IFRMP 23 : Federate Institute for Multidisciplinary Research on
Peptides
Director: Dr. Hubert Vaudry
The Federate Institute for Multidisciplinary Research on Peptides
(IFRMP 23), created in 1994 with the first wave of Federate Research
Institutes (IFR), is the cornerstone of the chemistry-biology-health
research centre of our University.
With its 15 founder teams, including 4 INSERM units (U413, U519,
U614 and U644), 1 INSERM AVENIR Team, 4 CNRS units (UMR 6014, UMR
6037, UMR 6522 and FRE 2735,) and 6 UPRES (EA 1780, EA 2656, EA
3222, EA 3233, EA 3234 and EA 3380), IFRMP 23 represents the main
research potential in chemistry and biology, federating the work
of 350 people including 220 full-time researchers around a seminal
theme common too all, that of peptides and proteins with therapeutic
applications.
Each time it has been evaluated, the activity of this IFR has been
classified A+ and the IFRMP 23 is frequently cited as a model of
coordination and efficiency.
Some of the main achievements of the IFRMP
23 worth citing include:
- The creation of a research platform in
cellular imagery, designated a regional platform by the Inter-Organisational
Assembly (RIO), with one electron microscope, 4 confocal microscopes,
4 video-microscopy workstations, 3 image analysis workstations,
2 phosphorimagers, a laser microdissector, a FlexStation robot
and a biomolecule synthesis department;
- The creation of a proteomic engineering platform (approved by
the Inter-Organisational Assembly (RIO)) equipped with heavy equipment
such as gel analysers, automated digesters, proteome-lab, mass
spectrometers, and automatic peptide sequencer;
- The creation of 4 common departments for nucleotidic sequencing,
flux cytometry, NMR spectrometry and molecular modelling, and
transgenesis;
- Pooling of the technical staff and allocation by the main organisations,
specifically to IFRMP 23, of 5 engineers, technicians and administrative
staff (ITA) (2 INSERM research engineers (IR), 2 INSERM design
engineers (IE), 1 CNRS research technician (TR)) dedicated to
the operation of the research platform in cellular imagery and
of the various common services;
- The management of common research projects, concretised by a
large volume of industrial contracts and by a significant number
of articles produced by the cooperation between the various teams
of the IFRMP, some of which were published in world-class international
periodicals (P.N.A.S., J. Biol. Chem., Circulation, J. Clin. Endocrinol.
Metab., Eur. J. Biochem., J. Neurochem., etc.);
- The organisation in June of Scientific
workshops of the IFRMP 23, which bring together each year some
250 participants and provides an occasion to invite leading international
lecturers. The 11th Scientific workshop of the IFRMP 23 was held
on June 10, 2005 at Mont-Saint-Aignan University Hall.
In addition, the IFRMP 23 has strongly supported the emergence
of new teams, in particular the AVENIR teams located in U519 (headed
by Olivier Boyer) and in the IFRMP 23 (headed by Vincent Laudenbach)
and made a major contribution in the creation and development
of the INSERM U519, U614 and U644 Units, and UPRES-EA 3222. The
Research Master's degree in Cellular Biology and the Norman PhD
School in Chemistry-Biology (ED 096) jointly approved by the Universities
of Caen and Le Havre, are also largely based on the skills of
the IFRMP 23 teams.
Lastly, it is
worth recalling that the IFRMP 23 is a leading light in research,
with its monthly news bulletins, scientific workshops, seminar
cycles, training schools, and international congresses, contributing
to the renown of Rouen University.