Offre en lien avec l’Action/le Réseau : – — –/– — –
Laboratoire/Entreprise : Plateforme de bioinformatique BiRD (Institut du Th
Durée : 6 mois
Contact : alban.gaignard@univ-nantes.fr
Date limite de publication : 2022-02-02
Contexte :
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs) are multifactorial chronic conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, of which the most common are Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). These disorders are notably associated with the environment, the patient’s genetics and its gut microbiota [1]. The microbiota is known to play an important role in host’s health by protecting them from pathogens [2], helping digest and absorb nutrients [3], and shaping the immune system [4]. Although a core group of essential bacteria is shared across individuals [5], the gut microbiota contains individual-specific strains stable over time, which makes it harder to identify bacteria linked to the host, the environment, or a given pathology.
Today, various ’omics’ technologies are available to measure molecules at all levels of cellular organisation in complex microbial communities. DNA sequences can be determined (metagenomics), transcripts levels can be measured (metatranscriptomics), metabolites can be detected (metametabolomics), and proteins can be catalogued and quantified (metaproteomics). Computational biology advances enabling the description of environmental genomes and their expression in situ have accompanied these new technologies [6]. The field of environmental omics (or meta-omics) has drastically expanded our knowledge about microbial communities [7], prompting a change of paradigm in which not a single species is considered but rather a complete microbial community. The importance of ecological interactions among microorganisms is also now recognized, and they need to be included in a global framework to further develop models of community eco-systems functioning [8].
Sujet :
*Challenges*
Multi-omics technologies in gut microbiome research provide a global view of changes in genetic, metabolic and biochemical processes, and have recently been applied to the gut microbiota in the context of IBD [9]. These data have provided a first comprehensive view of functional dysbiosis in the gut microbiome during IBD activity and first steps towards a functional understanding of host–microbe interactions during disease pathogenesis. However, major challenges remain to systematically integrate microbial, biochemical, and host factors in order to identify systems-level biomarkers, from genes to communities, of IBD onset and progression.
*Objectives *
The aim of this project is i) to develop a workflow for the graph-based transformation and integration of meta-omics data (metagenomic and metatranscriptomic), and ii) feed an integrated knowledge graph connecting longitudinal genomic observations as well as phenotypes and environmental context. Through a catalogue of semantic queries, this knowledge graph will empower biologists to more easily assemble genome co-activity networks towards identifying novel systems-level (from genes to communities) IBD biomarkers and patient stratification strategies.
Profil du candidat :
We are looking for an enthusiastic bioinformatician or data scientist, with excellent programming skills, and real interest in Life Science applications.
Formation et compétences requises :
M2 in bioinformatics, computer or data sciences
Adresse d’emploi :
The recruited data scientist will work in the context of an interdisciplinary collaboration, involving health, computational research teams and the Bioinformatics core facility, under the supervision of Audrey Bihouée (Engineer at BiRD facility), Samuel Chaffron (CNRS Researcher at LS2N) and Alban Gaignard (CNRS Research Engineer at Institut du Thorax). The developments resulting from this internship will constitute a framework for a generalisation of the model to other pathologies.
Document attaché : 202201121643_Stage M2 – IBD – KG.pdf