Job ID: 103712

Targeting secondary neurodegeneration to enhance recovery after stroke

Position: Ph.D. Student

Deadline: 21 February 2023

Employment Start Date: 2 May 2023

Contract Length: 4 years

City: Gothenburg

Country: Sweden

Institution: University of Gothenburg

Department: Clinical Neuroscience

Description:

Our goal is to enhance recovery after stroke. Stroke affects about 12 million people worldwide annually. Of the approximately 6 million survivors, about 50% suffer from long-lasting or permanent disability. No efficient therapy is currently available, except for the removal of the occluding blood clot during the first hours after ischemic stroke. Loss of function after stroke is due to cell death in the infarcted tissue, cell dysfunction in the peri-infarct region, as well as dysfunction and neurodegeneration in remote brain areas. Plasticity responses in spared brain regions are a major contributor to functional recovery, while secondary neurodegeneration in remote regions is associated with depression and impedes the long-term outcome after stroke. The complement system is part of the immune response that protects the host against pathogenic bacteria but has also other important functions. We showed that complement stimulates brain plasticity and can protect brain cells against ischemia and some types of neurodegeneration. Our results show that treatment with a specific complement peptide accelerates functional recovery after stroke. Building on highly supportive preliminary data, this project will use experimental models of stroke in combination with genetic and pharmacological manipulation of the complement system, neuroimaging, state-of-the-art transcriptomics and bioinformatics to determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling brain tissue responses to ischemia and assesses the feasibility of pharmacological enhancement of functional recovery after stroke.

The successful candidate will be part of a dynamic international research team with expertise in biochemistry, neurobiology, cell biology, immunology and neurology. The project will benefit from multidisciplinary national and international collaborations.

We seek a highly motivated candidate with very well documented experience in molecular and cellular biology laboratory work. The candidate should have medical, clinical or biological background and a strong interest in neuroscience and in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of human diseases, as well as proven command of English at the C2 level (corresponding to Cambridge English Proficiency).

For more information and to apply, please follow this link: https://web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/1035/job?site=7&lang=UK&validator=9b89bead79bb7258ad55c8d75228e5b7&job_id=28821