PhD student in Cardiovascular development and genome engineering.

The Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University has a broad research profile with strong research groups focused on cancer, autoimmune and genetic diseases. A fundamental idea at the department is to stimulate translational research and thereby closer interactions between medical research and health care. Research is presently conducted in the following areas: medical and clinical genetics, clinical immunology, pathology, neuro biology, neuro-oncology, vascular biology, radiation science and molecular tools. Department activities are also integrated with the units for Oncology, Clinical Genetics, Clinical Immunology, Clinical Pathology, and Hospital Physics at Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala. The department has teaching assignments in several education programmes, including Master Programmes, at the Faculty of Medicine, and at the Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology. The department has a yearly turnover of around SEK 500 million, out of which more than half is made up of external funding. The staff amounts to approximately 345 employees, out of which 100 are PhD-students, and there are in total more than 700 affiliated people. 

Duties
Hemodynamic forces generated by the blood flow are an essential regulator of cardiovascular development and function. In consequence, flow perturbations are associated with congenital anomalies such as cardiac valve pathologies and vasculopathies.  The flow forces are exerted on endothelial cells, which line the vessel wall.  Specialized forms of endothelium include the endocardium, critical for cardiac function, and the blood-brain barrier that preserves the integrity of the central nervous system.

The laboratory aims to determine the mechanosensory response in these specialized endothelial populations and establish novel conditional loss-of-function strategies to study cardiovascular system formation.  We use the zebrafish, a leading model in cardiovascular research, exploiting a combination of next-generation sequencing, high-resolution imaging, advanced genome engineering, and functional analyses.

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to work with zebrafish as a model system to understand how blood flow instructs endothelial cells during development and generate genetic tools to modulate endothelial gene function.

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

• hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree in Life Science, 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.

Experience in molecular biology, cell biology, or developmental biology/genetics is an advantage for this position. We expect excellent communications skills in English.

Additional qualifications
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 September 1 or as agreed.
Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: 
Thomas Juan (thomas.juan@igp.uu.se)

Please submit your application by May 17 2024, UFV-PA 2024/1460.

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