The MI-Core Team
The Milieu Intérieur Consortium has several core teams supporting ongoing research
Evolutionary Genomics, Modelling and Health
Led by Lluis Quintana-Murci - this research unit at Institut Pasteur studies the diversity of the human genome, both from a fundamental point of view and as applied to the understanding of certain pathologies. His team integrates state-of-the-art techniques in genomics, systems immunology, molecular biology and bioinformatics to better understand the factors that drive the diversity of the immune system, thus paving the way for precision medicine.
He has used his expertise in population genetics and evolution to address questions related to the demographic history of human populations, the mechanisms of human adaptation to environmental changes, in particular selection pressures exerted by pathogens, and the contribution of human host genetic and epigenetic variability to differences in immune responses. The fundamental knowledge gained from this work has important implications for medical human genetics studies aimed at identifying the genetic basis of resistance or susceptibility to infectious diseases. They use a multidisciplinary approach that integrates human genetics, population genetics, anthropology, epidemiology and immunology.
The Cytometry and Biomarkers Unit of Technology and Service (CB UTechS)
The Cytometry and Biomarkers Unit of Tehnology and Service (CB UTechS) of the Institut Pasteur has the mission of facilitating biomedical and fundamental research through state-of-the-art technologies. The instruments have been selected to allow cell phenotyping and sorting, protein and RNA profiling and single cell OMICS. A significant part of the equipment is installed within a fully equipped Bsl2+ cell culture laboratory to permit manipulation of human and infectious material. The team of research engineers, technicians and bioinformaticians has a long-standing expertise in cell phenotyping, sorting, functional cellular assays, single-cell OMICS, molecular profiling (RNA and proteins), bioinformatics and immunomonitoring. The setup of the CB UTechS facility is ideal for applying an integrated approach in biomarker discovery in health and disease.
The CB UTechS is the core facility of the MI since the initiation of the study in 2011. It has been instrumental for establishment and validation of all standardized protocols for quantification of immune phenotypes in profiles in steady state and upon immune stimulation. It was also responsible for generation and analysis of flow cytometry data. The technologies and pipelines established for the MI study are now being applied in the context of various collaborative disease-based projects.
Translational Immunology Unit
The Translational Immunology Unit let by Darragh Duffy at Institut Pasteur within the Immunology Department at Institut Pasteur focus on better understanding inter-individual differences in immune responses, and apply these discoveries to relevant clinical questions. To do this his lab uses cellular mechanistic models, population immunology cohorts, and experimental clinical studies in infection and autoimmunity. By working closely with clinical collaborators he hopes that the research will help to develop new patient management. He contributed to the expertise to the development and use of whole blood syringe-based assay systems (TruCulture) that can be used to reproducibly assess induced innate or adaptive immune responses and his laboratory is now focused on the deconvolution of the healthy immune response, and applying these approaches for a better understanding of perturbed immune responses in infection, autoimmunity and variable responses to immunotherapy and vaccination.