DENAT Franck Voir la fiche profil en français

CAREER

2005- Full Professor, University of Burgundy (promoted PR1 in 2009, PRCE1 in 2014 and PRCE2 (highest grade in France) in 2016)
2007- Director of the Institute of Molecular Chemistry of the University of Burgundy (ICMUB, UMR CNRS 6302)
2005- Co-founder and scientific advisor Chematech® company (www.chematech-mdt.com) specialized in commercializing macrocyclic chelators
1994-05 Researcher (CNRS), University of California, Davis, USA (Prof. Kevin M. Smith)
1997-98 Assistant/Associate Professor, Laboratoire d’Ingénierie Moléculaire pour la Séparation et les Applications des Gaz (LIMSAG), UMR 5633 CNRS, University of Burgundy
1990-93 PhD Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

EDUCATION

2003 "Habilitation" to supervise academic research in chemistry (Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France).
1993 Grade of Doctor in chemistry (Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France) “Synthesis and reactivity of silyl-, germyl- and stannylpyrroles and pyrrolecarbaldehydes” (Dir. Prof. Jacques Dubac).

MAIN PROJECTS

• Synthesis of bifunctional chelating agents of radiometals for nuclear imaging and/or therapy (co-founder of Chematech® company)
• Design and evaluation of radiolabeled (Zr89, Cu64, Ga68, In111) bioconjugates (antibodies, fragments, peptides) (H2020 IMI Tristan, Pharmimage, Multimode project, ISITE BFC-Industry Biocair)
• Nanoparticles functionalization (AGuiX, Au, USPIO) for multimodal imaging (PIA Equipex IMAPPI, H2020 ITN Argent, ANR Cargold, ANR Multimage)
• Innovative bioconjugation strategies site-specific labeling tools (ANR Zinelabel, H2020 IMI Tristan, PIA Equipex IMAPPI)
• PET/OI bimodal imaging agents based on  monomolecular platforms (MOMIP) for fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) in oncology (ANR Dualmab, FLI FluoNTEP)
• Fonctionnalisation de nanoparticules (AGuiX, Au, USPIO) pour l’imagerie multimodale (PIA Equipex IMAPPI, H2020 ITN Argent, ANRs Cargold, Multimage)
• Nouvelles stratégies de bioconjugaison et outils de marquage site-specifique (ANR Zinelabel, H2020 IMI Tristan, PIA Equipex IMAPPI)
• Agents d’imagerie bimodale PET/optique à base de plateformes monomoléculaires (MOMIP) pour la chirurgie assistée par fluorescence en cancérologie (ANR Dualmab, FLI FluoNTEP)

PRESEARCH PROJECTS MANAGEMENT

2010-17 PI of the 3MIM project “Labeling of molecules with metals for molecular imaging“ funded by CNRS-UB-Conseil Régional de Bourgogne (CRB)
2014-17 PI of the PARI program “pharmaco-imaging and theranostics” granted by UB, CRB and FEDER
2011- PI of the chemistry WP of Equipex IMAPPI (Integrated magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography) funded by French grant “Investments for the future”
2017- Head of the French partner in H2020 IMI TRISTAN project “Translational Imaging in Drug Safety Assessment”
2018- Academic PI of ISITE-BFC Industry project BIOCAIR « Biomarkers of T-cell activity in tumours and immunotherapy response »
2019-21 PI of the project « région BFC excellence » Multimod «  Design and in vivo evaluation of new multimodal imaging agents »
2020- PI of the Dualmab project “Dual Labeling (PET and fluorescence) of antibodies targeting endothelin 1 receptors” granted by ANR (French research agency)

INVOLVMENT IN OTHER RESEARCH PROJECTS

ANR PI of DualmAb project (2020-23)
Partner in 6 projects:
- Mesoporelect (A. Walcarius, 2005-08)
- TheraGuima (S. Roux, 2011-13)
- Multimage (O. Tillement, 2013-16)
- Cargold (S. Roux, 2016-19)
- Zinelabel (V. Goncalves, 2017-20)
- Wazaby (C. Goze, 2018-21)
Europe Involved in 4 european projects:
- FP7 Mathias « New Molecular-Functional Imaging Technologies and Therapeutic Strategies for Theranostic of Invasive Aspergillosis » (2013-18)
- FP7 ITN Argent « Advanced Radiotherapy, Generated by Exploiting Nanoprocesses and Technologies » (2014-18)
- H2020 IMI TRISTAN (2017-21) (responsable partenaire français)
- H2020 EuroNanoMed III THERAGET « Dendronized nanoparticles designed for targeted multimodal image guided therapy » (2021-24)
Member of COST actions:
- COST action TD1004 « Theragnostics imaging and therapy: an action to develop novel nanosized systems for imaging-guided drug delivery ».
- COST action TD1007 « Bimodal PET-MRI molecular imaging technologies and applications for in vivo monitoring of disease and biological processes ».
Others
- ISITE BFC Bionanocar (S. Roux, 2018-21)
- FLI (France Life Imaging) : FluoNTep (V. Goncalves, 2017-19)
- BIFPETBR (C. Bernhard, 2018-20)
- ThéraBODIPY (L. Sancey, 2018-20)

PUBLICATIONS

- 151 peer-reviewed publications (h index 32, >3250 citations)
Complete list of publications
- 14 patents
- > 240 communications
- 48 invited lectures

10 RECENT SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS

1-   Design of Bimodal Ligands of Neurotensin Receptor 1 for PET Imaging and Fluorescence-Guided Surgery of Pancreatic Cancer
      E. Renard, P.-A. Dancer, C. Portal, F. Denat, A. Prignon, V. Goncalves
      J. Med. Chem., 2020, 63, 2426-2433.

2-   Modular assembly of multimodal imaging agents through an inverse electron demand Diels-Alder reaction
      C. Canovas, M. Moreau, J.-M. Vrigneaud, P.-S. Bellaye, B. Collin, F. Denat, V. Goncalves
      Bioconjugate Chem., 2019, 30, 888-897.

3-   Functionalization of Theranostic AGuIX® Nanoparticles for PET/MRI/Optical Imaging
       V. Thakare,V.-L. Tran, M. Natuzzi, E. Thomas, M. Moreau, A. Romieu,B. Collin,A. Courteau, J.-M. Vrigneaud, C. Louis, S. Roux, F. Boschetti, O. Tillement, F. Lux, F. Denat
      RSC Advances, 2019, 9, 24811-24815.

4-   Site-Specific Dual-Labeling of Proteins on Cysteine Residues with Chlorotetrazines
      C. Canovas, M. Moreau, C. Bernhard, A. Oudot, M. Guillemin, F. Denat, V. Goncalves
      Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2018, 57, 10646-10650.

5-   MANOTA: a promising bifunctional chelating agent for copper-64 immunoPET
       M. Moreau, S. Poty, J.-M. Vrigneaud, P. Walker, M. Guillemin, O. Raguin, A. Oudot, C. Bernhard, C. Goze, F. Boschetti, B. Collin, F. Brunotte, F. Denat
      Dalton Trans., 2017, 46, 14659-14668.

6-   ⁸⁹Zr-Immuno-Positron Emission Tomography in Oncology: State-of-the-Art 89Zr Radiochemistry
       S. Heskamp, R. Raavé, O. Boerman, M. Rijpkema, V. Goncalves, F. Denat
      Bioconjugate Chem., 2017, 28, 2211-2223.

7-   NIR emitting BODIPY-based MOnomolecular Multifunctional Imaging Probes: from synthesis to in vivoinvestigations
      N. Maindron, M. Ipuy, C. Bernhard, D. Lhenry, M. Moreau, S. Carme, A. Oudot, B. Collin, J.-M. Vrigneaud, P. Provent, F. Brunotte, F. Denat, C. Goze
      Chem, Eur. J.,2016, 22, 12670-12674.

8-   AMD3100: a versatile platform for CXCR4 targeting 68Ga-based radiopharmaceuticals
      S. Poty, E. Gourni, P. Desogere, F. Boschetti, C. Goze, H. Maecke, F. Denat
      Bioconjugate Chem., 2016, 27, 752-761.

9-   (R)-NODAGA-PSMA: a versatile precursor for radiometal labeling and nuclear imaging of PSMA-positive tumors
      E. Gourni, C. Canovas, V. Goncalves, F. Denat, P. T. Meyer, H. R. Maecke
      PLOS One, 2015, 10, e0145755.

10- BODIPY: a highly versatile platform for the design of bimodal imaging probes
      D. Lhenry, C. Bernhard, M. Larrouy, V. Goncalves, O. Raguin,P. Provent,M. Moreau, B. Collin, A. Oudot, J.-M. Vrigneaud, F. Brunotte,C. Goze, F. Denat
      Chem, Eur. J.,2015, 21, 13091-13099.

SKILLS

• Organic synthesis and coordination chemistry of azacrowns, chelating agents of metal ions (cyclam, cyclen, tacn, DOTA, NODAGA,…)
• Design of molecular imaging and theranostic agents for nuclear imaging (PET, SPECT), optical imaging, multimodal imaging (PET-SPECT/OI, PET/MRI) or targeted radiotherapy
• Bioconjugation (classical techniques, bioorthogonal chemistry for « site specific » labeling) and molecule labeling (proteins, peptides, small ligands), radiochemistry
• Nanoparticles functionalization (gold, silica (AGUIX Nps in clinical trials)) for applications as imaging agents or theranostics
• Synthesis of selective metal sequestering materials for liquid purification or metal ions detection

ADMINISTRATION

2007-     Director of the Institute of Molecular Chemistry of the University of Burgundy (ICMUB, UMR CNRS 6302)
2012-16 Vice-President of the University of Burgundy (UB) (Scientific Council)
2005-14 Head of the Master degree « Chimie Moléculaire et Procédés Propres » of the University of Burgundy
2012-     Co-responsible of the WP “Imaging Agents” of the French infrastructure FLI (France Life Imaging)
2013-     Member of the board of directors of the cancer center Georges François Leclerc
2015-     Member of the “Comité de la recherche en matière biomédicale et de santé publique“ of Dijon hospital
2016-     President of the prospective committee of the “pôle hospitalo-universitaire de pharmaco-imagerie de Dijon”
2016-19 Member of the steering comittee of FTC (Focus Transfert CNRS) « Molecular imaging agents »
2013-14Coordinateur du Domaine de Valorisation Stratégique « agents d’imagerie » du CVT de l’alliance AVIESAN
2018-     Deputy director of the CNRS research group (GDR) “Molecular imaging agents”

EXPERTISE

- Expert for ANR: “non thématique”, “jeune chercheur”, “retour post-doc” (member of the committee in 2009 and 2012), “innovation biomédicale” (member of the committee from 2014 to 2017)
- Expert for AERES/HCERES, ERC, “Ligue contre le Cancer”, canceropôle CLARA, IDEX projects (Strasbourg, Toulouse), Le Studium, Biowin (belgium), Czech Science Fundation,…
- >100 reviews for leading journals: ACS, RSC, Wiley, Elsevier,…
- Membre of learned societies: Société Chimique de France, Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, European Society of Molecular Imaging
- Organization of 12 scientific congresses and meetings
- Participation in 83 PhD theses and habilitation committees
- Participation in 18 selection committees for professor and assistant professor positions
- Supervision of 24 PhD students and > 40 master students and post-docs