Call for applications for a fully financed PhD fellowship
Lumbar puncture (LP) is a crucial tool in diagnosing neurological disorders, as direct sampling of brain matter is often not possible. Central immunity, present in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), provides insights into the relationship between neurological processes and diseases. Markers such as cell count, composition, and cytokine/antibody levels provide robust insights into central processes, enabling differentiated diagnosis in most cases. Therefore, recent studies have shown an interest in measuring pro-inflammatory cytokines in central inflammation, antibodies in infection, and auto-antibodies in autoimmunity.
However, most measurements performed today are restricted to bulk or population-level cellular composition, which does not provide dynamic insights into complex immunological responses. Cellular identity measurements neglect cellular heterogeneity within populations and rare but active subpopulations. Single-cell resolution analysis of cellular activities might provide additional benefits but comes with challenges. The scarcity of such measures in literature is linked to the challenging small number of cells present in the CSF or periphery of healthy donors and patients. Single-cell RNA sequencing technologies have made tremendous advances in recent years but usually require a few thousand cells. However, transcriptomic analyses are still too expensive for routine clinical testing and only provide a proxy of cellular activity due to post-translational modification and the complex connections between actual cellular secretion and expression.
Therefore, single-cell resolved functional measurements of immune cell dynamics in CSF provide a prime opportunity to add to current understanding, diagnoses and therapy of neurological diseases, but the field lacks technologies that enable these measurements. This project aims to develop a robust experimental approach to measure and quantify various functionalities exerted directly by the limited amounts of white blood cells (WBC) present in CSF on a multidimensional level, with a specific focus on functionality, based on our previous expertise and work. However, ultimately, we aim to achieve insights into the neurological diseases that are reflected by the functional changes in the immune cells that can be accessed by CSF sampling.
Candidates must have a bachelor's degree or master's degree in medicine, biomedicine, immunology, bioinformatics, molecular biology or related fields and competencies within bioanalytical chemistry. Bachelor's degree is only relevant if an integrated PhD programme is envisioned, which is possible. A general interest in bioanalytical chemistry, immunology and data science in combination is prefereable, as well as a keen interest in making the methods applicable in real life. The candidate must master English.
Please submit your application via this link. Application deadline is 15 December 2024 23:59 CET. Preferred starting date: Spring/summer 2025.
For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide.
Please contact Associate Professor Klaus Eyer, eyerk@biomed.au.dk, for more information.
All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.
