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Early Stage Researcher (PhD-position) FHML/School for Cardiovascular Diseases/CARIM-Department of B

Employer
Global Academy Jobs
Location
Netherlands
Closing date
Sep 12, 2016

Job Details

The Early Stage Researcher (ESR) will be trained within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) EVOluTION and will perform research on "Targeted treatment of vascular calcification" primarily within CARIM at Maastricht University (UMA).

Job Specifications - (uitleg)

Solliciteer binnen 16 dagen op deze vacature

Job Description

EVOluTION is an interdisciplinary and international consortium involving 5 leading academic institutions and 1 SME, together with 6 Pharma and biotech companies, 1 Policy-maker, and 1 Patent & Trade firm, from 6 countries. The role-holder will engage in network-wide training events, public engagement activities and international collaboration through secondments, at industrial or academic partner institutions within the EU. Objectives of the PhD position. The PhD position title is “Targeted treatment of vascular calcification”. Calcificationis actively suppressed in healthy arteries by vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). Ageing and pathologies can change VSMC into pro-calcifying cells resulting in vascular calcification. Extracellular vesicles (exosomes) and proteins such as sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase-3 (SMPD3), the vitamin-K dependent Matrix Gla Protein (MGP) and Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP) play crucial roles in vascular calcification. The objectives are to develop targeted therapeutic strategies that limit exosome formation and that harness MGP to suppress vascular calcification. The approach is a Structure-Based selection of small molecule inhibitors of key proteins (SMPD3 and BMP-2 and 4) in vascular calcification and testing the inhibitors in vitro with cultured VSMC and in vivo in mouse models of vascular calcificaion.

The role-holder will:

1) select small molecules using in house in silico structure-based virtual screening under supervision of the expert Dr. Gerry Nicolaes,

2) analyse quantity and quality (lipid profille and proteome) of VSMC-derived exosomes in absence and presence of small molecules,

3) test small molecules on vascular calcification using  VSMC cultures and the BioHybridTM system (calcification and exosome production as readout).

Finally s/he will 4) test 2 best performing small molecules in vivo in mouse models of vascular calcification.

Expected results of the PhD research project The role-holder will establish the composition of pro-calcifying exosomes derived from VSMC and identify key-proteins in production of these exosomes. S/he will select lead small compound inhibitors of vascular calcification that have the potential to become studied in clinical studies. Secondments for the PhD research project The role-holder will be seconded by NattoPharma, a nutraceutical company in Oslo (2 months) to test small molecules on vitamin K-activity, and by Ludwig Maximilian University in Münich to study small molecules in experimental atherosclerosis (2 months)

Requirements

Please note there are strict *eligibility requirements* which apply to all Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Stage Researchers.At the time of the appointment:

Applicants must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before appointment under the project; Applicants shall also be in the first four years of their research careers at the time of appointment by the host organisation and have not been awarded a doctoral degree. For more information on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITNs), please see: ec.europa.eu/mariecurieactions targets as agreed with Supervisor is essential. Able to travel to workshops and for research collaboration in other EU countries with notice is essential.

Conditions

Temporary employment for 3 years. Each year an evaluation will take place.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees > Employment conditions.

Employment: Temporary, 3 years

Organisation

http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 16,000 students and 4,000 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.

Department

CARIM - School for Cardiovascular diseases

The Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), School for Cardiovascular Diseases, is one of the top institutes for translational cardiovascular research in Europe. It is among the world leaders in the fields of research into vascular and thrombotic disorders and atrial fibrillation as well as translational heart failure research. It has also made important international contributions to molecular imaging in the cardiovascular field.

With an annual budget of approximately 22,000,000 Euros in 2015, CARIM is one of the largest cardiovascular research institutes in Europe, producing more than 550 scientific articles and approximately 30 PhD dissertations per year. CARIM employs 250 researchers from 13 disciplines, about 120 PhD students and 50 technical and support staff members.

Over the last ten years, CARIM papers have been published in high-impact journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Nature Medicine, Nature Cell Biology, Cell Metabolism, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Circulation, Lancet Neurology, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Bibliometric analyses illustrate that CARIM publications have been cited 1.97 times more often than the world average for the cardiovascular field in the period of 2009 until 2012.

CARIM is recognized by the KNAW as a research school and as an international training site for Early Stage Researchers in the framework of the Marie Curie Program.

Cardiovascular scientists from around the world join CARIM because it values open communication, close cooperation, high ambitions, good facilities and a critical learning environment.

Additional Information

Prof. dr C. Reutelingsperger, dept Biochemistry, c.reutelingsperger@maastrichtuniversity.nl, +31(0)433881533 

Company

Global Academy Jobs works with over 250 universities worldwide to promote academic mobility and international research collaboration. Global problems need international solutions. Our jobs board and emails reach the academics and researchers who can help.

"The globalisation of higher education continues apace, driving in turn the ongoing development of the global knowledge economy, striving for solutions to the world’s problems and educating a next generation of leaders and contributors."

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