In January 2022, at the end of its five-year mandate, the CRCINA (Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Nantes – Angers) evolves and becomes the CRCI²NA. Philippe Juin and Catherine Pellat, both in charge of the PISTER research programme within the SIRIC ILIAD, are the new director and deputy director.
The current evolution of the CRCINA is not the first in its history, the centre has experienced a strong development over the years. Initially created by INSERM in 2008 under the name U892-CRCNA (for Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie – Nantes Angers), the centre only became the CRCINA (INSERM UMR 1232 & CNRS ERL 6001) in 2017 under the direction of Dr Marc Grégoire, in order to highlight one of the institute’s strengths, Immunology and immunotherapy.
In January 2022, the CRCINA continued its evolution and became the CRCI²NA (INSERM U1307, CNRS UMR 6075), a second “I” for Integrated Research.
Integrated research: Share research questions and objectives between different disciplines (clinical, technological, biological, epidemiological, human sciences, economic and social sciences and public health) in order to develop synergistic programmes aimed at better care of patients and their disease (INCa definition, 2011)
The missions of the CRCI²NA: to better see, understand and treat cancerous pathologies
The CRCI²NA is a multi-team research structure led by a director, Philippe Juin, and a deputy director, Catherine Pellat, both of whom are responsible for research programmes within the SIRIC ILIAD.
The CRCI²NA is dedicated to the analysis of tumors as ecosystems, i.e. the analysis of tumors as a set of distinct cell types, linked by cooperative or competitive relationships. The overall project of CRCI²NA is to explore the interactions and dynamic changes of tumor ecosystems during tumor progression, as well as the mechanisms of response to treatments.
More specifically, the CRCI²NA teams combine a broad spectrum of expertise, notably in cancer genomics and computational biology, cell and molecular biology, cellular models, immuno-oncology, imaging and nuclear medicine. This multi-scale approach makes it possible to identify diagnostic and predictive tools, to decipher the mechanisms of resistance to treatment and to design innovative therapies and theranostic approaches, based on the molecular, phenotypic and radiomic specificities of each cancer.
The CRCI²NA: a hub between basic and clinical cancer research
Founded by INSERM, CNRS, Nantes University and the University of Angers, the CRCI²NA is part of a process of structuring research in cancer and immuno-cancer that began in 1979.
The CRCI²NA is located in two cities, Nantes and Angers. This new centre will continue to develop close links with the university hospitals of Nantes and Angers and the Institut de Cancérologie de l’Ouest (René Gauducheau in Nantes and Paul Papin in Angers). Spread over five buildings (two in Angers and three in Nantes), the centre houses three teams on the Angers Health Campus and eight at the University of Nantes. In line with its key role in the articulation of synergistic links between basic and clinical cancer research in the Pays de la Loire, the CRCI²NA has integrated a new team, Team 9, based at the Faculty of Medicine in Nantes. Bringing together 12 research teams and more than 300 people, the CRCI²NA retains its position as the largest cancer research centre in the Grand Ouest.
Team lists :
Team 01 : Immunomodulation of the tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy of thoracic cancers (Christophe Blanquart / Jean-François Fonteneau)
Team 02 : Nuclear Oncology (Michel Cherel / Françoise Kraeber-Bodéré)
Team 03 : Senescences escape and soluble markers of cancer progression (Olivier Coqueret)
Team 04 : Innate Immunity and Immunotherapy (Yves Delneste / Pascale Jeannin)
Team 05 : Design and application of innovative loco-regional treatments in glioblastoma (Emmanuel Garcion)
Team 06 : Signaling in oncogenesis, angiogenesis and permeability (Julie Gavard / Nicolas Bidére)
Team 07 : Stress adaptation and tumor escape (Philippe Juin)
Team 08 : Integrative cancer genomics (Stéphane Minvielle / Eric Letouzé)
Team 09 : Chromatin and transcriptional deregulation in pediatric bone sarcoma (Benjamin Ory / François Lamoureux)
Team 10 : Plasticity of ecosystem from the tumor after radiotherapy (François Paris)
Team 11 : Molecular vulnerabilities of tumor escape in mature B-cell malignancies (Catherine Pellat / David Chiron)
Team 12 : Manipulation of lymphocytes for immunotherapy (Emmanuel Scotet)