DC5

Project: study macrophage metabolic function in atherosclerosis

PhD position at Maastricht University

This DC (DC5) will study macrophage populations and relevant effector cells in human artery and heart in health and in heart disease (i.e. atherosclerosis and heart failure) by 15-plex spectral fluorescent imaging and identify the most prominent disease associated subsets along with their metabolic profile (as assessed by several cutting edge imaging techniques). 

Groundbreaking project focus! Macrophages are key to vascular and organ homeostasis and their malfunction will spur the development of cardiovascular diseases. Your mission as a Ph.D. student will be threefold: (1) identify atherosclerosis and heart failure (HFpEF) relevant macrophage phenotypes and their metabolism; (2) pioneer interventions in key metabolic pathways within macrophages, for both diseases, based on these findings; (3) establish the effectiveness of these interventions in vitro and in representative cardiovascular disease models.

Innovative techniques, you will master and apply, amongst others:

  • 15-plex Spectral Fluorescent Imaging (Goossens et al Cell Metabolism, 2022)
  • Mass Spec Imaging (Cao et al, J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2020)
  • Single-Cell Metabolic Activity Measurement (scSCENITH)
  • Single-Cell Metabolic Cytometry (scMetCyt)
  • High throughput functional mapping of macrophages (Fontaine et al, Adv Science, 2023)

Dynamic Research Community! If you like to engage in a dynamic, cross-disciplinary collaboration with experts in data science, analytical chemistry, and advanced microscopy, are eager to unlock your potentials, are a team player and have experience with any of the key technologies in this project, you are the right person for this job and contribute to shaping the future of cardiovascular science. 

COLLABORATORS AND SECONDMENTS IN THIS PHD PROJECT

  • KU Leuven, Belgium: As part of this project, the PhD student will visit the lab of Dr. Elizabeth Jones for a 3-month secondment to study macrophage phenotypes which drive cardiac fibrosis in a HFpEF model.
  • University of Bern, Switzerland: your PhD project will also involve a secondment period of 2 months at the lab of Maria Rodriguez Martinez to master computational approaches to integrate multiplex immunofluorescence, MS-Imaging and transcriptional data.

ABOUT Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM) - Maastricht University 

University of Maastricht (UM) is a stimulating environment where patient care, research and teaching are complementary, ranking 9th of the Times Higher Education list of young (under 50 years old) universities worldwide. The Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences (FHML) of UM has an excellent international reputation in research and teaching and is renowned for its highly international spirit, educational innovation, and quality of its translational research. FHML hosts the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), which is one of the largest and most prominent cardiovascular research institutes in Europe, providing scientists top-notch resources and high-quality research environment.

ABOUT THE SUPERVISORS  

DC5 will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Erik A.L. Biessen and Dr. Lieve Temmerman and the project will be conducted at the department of Pathology of CARIM, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.