2024 BNA Scholars announced
15th March 2024
The Neural Circuit Development and Regeneration Research Group (NCDR), located in the Biology Department at KU Leuven (Belgium), is seeking a motivated, talented post-doc fellow with an interest in ophthalmological and neurobiological research, who wants to join us in the research topic: 'Monitoring neurodegeneration in the eye, the visible part of the brain'.
The NCDR has a strong interest in defining cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and regeneration in the eye/visual system of teleost fish and rodents (for more info see: bio.kuleuven.be/df/LM). The quest for neuroprotective and/or regenerative therapies to tackle neurodegenerative central nervous system (CNS) disorders continues to be a central theme in our research, and builds upon the emerging belief that the eye is a ‘window to the brain’ that can be exploited for diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression and treatment efficacy, and research of CNS diseases. As the eye has unique opportunities in terms of in vivo imaging, in vivo evaluation of cell death (OCT), innate immune cell activation (cSLO), electrophysiology (ERG) and visual function (optomotor, Y-maze tests) are being combined with detailed morphological phenotyping using optical clearing, confocal & multiphoton microscopy, and post-mortem histological analyses to follow inflammatory, de- and regenerative processes. Besides, ex vivo retinal explant assays and in vitro (co-)cultures of adult retinal microglia, Muller glia/astrocytes and neurons and state-of-the-art proteomic/cytokine profiling approaches are available to study the cellular/molecular pathways underlying neuroprotection/regeneration. All research runs within the recently established ‘Vision Core Leuven’, a preclinical animal platform which brings together state-of-the-art technologies within the field of ocular imaging, electrophysiology and visual function testing in laboratory animals, to study ocular pathologies at morphological and functional level and aiming at the identification of novel targets and drug testing in ocular diseases and beyond (see: visioncore.be).
The post-doctoral researcher will have the opportunity to shape and lead a multidisciplinary research line focusing on the characterization of transgenic rodent models for optic neuropathies and neurodegenerative diseases, meanwhile supervising junior PhD students working on similar/complementary projects (ongoing projects focus on glaucoma, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, Wolfram syndrome). He/she should have a special interest in multimodal longitudinal in vivo follow-up of disease progression and the development of an integrated workflow for in vivo examination of retinal neurodegeneration, inflammation and cellular stress, electrophysiological function, and behavioral read-outs of visual function. Using this multidisciplinary approach, in which several potential biomarkers are combined in diagnostic and prognostic models, he/she will contribute to the search for novel therapeutic approaches to halt or retard neurodegeneration in the human eye and brain.
· You have a PhD in Biology, Biochemistry, Bio-engineering, Biophysics, Biomedical Sciences or equivalent and a proven and successful track record
· You are passionate and motivated to work on ambitious projects in an open, dynamic and scientifically advanced team
· You have a strong interest in neurobiology– ophthalmology
· You have good knowledge of the English language, both spoken and written
o Basic knowledge of molecular biology is required
o Basic knowledge of ex vivo/in vitro cell cultures is required
o Experience with in vivo experiments inrodents is required
o Hands-on experience with retinal imaging and/or ERG analyses is an asset
o Hands-on experience with image analysis software (programming) is an asset
o Hands-on experience with proteomics analyses is an asset
Further information can be found here
http://www.psychoneuroxy.com/announcement,a2938.html