ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY
Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15.000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities.
With its 11 faculties and more than 85 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.
ABOUT PROJECT MINDFUL
In the inter-university VLIR-IBOF project entitled ‘MINDFUL: MIcroglia directed NeuroDegeneration FUeled by Lipid metabolism’, prof. Dmitriev and prof. Vergult will put their expertise together to establish neural organoid models recapitulating aspects of neural-microglia interactions in neurodegenerative diseases at Ghent University.
Lipid accumulation in microglia is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). These lipid-loaded microglia are associated with disease pathology and enhance neuroinflammation, myelin breakdown, and neuronal loss. Although brain lipid metabolism has been known to be altered in MS and AD for a long time, and many genetic risk variants are linked to lipid metabolism, little is known about how these changes are connected to the accumulation of lipids in microglia, and how this promotes neurodegeneration. In this project, we aim to elucidate how lipid metabolism controls microglia-neuron interaction. By combining this knowhow, we will gain insights in the link between altered lipid metabolism and neurodegeneration which can provide new, more effective targets to prevent neurological decline. This is an inter-university consortium project involving Ghent University, KU Leuven and coordinated by Hasselt University (Prof. J. Hendriks).
The starting postdoctoral researcher will establish iPSC-derived human brain organoid or neuron/glia/microglia-based 3D models recapitulating neural-microglia interactions, using biomaterials and (micro)tissue engineering approaches. The innovative aspect of the project will be in developing new analysis methods of neural-microglia interactions, complementing already established multi-omics approaches: non-destructive fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), mass spectrometry imaging and Raman spectroscopy. It is expected that the researcher will co-supervise a starting PhD student on the same project. The project will require a diverse set of interdisciplinary skills in live 3D microscopy, organoids and bioinformatics.
We are looking for a talented and strongly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join our enthusiastic and young interdisciplinary teams of Prof. Dmitriev (Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Group, Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fAYmtSUAAAAJ&hl=en) and Prof. Vergult (Functional Genomics lab, https://www.ugent.be/ge/biomolecular-medicine/en/research/research-labs/functional-genomics-lab), as part of the MINDFUL research consortium. We provide an open and stimulating working environment, in which teamwork, initiative, supervisory experience, a critical mindset and originality are highly appreciated.
We offer a 1 year position, which can be extended to 2 years or further. We will also expect to participate in obtaining external funding (e.g. by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) or MSCA-postdoctoral fellowship).
Applications including a CV (with list of publications), motivation letter (max. 1 page), and the email addresses of two potential referees should be sent electronically to both prof. Ruslan Dmitriev (ruslan.dmitriev@ugent.be) and prof. Sarah Vergult (sarah.vergult@ugent.be) by 31-August, the latest.
Top-ranked candidates will be invited for an interview (either on-site or via Teams). Starting date will be determined in agreement with the candidate.
Location:
Medical Research Building (MRB1), Entrance 34
Center for Medical Genetics Ghent (CMGG)
&
Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Lab
The Core, Entrance 37.
Ghent University Hospital (UZ Gent)
Corneel Heymanslaan 10
B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
In your application, please refer to Professorpositions.com