Research

One team, three groups and a shared aim: better understand pathologies and their treatments, and bring new instruments and compounds to the clinic.

Metals in Medicine

Elemental imaging of cells and tissues to understand how metals shape health and disease, and to find the causes of idiopathic diseases.

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X-Ray Wave Imaging for Health

Phase-contrast and dark-field X-ray imaging, from the synchrotron to the laboratory and the clinic, for 3D exploration of unlabelled tissue.

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Image-guided Surgery and Neutron Capture Therapy

Fluorescent and multimodal probes to guide tumour surgery, and boron-based compounds for neutron capture therapy.

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Approach

Methods developed, questions answered

We develop the methods ourselves and apply them to real biomedical questions, one tissue at a time and across scales.

Methodological development

Light and X-ray fluorescence
Spectral imaging
Phase-contrast and dark-field imaging
LIBS elemental imaging
Neutron capture therapy
Image analysis and AI

Application to biomedical concerns

Cancer
Head and neck, odontology
Brain
Skin
Lung
Liver
Joints
Embryo and fetus

One team, many pathologies

Our research is not tied to a single disease. A given imaging instrument or tool can be useful in many situations, so we work across embryonic development and the lung, liver, heart and vessels, brain, ear-nose-throat, joints, skin, digestive tract and mouth.

Translational research is a pillar of the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, and the proximity of the university hospital lets us start from real clinical needs. Clinicians are part of the team and several of our tools have already reached the hospital.

Metals in Medicine ↔ Image-guided Surgery and NCT: molecular probes, and sub-cellular and tissue localisation.
Metals in Medicine ↔ X-Ray Wave Imaging: understanding of low-frequency contrast, and image analysis with artificial intelligence.
Image-guided Surgery and NCT ↔ X-Ray Wave Imaging: in-vivo organ-level localisation, and molecular contrast agents.