Post-Doctoral fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism

One postdoctoral fellow position is available at UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium. We are looking for a highly motivated researcher to join the lab of Dr. Patrick Gilon.

Fellowship: A 3-year position (2 years with possibility of 1-year extension) is available for a postdoctoral scientist to conduct a research project in the laboratory of endocrinology, diabetes and nutrition. The position is open in Mid-April and will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.

Project: Study of the cross-talk between pancreatic islet cells using live-cell imaging, functional in vivo and in vitro tests, and omics approaches: implications for diabetes.

The endocrine pancreas plays a key role in glucose homeostasis. It is organized in islets mainly composed of beta, alpha- and delta-cells, secreting, respectively, insulin, glucagon and somatostatin. Insulin is the major hypoglycemic hormone whereas glucagon is hyperglycemic. Somatostatin potently inhibits the secretion of both insulin and glucagon. Diabetes is characterized by an impaired glucose homeostasis and results from a deficit in insulin which is absolute in type 1 diabetes (due to beta-cell destruction) or relative in type 2 diabetes (as a result of decreased beta-cell mass and insulin resistance). Diabetes is also characterized by a defective glucagon secretion (hypersecretion and altered response to hypoglycemia) of unknown origin. All cell types of the islets influence each other, but the nature of these heterologous interactions is still poorly understood. The objectives of the project are to study he cross-talk between pancreatic islet cells, using various approaches, from the gene to the cell and to the whole organism in healthy states and in diabetes. One goal will be to identify new therapeutic targets to help to normalize glucose homeostasis in diabetes. Studies will be performed on both human and mouse tissue.

Some techniques used in the lab: Cell culture, Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS), gene expression analysis, secretion assays, live cell imaging, conventional and confocal fluorescence microscopy, patch-clamp, cloning and adenovirus construction, transgenic mouse models, …

Publications of the team: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=gilon+P&sort=pubdate

Environment: Our research group is part of the Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, a multi-disciplinary and international biomedical research institute of the UCLouvain in Brussels. Our lab is composed of ~15 researchers including PhD students and post-docs from various nationalities. The lab is located in a pleasant area in Brussels.

Procedure: The applicant should send, in a single PDF file, to the email address below (i) a motivation letter, (ii) a detailed curriculum vitae mentioning the list of articles with the names of authors as published (separating the lists of original articles, reviews and abstracts) + the impact factor of the Journals, a phone number, an e.mail address, the birthdate, photo, copies of relevant university degrees + certificate of experimentation on laboratory animals, and (iii) names, addresses, e.mail addresses and phone numbers of at least 2 (ideally 3) persons of reference.

To Dr. P. Gilon: patrick.gilon@uclouvain.be

Requirements

Research Field Biological sciences

Education Level PhD or equivalent

Research Field Neurosciences

Education Level PhD or equivalent

Research Field Pharmacological sciences

Education Level PhD or equivalent

Research Field Medical sciences

Education Level PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

The applicant should have a PhD thesis in medical/biological sciences or equivalent that is not from our University. The applicant should have a strong knowledge in biology and cellular physiology. A certificate of experimentation on laboratory animals is required (at least equivalent to Felasa B). If not available, the candidate will be required to attend training as soon as possible in Belgium to obtain the Felasa B. Experience in bioinformatics is a plus. The ability to write and speak in English is mandatory. Good communication skills and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team are required. The candidate should have demonstrable track record of research excellence. Mentoring of 1 to 2 students (PhD or undergraduates) is likely to be required during the project.

Specific Requirements

The applicant should be in a position of international mobility, which requires that he/she should have spent at least one year outside Belgium during the 3 years preceding the beginning of the post-doc fellowship, and he/she cannot have defended his/her thesis more than 6 years before the start of the post-doc fellowship.

Languages ENGLISH

Level Good

Research Field Biological sciences » Biology Biological sciences » Laboratory animal science Biological sciences » Nutritional sciences Biological sciences » Other Medical sciences » Other

Years of Research Experience 1 – 4

Additional Information

Benefits

Integration into an international environment within the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research (IREC) on the Health Sciences campus at UCLouvain in Brussels, with access to a critical mass of multi-disciplinary expertise and international networking.

Fellowship starts from approximately 2920 € net/month + public transport

Selection process Based on CV, scientific skills, motivation letter and letters from referees