Hiring Institution
Institut de Chimie et des Matériaux Paris-Est (ICMPE)

PhD-Awarding Institutions
Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC)
University of New South Wales

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Option 1

Understanding the effect of the antimicrobial polymers and resulting materials on their antimicrobial activities to overcome antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat for human health. Indeed, by 2050 an estimated 50 million people could be affected annually which will have a significant economic impact. In this project, we propose to design and investigate bioactive polymers capable of selectively killing bacteria. By synthesizing well-defined polymers, where each monomer unit is precisely placed in the polymer chain, we will correlate anti-microbial activities for a range of bacteria, with the polymer architectures and structures. To achieve this goal, we will use the most recent polymerization techniques, including photoinduced electron/energy transfer – reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, to prepare these antimicrobial polymers. This project combines polymer synthesis with microbiology. The candidate will gain expertise in polymer synthesis, polymer characterisation using a range of techniques, including size exclusion chromatography, NMR, dynamic light scattering, UV-visible spectroscopy, as well as microbiology tests, such as MIC, CFU, fluorescence microscopy, etc.

Option 2

Overcoming antimicrobial resistance using photodynamic therapy with antimicrobial polymers

Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat for human health. Indeed, by 2050 an estimated 50 million people could be affected annually which will have a significant economic impact. In this project, we propose to design and investigate bioactive polymers capable of selectively killing bacteria. In this project, we propose to combine the activity of antimicrobial polymers with photodynamic therapy to eradicate bacteria. To achieve this goal, we will use the most recent polymerization techniques, including photoinduced electron/energy transfer – reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, to prepare antimicrobial polymers and incorporate porphyrin molecules which can be excited by visible or Near Infra-red light. Under light irradiation, the excited porphyrin molecules will convert oxygen into reactive oxygen species. This project will investigate the synergy of the antimicrobial polymer with reactive oxygen species. This project combines polymer synthesis, photochemistry with microbiology. The candidate will gain valuable expertise in the preparation of porphyrin molecules which will be incorporated into synthetic polymer chains. Therefore, the candidate will learn a broad range of techniques used for the characterisation of porphyrins, the synthesis of synthetic polymers using advanced macromolecular synthesis technique and microbiology tests to evaluate the performance of these new macromolecular compounds. Nuclear Resonance Magnetic, size exclusion chromatography, dynamic light scattering, UV-visible spectroscopy, as well as microbiology tests, such as MIC, CFU, fluorescence microscopy will be routinely employed by the candidate.

Option 3

Design photoactivated polymeric nanoparticles as new antimicrobial agents

Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat for human health. Indeed, by 2050 an estimated 50 million people could be affected annually which will have a significant economic impact. In this project, we propose to design and investigate polymeric nanoparticles capable of selectively killing bacteria. More specifically, we propose to design polymeric nanoparticles for the local delivery of antibiotics with photodynamic therapy to selectively eradicate bacteria. To achieve this goal, we will use the most recent polymerization techniques, including photoinduced electron/energy transfer – reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, to prepare functional nanoparticles which will contain porphyrin molecules and antibiotic agents. Under light irradiation, porphyrin molecules will be excited by visible or Near Infra-red light which will convert oxygen into reactive oxygen species (singlet oxygen or superoxide). This project will investigate the synergy of the reactive oxygen species with antibiotic agents. This project combines polymer synthesis, photochemistry with microbiology. The candidate will gain valuable expertise in the preparation of porphyrin molecules which will be incorporated into polymeric nanoparticles. The size and morphology of these nano-objects will be investigated as well as their loading efficiency. Therefore, the candidate will learn a broad range of techniques used for the characterisation of porphyrins, the synthesis of polymeric nanoparticles using advanced macromolecular synthesis technique and microbiology tests to evaluate the performance of these new macromolecular compounds. Nuclear Resonance Magnetic, size exclusion chromatography, dynamic light scattering, UV-visible spectroscopy, as well as microbiology tests, such as MIC, CFU, fluorescence microscopy will be routinely employed by the candidate. This project combines the main expertise of the two research groups, nanomedicine and preparation of porphyrin.

Davy-Louis Versace
Cyrille Boyer

Chemistry, Polymer Science, Nanomedicine, Photochemistry, Microbiology