director obtained several awards during the last years (e.g. First prize of the "National Academy of Medicine" in 2008, and Medals of the city of Rennes in 2005 and2006). He is also regularly invited to international conferences. In 2007, the group has been elected to be an monothematic INSERM research unit.

Two of the former colleagues obtained professor positions, one of them is at the Rennes University.

The group was successful with three recruitments (two in 2009, one in 2010). In particular, the recruitment of a PU-PH should be mentioned, who has an impressive list of publications and has a position in a hospital, which is interesting regarding the project of the team. Most of the researchers appear to be of French nationality -possibly a bit more international mixture may be an advantage.

The research unit is able to raise substantial funding.

 Appreciation on the strategy, management and life of the research unit

We suggest a future recruitement of foreign coworkers with the consequence of having a regular literature seminar in the group in English, which might have an important impact concerning scientific animation. We also suggest (if applicable) to keep regular scientific group meetings in English to train presentation skills for an international audience. Sending PhD students at the end of the thesis period and postdocs oaccasionally to international conference will further improve the scientific training of the group members. The same is true for sending the students abroad in the frame of international exchange programs. Many staff members participate in the heavy teaching load of the group.

 Appreciation on the project

As mentioned above already the study of sRNAs from S. aureus will be at the center of the scientific activity of the group. Now we know that about 92 RNAs are expressed in this pathogenic bacteria. The group, however, will concentrate their human resources on less then 10 RNAs most of them are expressed from pathogenicity islands. Each member of the group will study one RNA, so that progress can be expected on a broad front, a point that appears to be necessary facing the strong international competition. Strategically they will proceed on four levels: at the atomic level trying to solve the structure of RNAs and their complexes via NMR, X-ray and cryoEM; at the molecular level trying to identify RNA ligands; at the cellular level working with fluorescence labeling in situ; and at the animal level studying infections in their mouse model. Due to the high genomic plasticity of S. aureus they will analyze for each RNA more than one strain of S. aureus to avoid strain-specific effects. They plan to start the experiments by studying expression profiles of the selected RNAs under various growth conditions in order to obtain first hints about the "physiological value" of the RNAs. Then the importance of the individual sRNAs should be unraveled according to the four levels mentioned above, and for each level sound procedures are suggested with techniques, which are either mastered by the group or where "proof-of-principle" experiments have been performed already. All the expected results have the potential to merge towards a development of both diagnostic tools for S. aureus infections and novel drugs against infections. This is a sound and straightforward project of excellence, logically designed and well presented. The experimental basis is very broad and at the same time definitions of scientific goals are focused. The project could become of great medical relevance as the development of drugs that specifically interfere with selected sRNAs could be used as « novel » antibiotics. In this regard, the unit already holds two patents and more may come along with further research on sRNAs.



  Date and execution of the visit

  A1: Number of permanent researchers with teaching duties (recorded in N1) who are active in research 4 A2: Number of permanent researchers without teaching duties (recorded in N2) who are active in research 0 A3: Ratio of members who are active in research among staff members [(A1 + A2)/(N1 + N2)] 1 A4: Number of HDR granted during the past 4 years 1 A5: Number of PhD granted during the past 4 years 4 A6: Other relevant item in the field (i.e. number of first and/or last authors original publications in peer review journals) 16 3  Specific comments  Appreciation on the results

Sciences du Vivant et Environnement

			Statistiques de notes globales par domaines scientifiques
					(État au 06/05/2011)
	Note globale	SVE1_LS1_LS2	SVE1_LS3	SVE1_LS4	SVE1_LS5	SVE1_LS6	SVE1_LS7	SVE2 _LS3 *	SVE2_LS8 *	SVE2_LS9 *	Total
	A+	7	3	1	4	7	6		2		30
	A	27	1	13	20	21	26	2	12	23	145
	B	6	1	6	2	8	23	3	3	6	58
	C	1					4				5
	Non noté	1									1
	Intitulé UR / équipe Total A+ 16,7% 42 A 64,3%	C1 60,0% 5 20,0%	C2 20 5,0% 65,0%	C3 26 15,4% 76,9%	C4 36 19,4% 58,3%	59 Note 10,2% globale 44,1%	5 40,0%	17 11,8% 70,6%	29 79,3%	239 12,6% 60,7%
	FONCTION STRUCTURE ET INACTIVATION D'ARN BACTERIENS B 14,3% C 2,4%	A+ 20,0%	A+ 30,0%	A 7,7%	A+ 22,2%	39,0% A+ 6,8%	60,0%	17,6%	20,7%	24,3% 2,1%
	Non noté	2,4%									0,4%
	C1 Qualité scientifique et production Total 100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%	100,0%
	C2 Rayonnement et attractivité, intégration dans l'environnement *
	C3 Gouvernance et vie du laboratoire
	C4 Stratégie et projet scientifique

les résultats SVE2 ne sont pas définitifs au 06/05/2011. Intitulés des domaines scientifiques Sciences du Vivant et Environnement • SVE1 Biologie, santé SVE1_LS1 Biologie moléculaire, Biologie structurale, Biochimie SVE1_LS2 Génétique, Génomique, Bioinformatique, Biologie des systèmes SVE1_LS3 Biologie cellulaire, Biologie du développement animal SVE1_LS4 Physiologie, Physiopathologie, Endocrinologie SVE1_LS5 Neurosciences SVE1_LS6 Immunologie, Infectiologie SVE1_LS7 Recherche clinique, Santé publique • SVE2 Ecologie, environnement SVE2_LS8 Evolution, Ecologie, Biologie de l'environnement SVE2_LS9 Sciences et technologies du vivant, Biotechnologie SVE2_LS3 Biologie cellulaire, Biologie du développement végétal


president Michel Cosnard

Donald Broom

Evaluation report

This report is the sole result of 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 name:

Animal and human ethology

Management team

The current director, Mr Alban LEMASSON, will continue to assume this role during the 2017-2021 contract. He was elected by all the members of the EthoS unit council. The director presides over this unit council, which is composed of 14 people and advises him on important decisions. This council is systematically opened for discussions to all researchers (CNRS and faculty members) and, according to topic, also opened to other staff members (e.g. financial manager). The council meets on average once a month to discuss scientific policy and recruiting (researchers, technical staffs, PhD students) priorities, budget organization and any particular request and need concerning unit life (e.g. training actions, internal rules, health and safety actions). Every important decision is discussed and voted upon by secret ballot during the council meetings. Moreover, for confidential and urgent matters as well as to schedule the inter-team working programme of some technical staff members, the director consults all team leaders (Ms Catherine BLOIS-HEULIN, Ms Sophie LUMINEAU, Ms Martine HAUSBERGER), functioning as a directing board. In addition Mr Alban LEMASSON is supported by an assistant director, Ms Sophie LUMINEAU.

HCERES nomenclature

Main subdomain: SVE1_LS5 Secondary subdomains: SVE2-LS8, SVE1 LS6

Scientific domains

EthoS has a clear "Ethology" disciplinary identity. All investigations are centred around a common aim to understand animal and human behaviour, that is, organism-environment relationships based on comparative and integrative approaches. EthoS investigations are all guided by the four questions defined by the ethologist Mr Nikolaas TINBERGEN, i.e. ontogeny, causality, function and evolution of behavior. EthoS' research projects aim to improve the understanding of how and why social relationships, communication abilities and cognitive processes in particular change and interact during individual development and species evolution. Integrative and comparative approaches lead EthoS to investigate the physiological and neurological mechanisms underlying behavioural expressions and intraand inter-individual as well as intra-and inter-species behavioural variations. Evolutionary approach combines homology and homoplasy as potential motors of evolution. In particular, EthoS concentrates on functional convergences, through a large comparison between phylogenetically distant species living under similar, notably social, constraints. For this, the biological models of the EthoS research teams include species that are phylogenetically diverse and socially more or less complex and varied. EthoS investigations focus on a broad range of models: invertebrates (spiders), birds (non-singing: gallinaceans, singing: oscines), terrestrial (horses) and aquatic (cetaceans and otters) mammals, as well as non-human (new world and old world monkeys and apes) and human primates. Functional investigations involve observing individuals under both captive free-ranging conditions and experimental, controlled environment conditions. In ways adapted to the different study species, EthoS researchers question how social factors, as well as other environmental factors, influence emotional and social development (prenatal and postnatal experience, early experience and long-term consequences), communication modality (visual, chemical, vocal and gestural) and complexity (signal variability, flexibility and plasticity, signal production, usage, perception and comprehension) and cognitive processes (brain processing and structuring, hemispheric laterality) and human and animal well-being. The importance of sociality during individual development and species evolution is investigated at a very broad level by studying intraspecific (parental, sexual and social bonds), as well as interspecific (association between different vertebrate species, human -domestic animal interactions) relationships. 2  Overall assessment of the unit

Unit workforce

Introduction

The main scientific research is ethology and development of the nervous system with some work on brain function. The subject matter is a wide range of species including humans. This has not changed greatly since the last report but the cephalopod group is now being incorporated in EthoS.

Global assessment of the unit

The unit has a long-standing international reputation in ethology. It continues to be coherent and well organised. EthoS is publishing well with respect to the number of publications appearing in ISI-listed peer-reviewed journals. The unit has been successful to publish in high-ranking journals such as Journal of Experimental Biology, Animal Behaviour and Proceedings of the Royal Society. While the number of publications is relatively low for some unit members, others are very prolific and there are many publications in high-ranking journals. It is not easy for those writing papers on ethology to get them published in journals that are high profile but tend to focus on molecular biology, astrophysics or breakthroughs in human medicine.

The whole unit has a high level of international visibility and is well connected with other groups nationally and internationally. There is a good balance of pure and applied research and evidence of innovation in both aspects.

The extent of work publicising the research results in popular publications and other media outputs is unusually good for an academic research group and this is commendable.

Strengths and opportunities in the context

The main strength of the group is the high scientific quality of most of the publications. The group has extensive collaborations and publicises some aspects of its work well to the general public. The opportunity to extend the area of work, in relation to brain function and species studied, by amalgamating with the cephalopod group from Caen is valuable and should be mutually beneficial.

Weaknesses and threats in the context

The expert committee considers that the current policy of trying hard to get publications in high quality journals is the right one but there are opportunities to improve this. The unit success relies greatly on the excellent performance of a very small number of people so there is a risk to the group if any of these leave.

Although the group from Caen should strengthen the unit, there can be difficulties with multi-site groups so there is a threat to deal with in managing this situation.

Recommendations

It is important to have a clear strategy to integrate the cephalopod group from Caen into the unit. This group is influential and well regarded in the scientific world so its presence enhances EthoS. Efforts should be made to learn from that group and to work together with its members. In general, groups located on two or more relatively distant sites are less successful that those with the close and frequent contacts that are only possible with offices and laboratories near one another. The Caen group needs laboratories with running seawater so could not move to Rennes at present. Hence there should be frequent group meetings and seminars on both sites.

The most demanding work of the unit should be distributed among more people so that there is less dependence on small numbers of individuals who are also very productive scientifically. Efforts should be made to recruit more international post-doctoral researchers to work in the unit.

  , Université Sorbonne Paris 13 (representative of CNU) Ms Christelle LEMOINE-LARDENNOIS (representative of supporting personel) Ms Sarah VICK, University of Stirling, UK Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Jean-François HOCQUETTE Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies: Ms Anne GUESDON, University of Caen-Basse Normandie Mr Claude LABIT, University of Rennes 1 Mr Bernard POULAIN, CNRS INSB Heads of Doctoral Schools: Mr Alain OURRY, Doctoral School n°497 "École Doctorale Normande Biologie Intégrative, Santé, Environnement -ED NBISE" Ms Nathalie THERET, Doctoral School n°092 "Vie-Agro-Santé, Rennes -ED VAS" 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit The EthoS research unit has a long history of expertise in the study of animal (since the 50's) and human (since the 70's) behaviour. It was created in 1955 by Mr Gaston RICHARD. At that time, the research unit included approximately 10 members and was housed in Rennes city centre. In the 60's, the lab moved to Rennes 1 University campus (Beaulieu). In 1967, some staff members moved to the Station Biologique de Paimpont, a "field" station of Rennes 1 University, about 50 Km west of Rennes, where a housing facility for non-human primates was built. After 14 years of direction by Ms Martine HAUSBERGER, Mr Alban LEMASSON took the lead in 2014. Currently, EthoS includes approximately 50 members: 28 permanent staff (5 CNRS researchers, 10 faculty researchers, and respectively 6 and 7 CNRS and faculty technical and administrative staff), one third are based at Paimpont and two thirds at Rennes. For the next contract, EthoS proposes to restructure slightly by integrating another team of ethologists (i.e. 4 faculty researchers, 3 technical staff) who are currently and will continue to be based at Caen University.

Unit workforce ("Full Time Employee" (FTE) between brackets).

		Number on	Number on
		30/06/2015	01/01/2017
	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions	10 (4.90)	15 (7.40)
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions	5 (4.70)	4 (3.70)
	N3: Other permanent staff (technicians and administrative personnel)	13 (10.80)	15 (13.10)
	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 (technicians and administrative personnel)	5 (4.1)
	N7: PhD students	11
	TOTAL N1 to N7	44 (35.5)
	Qualified research supervisors (HDR) or similar positions	9
	Unit record	From 01/01/2010 to
		30/06/2015
	PhD theses defended	19
	Postdoctoral scientists having spent at least 12 months in the unit	6
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) obtained during the period	2

signed by their chairman.


president Michel Cosnard

Michel Simonet

In the name of HCERES, 1

 Introduction History and geographical location of the unit

GeRMO is a new research unit that emerged from the EA 1254 unit headed by Ms Martine BONNNAURE-MALLET at the Faculty of Odontology, which research is centered on the microorganisms of the oral cavity. In 2014, three EA 1254 members decided to found a new team focused on bacterial adaptation and evolution. Thanks to strong support from the University of Rennes 1 and the Faculty of Medicine, the emerging research group was temporarily affiliated with a "Unité de Recherche Universitaire" (university research unit) and administratively hosted to date by the UMR CNRS 6290 unit at the Institut de Génétique et de Développement de Rennes. GeRMO is located on the 2 nd floor of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy close to the hospital laboratory.

Management team

GeRMO's head is Mr Samer KAYAL.

HCERES nomenclature

SVE1_LS6

Scientific domains

Group A streptococci and enterococci, bacterial adaptation and evolution, genomics and post-genomics, and antibiotic resistance. In 2010, GeRMO initiated a project on Streptococcus pyogenes, a group A Streptococcus (GAS), based on the broad range of expertise acquired by the group's three co-founders (two professors and an associate professor). Two research themes are being developed: (i) the genetic investigation of GAS populations from a collection of strains isolated during an epidemiological survey of clinical GAS infections in the Brittany region of France and (ii) the construction of a new mutagenesis system to generate hypermutations in bacteria (for use in studying streptococcal evolution).

Another research project, from the EA4655 at Caen that will join the group this year, is focused on characterizing the molecular mechanisms of emerging antibiotic resistance in E. faecium, an opportunistic pathogen responsible for nosocomial infections in intensive care units, and defining the impact of various drugs used in hospitalized patients on the bacterium's physiology, genome expression and pathogenicity.

Global assessment of the unit

Overall, GeRMO's research program aims at understanding bacterial evolution and adaptation, with a focus on how a commensal becomes a pathogen -clearly a medically important topic. The unit has obtained a very good national reputation. It has recruited a young, dynamic, outstanding investigator, who will provide GeRMO with new technical and scientific expertise in genomics and post-genomics. Therefore, complementary expertises will bring to the unit more visibility to attract research fellows.

The unit has staff with scientific and technical expertise in their respective fields of research. It is housed in fully upgraded premises, has enough space, given the number of researchers, and has access to appropriate supporting facilities.

Collaborative projects are ongoing with research groups from the USA, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Overall, GeRMO is a very good research unit.

Strengths and opportunities in context

Many unit members have duties at the university hospital medical laboratory, including activities for the National Reference Centre for Antibiotic Resistance (supported by GeRMO). These unit members have established a large collection of clinical isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes (the STAB collection) and Enterococcus species. These biological resources will clearly be beneficial for future research.

GeRMO's thematic is in line with the current public health priorities, particularly with the emergence of opportunistic, multidrug/pandrug-resistant pathogens.

The international reputation of the newly recruited investigator may help the unit to initiate and develop collaborations and attract post-docs from abroad.

Collaborative projects are ongoing with research groups from the USA, Italy, Germany and The Netherlands.

Weaknesses and threats in context

The unit's ongoing research projects are not sufficiently focused: there are too many projects with regard to the current workforce.

Three of the four senior researchers are over the age of 55, and one is due to retire this year. Hence, "fresh blood" is necessary if the research unit's goal is to continue to develop.

The research unit is not attractive to post-docs: the director must seek funding opportunities to correct this shortcoming.

Recommendations

There is a need to focus the research topics, apply for funding and recruit full-time scientists.



  Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.) N5: Other researchers from Institutions (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.) N6: Other contractual staff (technicians and administrative personnel) Overall assessment of the unit Introduction

Evaluation report

This report is the sole result of evaluation by the expert committee, the composition of which is specified below.

The assessments contained herein are result from the committee's the expression of an independent, collective and collegial reviewing by the committee.

Unit name:

Genomic


president Michel Cosnard

Matias A Avila

Evaluation report

This report is the sole result of 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 name:

Nutrition 1  Introduction

History and geographical location of the unit

The NuMeCan unit emerges from the combination of seven teams from three former units, namely "Liver, Metabolisms and Cancer" Inserm URM 991, headed by Mr Bruno CLÉMENT; "Food and Digestive, Nervous and Behavioral Adaptations" (ADNC) Inra U1341, headed by Mr David VAL-LAILLET; and "Microbiology and Infectious Risks" University of Rennes 1 U-EA1254, headed by Ms Martine BONNAURE-MALLET. The "Liver, Metabolisms and Cancer" unit is the current expression of a remarkable and long-standing research tradition in the field of clinical and basic hepatology in Rennes that started in the 60's. The INRA ADNC unit was created at the beginning of 2012 from the fusion of two former INRA research teams, and, among other aspects, brings in experience in large animal models of mal/nutrition and dietaryassociated metabolic impairments. Finally, the "Microbiology and Infectious risks" unit was created in 1992, and thus it is also a long-standing research team in the field of infectious diseases. These three units merge now in the NuMeCan project, under the direction of Mr Bruno CLÉMENT. The new unit will be composed of four research teams identified by the acronyms NGB, CIMIAD, EXPRES and TGTC, located at two locations 13 Km apart. At the St. Gilles site (INRA facilities) will be the NGB team, former ADNC unit, and at the Villejean-Pontchaillou site the other three teams. Nevertheless, as stated in the dossier, lab and office spaces will be available at both sites for the use of any of the teams.

Management team

The management of the unit is entrusted to the board of directors, composed by the director of the unit, who is nominated jointly by INSERM, INRA and the University of Rennes, and two deputy directors (Mr D. VAL-LAILLET from INRA and Mr O. LORÉAL from INSERM). This Board will make strategic decisions and will deal with scientific and technical issues, as well as with aspects related to human resources and the general management of the unit in its monthly meetings.

HCERES nomenclature

SVE LS4

Scientific domains

This emerging unit is scientifically focused on the pathophysiology of the gut-liver-brain axis. Within this axis the different teams provide expertise in: nutrition/nutritional disorders and obesity, iron metabolism and ironassociated diseases, the gastrointestinal and hepatic defensive and pathologic responses to noxae of exogenous and endogenous origins, as well as the molecular mechanisms of hepato-pancreatic neoplasias and therapeutic strategies.

Unit workforce

The number of permanent researchers and professors has increased for the next contract, as well as that of other research support personnel (technicians administrative). It is worth noticing that the number of researchers from various other institutions who will participate in the next project will be increased by approximately 30%. 2  Overall assessment of the unit

Unit workforce

Introduction

The objective of the NuMeCan project is to study the food, environmental, behavioural and metabolic determinants of health and disease, with a focus on liver, digestive and neurobehavioural disorders. The ultimate goal of the Unit is to create a centre of excellence in "nutrition, health and disease" by joining reputed members of three former units from different cultural origins and practices (university, INRA, INSERM, University Hospital). All teams show an expressed willingness to cooperate and create a new dynamic structure that may support the development of strong and internationally competitive translational research projects in the field. The scientific strategy of this unit has evolved from the previous, more liver-centred, project, the "Liver, metabolisms and cancer" unit also headed by the same director. A more transversal and multidisciplinary approach aimed at detecting and treating liver and GI diseases, including cancer, and nutritional disorders will be implemented.

Global assessment of the unit

Members of the 4 teams within this unit have demonstrated key achievements in the previous contract, which constitutes a solid ground for the present project. Particularly, 3 of the new 4 teams are formed following the research lines of INSERM U991, which has a remarkable international visibility. The novelty of the current project relies on combining diverse expertise to generate new concepts and to develop transversal approaches. Among these, all teams will explore novel molecules and/or pathways that can be transformed into innovative biomarkers and targets for intervention to be implemented and validated in common technological platforms. The recognition that symbioses between humans and the microbiome influence broad aspects of human biology is coming into light, and all teams recognise the importance of addressing these questions in health and disease. Most teams also include objectives devoted to targeted therapies from basic research to clinical validation. To foster the transfer of knowledge to the benefit of patients, the unit stresses the importance of involving clinicians and MD students in all teams, as well as collaborations with other University Hospital research and technology groups. The centralization of a high number of clinicians and scientists on the overall theme of the unit represents a unique environment for knowledge transmission to young investigators and the general public.

Strengths and opportunities in the context

Most team leaders have a well-recognized scientific reputation in their field, both at national and international levels, and have demonstrated capacity to attract excellent researchers and competitive funding.

Members of all teams participate in international cooperation agreements with research institutions in Europe, North America and Australia, and are regularly invited to national and international conferences.

There is a good balance between basic and clinical research, including the participation of clinician scientists in the teams. The unit benefits from the proximity to hospital structures and access to clinical samples from patients.

The unit is adequately equipped with technological platforms and excellent animal models to perform high quality research.

The teams have proven their capacity to carry out technology transfer and to interact with the industrial and social sectors. This is evidenced by the number of patent applications, research contracts with pharma and food companies, and contributions to guidelines (biobanks management guidelines are worth mentioning).

The present new project is well justified, based on the expertise of the constituting scientists. The recent development of studies on the microbiome linking different teams is an opportunity to strengthen the unit and to develop collaborations.

The integration of projects and expertise in various scientific and technological domains is highly commendable and an asset of this unit. However, it is not a straightforward task (see below).

Weaknesses and threats in the context

The main foreseen difficulty of the new unit will be the capacity, in practice, to achieve an effective interaction between so drastically different former units and teams with very diverse backgrounds in one new mixed entity.

Trying to incorporate most of the previous research lines of the three merging units into only one with four teams makes that each team includes broad objectives and research lines heterogeneous in quality, novelty and interest.

The management of the research unit at two distant sites may be challenging. The involvement of clinicians, especially for the team located at INRA St Gilles, needs to be well organised, with real presence in the lab.

Although merging between previous teams is proposed, an important risk is that each newly formed team develops their projects with common work limited to technical aspects.

The different sub-projects seem very broad and require prioritization.

Specific actions for research quality assessment, traceability of data and ethical issues are not addressed.

The methods and tools to study the microbiota seem different between teams and not always in adequation with the ambition of the unit. There is no information regarding the technological resources/platform dedicated to metabolite/metabolome analyses.

Although there are other similar units in France, with endocrinology, cardiology, diabetes etc, as research topics, this is apparently the only one including competences on nutrition.

Recommendations

It is recommended that, from the start of the new contract, the management of the unit (board of directors and strategic committee) focuses on the interactions between the different teams, and on how their diverse expertise and knowledge will be optimally integrated and exploited. Ideally this interaction should be promoted at all levels, i.e. from the PhD students to the leaders of the teams.

To avoid thematic dispersion within the teams it is also recommended that a prospective re-evaluation of the different research themes be initiated within the new working frame of the unit. Identifying and merging around the strongest topics, while abandoning the less productive ones, will leverage the overall performance of the new unit.

The study of the alterations and the role of the microbiome in different pathophysiological conditions constitute one of the three transversal topics. This will ask a lot from the team with expertise in microbiology (CIMIAD). It would be advisable to reinforce the capabilities of these experts with additional human and material resources.

It would be interesting to devise strategies, including intramural funding, to support the emergence of new teams.

Actions to address data traceability, research quality and ethics should be addressed by the unit.

The strategies to analyse the microbiota have to be discussed and standardized, the development/use of metagenomic tools, bioinformatics and biostatistics should be an asset for the all unit.

The two sites location is a real weakness especially for the INRA team. Strategies and vigilance have to be taken to face the risks of isolation of the team.

  , Metabolisms and Cancer

	Unit acronym:	NuMeCan
	Label requested:	UMR
	Current number:	UMR-991 Inserm; U-1341 Inra; EA-1254 University of Rennes 1
	Name of Director (2015-2016):	Mr Bruno CLÉMENT
	Name of Project Leader (2017-2021):	Mr Bruno CLÉMENT
	Expert committee members
		Mr Jean GIRARD
	Representatives of supervising institutions and bodies:
		Mr Jean DALONGEVILLE, INRA
		Ms Marianne DESMEDT, INSERM
		Mr Alain DUPUY, CHU de Rennes
		Ms Christine GUILLARD, INSERM
		Mr Francois GUILLET, Centre régional de lutte contre le cancer
		Mr Patrick HERPIN, INRA

Chair:

Mr Matias A. AVILA, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.

Experts

: Mr Hervé BLOTTIERE, Institut Micalis, INRA, Jouy-en-Josas (representative of INRA) Mr José Carlos FERNÉNDEZ-CHECA, Idibaps-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain Mr Juan IOVANNA, Inserm, Marseille (representative of INSERM) Ms Susanne LA FLEUR, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Ms Graça PORTO, IBMC, University of Porto, Portugal Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Claude LABIT, University of Rennes 1 Mr Jean-Claude POZZO DI BORGO, CHU de Rennes Head of Doctoral School: Ms Nathalie THERET, ED n° 92 "Vie Agro Santé" (VAS)