Doctorant H/F en immunologie à l’interface avec la chimie – Développement d’une nano/biothérapie innovante de la polyarthrite rhumatoïde

Three-year PhD contract at the Immunology, Immunopathology and Therapeutic Chemistry laboratory (CNRS UPR3572, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Strasbourg), in the Vie et Santé doctoral school (ED414). Rheumatoid arthritis, the most common autoimmune disease (about 0.5% of the population in France), progresses through flares of synovial inflammation that destroy joints, and remains incurable; macrophages drive much of this inflammation and joint damage.

The project develops a therapy that combines targeted delivery of methotrexate by carbon nanotubes with selective elimination of inflammatory cells, including activated macrophages, by near-infrared photothermal therapy after the nanotubes are phagocytosed in arthritic joints. Nanotube conjugates are designed to accumulate in the inflamed synovium, allowing high local methotrexate concentrations and lower administered doses. The doctoral researcher will evaluate the conjugates’ biological efficacy in vitro (methotrexate effect, macrophage targeting and elimination), study their biodistribution and targeting in vivo in a collagen-induced arthritis mouse model, and assess therapeutic efficacy in the same model as a preclinical proof of concept.

Start date 18 January 2027; minimum monthly salary €2,300.

Master’s degree or equivalent; strong interest in interdisciplinarity; solid background in cell biology and immunology; knowledge of immunostaining techniques, especially flow cytometry.