PhD Candidate: The vicious circle of protein modification-induced chronic inflammation

Descrizione

PhD Candidate: The vicious circle of protein modification-induced chronic inflammation Sintesi in italiano (traduzione automatica): L'Università di Maastricht cerca due candidati per un dottorato di ricerca nel progetto finanziato da Zon-MW, focalizzato sull'infiammazione cronica indotta da modifiche post-traduzionali delle proteine. La posizione è basata presso l'Università di Maastricht e richiede di esplorare il ruolo delle proteine modificate e dei loro anticorpi nello sviluppo di malattie cardiometaboliche. I candidati dovranno progettare e condurre esperimenti, analizzare dati clinici e collaborare con un team di ricerca. È richiesta una laurea in biologia, biotecnologie o un campo correlato. Il candidato ideale possiede abilità analitiche, pensiero critico e ottime capacità comunicative. Welcome to Maastricht University! What if cardiometabolic and autoimmune diseases share a root cause? Join a cutting-edge collaboration uncovering how post-translational protein modifications ignite chronic inflammation and how we can intervene. For our Zon-MW funded project we invite 2 enthusiastic PhD candidates, one based at the Maastricht University and one at the Leiden University Medical Centre. This vacancy is for the position at Maastricht University, offering a stimulating research setting and close collaboration within the project team. PhD Candidate: The vicious circle of protein modification-induced chronic inflammation Our goal: In this project, you will explore how post-translationally modified proteins and their antibodies contribute to chronic (low grade) inflammation and the development of cardiometabolic diseases. By studying complement activation and is association with (sub)clinical phenotypes using data from The Maastricht Study, you will help clarify their relevance in the etiology of disease. Your colleagues: You will be embedded in a collaborative research environment at Maastricht University, working closely with researchers within the local team. You will also collaborate with researchers and a fellow PhD candidate at Leiden University Medical Centre in the research group of Prof Dr L.T. Trouw, with regular joint meetings and exchange visits as an integral part of the PhD programme. The PhD candidate based in Leiden will focus on the experimental and translational components of the project thereby complementing the human data analyses performed in Maastricht. Post-translationally modified proteins (PTMs) and their antibodies have been long-implicated in the etiology of auto-immune disease. Notably, PTMs and anti-PTMS are also found in other non-communicable diseases, but their pathophysiological relevance needs to be firmly established. In this PhD project, you will explore how activation of the complement system by PTMs contributes to systemic low-grade inflammation and to the development of cardiometabolic diseases. The complement system is part of our innate immune defence against infections and can trigger inflammation. You will use data and biobanked samples of The Maastricht Study ( www.themaastrichtstudy.nl ), a large and deeply-phenotyped observational cohort, as well as interventions cohorts. You will design and perform assays to measure several post-translationally modified proteins (PTMs) such as malondialdehyde-acetaldehyde adducted proteins, advanced glycation endproducts, and carbamylated proteins and their antibodies in this cohort. You will combine these data with the available in-depth (pre)clinical phenotypes to address the contribution PTM-activated complement activation contributes to the development of cardiometabolic diseases. What you do As a PhD candidate you will: Design and perform in ELISA-based measurements of PTMs, anti-PTMs and complement in human samples (observation and interventional). Perform data-analyses to relate these data to clinical outcomes. Perform cluster analyses to uncover underlying (patho)physiological phenotypes. Collaborate with the LUMC-team to integrate the human findings and preclinical experimental data. Publish your results, present at international conferences, and contribute to departmental teaching activities. Are you eager to uncover how ubiquitous protein modifications, via complement activation and proinflammatory effects, form a shared root cause in the etiology of cardiometabolic and autoimmune diseases? Then we’d love to meet you! What you bring We’re not looking for checkboxes; we’re interested in who you are and what you bring. Do you recognize yourself in this? You are interested in interdisciplinary research that explores the full translational axis, this is your place to be. Our ideal candidate holds accuracy and precision in high regards, possesses strong analytical and critical thinking skills and excellent communication skills. Col Annuncio in inglese. Fonte: Euraxess (Commissione europea).