Description du projet
Faire le lien entre la virologie et la bioinformatique pour comprendre les virus et leurs interactions avec les hôtes
Les virus représentent l’une des principales menaces potentielles pour la population mondiale, qui ne cesse de croître et de vieillir. Toutefois, malgré le rôle des virus en tant qu’agents pathogènes pour l’homme et l’animal, leurs fonctions bénéfiques, commensales ou nuisibles n’ont pas encore été pleinement élucidées. La principale caractéristique du projet VIROINF, financé par l’UE, est sa nature interdisciplinaire, qui rassemble des virologues et des bioinformaticiens pour développer des outils bioinformatiques destinés à être appliqués dans l’étude de modèles virologiques pertinents. L’objectif consiste à mieux comprendre les virus et leur interaction avec les hôtes, en conférant aux virologues de nouveaux outils pour analyser les virus émergents et connus. VIROINF fournira de nouvelles stratégies pour traiter les maladies et contrôler la propagation des infections virales. Le programme de recherche inclura la formation d’une nouvelle génération de scientifiques dotés de compétences avancées en virologie et en bioinformatique.
Objectif
Viruses are currently at the forefront of scientific priorities of many national research councils and the EU. Viruses will remain an urgent topic given the continuously growing and aging global population, creating major challenges for health science, technology and society as a whole. Besides their important role as human and animal pathogens, the beneficial, commensal or harmful functions of viruses are poorly understood. Fundamental questions in virology can only be tackled with the help of bioinformatics. However, the required sophisticated bioinformatics tools are not readily available.
By developing and applying tailored bioinformatical tools in important virological models, this ITN, called VIROINF, will provide a better understanding of viruses and the interaction with their hosts, with the aim of giving virologists potent new `weapons' to fight against emerging and established viruses. VIROINF will open the door to develop novel strategies to better understand, treat, and control viral diseases, in addition to understanding the broader ecology and evolution of viruses. The key feature of VIROINF is its interdisciplinary nature, which brings together virologists and bioinformaticians to achieve common goals.
The research programme will train a badly needed new generation of young scientists with excellent understanding and skills in virology, cell biology and bioinformatics, to the great benefit and advancement of the field. VIROINF is unique by its special triple supervision in two distinct subjects (virology and bioinformatics) from at least two organisations. Our ESRs will be trained at the very forefront of this rapidly developing field, by gaining state-of-the-art insights into both theoretical and empirical science. The ESRs will be in an ideal position to encourage the bioinformatical development of the field in academia, or by implementing their knowledge to solve practical problems in the non-academic sector.
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MSCA-ITN - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN)Coordinateur
07743 JENA
Allemagne