Type of contract CDD
Location Caen, France
Statut Available
Key Words clinical, neuroscience, neuroimaging
Details of the offer
Place of work: Caen University
Missions:
Scientific Context:
Korsakoff Syndrome (KS) is a permanent, non-degenerative amnestic syndrome resulting from a thiamine deficiency, most commonly developing in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). People with this condition suffer from severe episodic memory impairment, often accompanied by other cognitive, motor, and neuropsychiatric deficits. This pathology is poorly understood, KS patients are often overlooked or stigmatized, and their care pathway from diagnosis to finding an appropriate living environment is extremely chaotic. Research on KS is crucial to both improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of the condition and to enhance prevention, diagnosis, and management of patients.
PhD Objective and Methodology:
The overall goal of this PhD is to make a significant contribution to the understanding of the neuropathophysiological mechanisms underlying KS, in comparison with AUD without KS. To this end, and in more detail, the PhD will aim to precisely describe the structural and functional alterations specific to KS:
The selected candidate will be responsible for enhancing these extremely rare data from the ALCOBRAIN/ALCOSLEEP cohorts, collected from patients with AUD and KS, AUD without KS, and control subjects. These tasks will require utilizing and mastering cutting-edge imaging methods. From a structural perspective, analysis of hippocampal subfields and thalamic nuclei, as well as tractography studies, are considered. From a functional perspective, static and dynamic functional connectivity analyses are among the techniques to be used.
Throughout his/her doctoral work, the candidate will be responsible for the analysis, enhancement, and dissemination of these data. He/she will also be involved in data collection for another research protocol combining neuropsychological assessments and multimodal brain imaging.
Qualifications:
The PhD student will be expected to present his/her results at national and international conferences and publish scientific articles. He/she will have the opportunity to undertake internships and training courses depending on the needs of the thesis, either internally or via Inserm, the University of Caen, or other organizations. The candidate will also be encouraged to participate in collaborative work with other team members or external collaborators. By joining a team whose members are internationally recognized in their fields and have established a broad network of collaborators, the PhD student will have the opportunity to significantly expand their network. Finally, by joining our dynamic research team, the student will benefit from an enriching environment through numerous interactions and opportunities to present their work, and will participate in various lab meetings (English training, scientific meetings, methodological meetings, seminars with invited researchers, journal clubs, etc.).
Required Skills:
Type of job
Type of contract CDD
Application deadline
Employment start date 01/10/2025
Contact
How to Apply?
Interested candidates are invited to send their applications to Anne-Lise Pitel (anne-lise.pitel@unicaen.fr) and Shailendra Segobin (segobin@cyceron.fr), including:
Application Deadline: May 1st