CPER ESTIM

In the field of health, responses to all major challenges, whether to better understand, diagnose or treat diseases, must necessarily incorporate the description and understanding of living organisms at the molecular level.The ESTIM project has two complementary objectives: A) to respond to the ubiquitous use of imaging in biology, preclinical and clinical settings (photon imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)). In order to increase image quality and improve the resulting diagnoses, the injection of contrast agents is necessary. The design and characterisation of imaging agents is a recognised area of expertise at the Grand Campus d'Orléans, particularly at the CBM and ICOA. Improving contrast agents and developing new probes, particularly for SPECT, near-IR and MRI modalities, are major challenges for the ESTIM project. B) Better characterise the structure of living molecules. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of living organisms enables the identification of new pharmacological targets and the development of new molecular probes and new therapeutic or diagnostic agents for a variety of pathologies. Faced with increasingly complex samples, ESTIM will propose developments in NMR and mass spectrometry methodologies for life sciences.

The ESTIM project in instrumentation development responds both to current scientific challenges and to the demands of socio-economic actors in the fields of health and cosmetics (through collaborations, research contracts or requests for services). These developments correspond to the consolidation of expertise and specific instrumental capabilities at regional, national and even international levels.

For the CBM, the Centre Val de Loire 2021-2027 State-Region Plan contract, the CEPR ESTIM was developed and led by Eva Jakab-Toth for the CNRS and Pascal Bonnet for the University of Orléans.