Using magnetic nanoparticles and high/low frequency magnetic fields to destroy
cancer cells:
Looking for a candidate for the CNRS national contest
Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie des Nano-Objets, Toulouse
Scientific context
Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have currently many applications in biomedicine: they
are used for imaging, to improve gene transfection, for bio-separation and for tissue engineering.
With respect to cancer therapy, different ways to kill tumour cells using magnetic nano-objects
have been reported. The most studied so far is magnetic hyperthermia, which consists in rising
the temperature of a tumour using MNPs injected intra-tumorly. MNP heating is induced by the
application of high-frequency magnetic fields. More recently, the destruction of cell membranes
using the motion of magnetic disks or nanoparticles bound to them using slowly varying
magnetic fields have been reported. Since then, several groups have shown that MNPs can also
be used to induce cell death using such low-frequency magnetic fields. The LPCNO has been
very active in these fields of research, and made significant contribution in physics, chemistry
and biology.
Position
Our objective is to present a candidate to the national CNRS contest in a commission
dedicated to projects at the physics/biology interface. If the candidate succeeds to the contest,
he/she will get a permanent position and will be integrated in the “Nanomagnetism” of the
LPCNO. He/she will take in charge research topics at the interface between nanomagnetism and
cancerology. In particular, he/she will work in close collaboration with biologists (Véronique
Gigoux,'s team) and chemists (Bruno Chaudret's group) of the LPCNO.
Profile
· Ideally, the candidate should be a physicist with good background in magnetism, and should
have already worked extensively with biologists. A candidate who has previously worked on
magnetic hyperthermia would be ideal but this is not mandatory.
· The candidate should have spent at least one or two years of post-doc in a laboratory different
from his/her phD.
· The candidate should have excellent publication tracks.
· The candidate will have to write a high-quality proposal about his/her project inside the
laboratory, so good writing skills are required.
· The candidate should know that chances of success are in principle not very high, but can
become significant if all the conditions above are fulfilled.
Application
Please contact Julian Carrey (julian.carrey@insa-toulouse.fr).