The DDD challenge
One of the main elements of the training offered at IMS is the DDD (Drug Discovery and Development) challenge which reflects a teaching-research-transfer continuum and provides students with the opportunity to engage in a research project very early in their training trajectory, and to co-develop a solution to meet a medical need.
What is the DDD challenge?
Working in interdisciplinary pairs , and mentored for four months by private and academic partners , the students identify a medical need and develop a research project meeting the IMS requirements in terms of novelty, innovation, and potential for transfer. Following this team work, the pairs of students present their work to an international review board consisting of academic and industrial researchers, and the winners are awarded PhD funding along with an operating budget to support the launch of their proposed project . The DDD challenge thus intends to promote therapeutic innovation by drawing out and highlighting the talents of future young researchers as early as possible during their academic career.
Agathe Boos & Julien Most
Winners of the 2019 DDD challenge
“The DDD challenge has allowed us to enter into the field of research in a completely unforeseen way: by developing an innovative research project from A to Z around a biology-chemistry collaboration, and combining the themes of our respective laboratories. Our project relates to the use of bioconjugated antibodies with the aim of developing a new therapeutic tool targeting glioblastoma stem cells. This experience allowed us to collaborate with stakeholders in the academic and private sectors and thus to see beyond basic research objectives thanks to the idea of technology transfer.”
Skill-sets developed
Identify a medical need and perform market analysis
Develop and structure an interdisciplinary research project
Identify the (material, human, financial) resources required to implement a research project
Assess the potential for technology transfer