PhD student in regeneration of insulin-producing beta-cells in diabetes models

PhD student in studies for regeneration of insulin-producing beta-cells in diabetes models
The Department of Medical Cell Biology at Uppsala University is a strong and international research environment. The department has more than 110 employees, of which about 25 are doctoral students, 10 postdoctoral fellows, and 40 researchers, teachers and professors.

The lab of Olov Andersson is part of the Department of Medical Cell Biology at the Uppsala University, Sweden, and offering a stimulating, international research environment.

Bridging developmental biology and drug discovery, we use the zebrafish model to elucidate organogenesis and related mechanisms of disease. We are currently focusing on pancreatic beta-cell regeneration.

Link to research group page:
https://www.uu.se/en/department/medical-cell-biology/research/research-groups/olov-andersson

Duties
We are seeking a highly creative, motivated and enthusiastic doctoral student to study regeneration of pancreatic beta-cells as an approach to curing diabetes. The lab uses chemical screening techniques in zebrafish larvae to identify and characterize compounds, signaling pathways and cellular mechanisms that can promote β-cell regeneration and maturation. We then validate our initial findings by changing the stage (larvae vs adult), approach (chemical vs genetic), and model organism (zebrafish vs mouse). Additionally, the prospective student will study how reinforcing the liver-pancreas axis can influence the β-cells and improve glucose control in diabetes. Molecular mechanisms can be analyzed with single-cell RNA-seq of treated zebrafish.

For examples of how the research can be conducted, please see:

Mi et al., Science Advances:
https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.adf5142

Karampelias et al., Nature Chemical biology:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-022-01047-x

Charbord et al., Nature Metabolism:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-021-00391-x?proof=t

The zebrafish are amenable to efficient transgenesis and high-resolution imaging. We will make use of these properties and generate transgenic, knock-in and mutant zebrafish for analysis of phenotypes at the single-cell level and lineage-tracing.

Requirements
To meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must

• hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree in relevant subject, or
• have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master’s level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

The successful candidate will have experience of one or more of the following techniques/models:

• Experience in cell and molecular biology methods
• Experience of bioinformatics, foremost for single cell transcriptomics
• Documented subject knowledge of relevance to the area of research
• Analytical skill corroborated by an academic paper, assignment, or the like
• Abilities in English language, both oral and writing 

Additional qualifications
A selection will be made among eligible applicants on the basis of the ability to benefit from doctoral education. The qualifications of the applicants will be evaluated on an overall basis.

We use the following bases of assessment:

• Documented subject knowledge of relevance to the area of research
• Analytical skill
• Other documented knowledge or experience that may be relevant to doctoral studies in the subject.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Olov Andersson, olov.andersson@mcb.uu.se

Please submit your application by January 20 2025, UFV-PA 2024/4341.

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