Postdoc in Advanced Drug Nanocarriers Targeting Hepatic Stellate Cells at Department of Pharmacy

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen

We are looking for a highly motivated and dynamic postdoc for a two-year postdoctoral position commencing 2 January 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Project Description

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming a prominent contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide, and represents the most common cause of liver disease with substantial health-care costs for its prevention or management. In line with the urgent global need for new therapies to treat patients with late-stage liver fibrosis, the collaborative interdisciplinary project deals with development and optimization of interstitially injected multifunctional nanotherapeutic cubosomal/hexosomes platforms for NAFLD treatment. For ameliorating also liver fibrosis, we focus on engineering and characterizing advanced drug nanocarriers actively targeting hepatic stellate cells through nanoparticle surface decoration with specific ligands.

Information on the department can be found at: https://pharmacy.ku.dk/

Our research

The Pharmaceutical Physical and Analytical Chemistry (PPAC) research group at the University of Copenhagen in collaboration with the Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology Lab – the ExPT Lab – at Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, and the Pharmaceutics and Nanomedicine research group at School of Pharmacy (Newcastle University, UK). The research activities in PPAC group include development and characterization of soft self-assembled nanomedicines (including cubosomes, hexosomes, and related non-lamellar liquid crystalline nanoparticles) for drug delivery applications. The ExPT Lab focuses on designing and conducting preclinical studies of drugs and toxins, metabolic fatty liver disease, and drug-induced liver injury. The Pharmaceutics and Nanomedicine research group has proven expertise in surface nanoparticle engineering for site-specific targeting and design of numerous immune-safe nanomedicines. Within these research groups, you will work in an international interdisciplinary research environment, and be part of dedicated and highly experienced teams of scientists having different scientific backgrounds and involved in various projects.

Your job

The position is affiliated with a project financed by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (Det Frie Forskningsråd for Teknologi og Produktion (FTP)) and involves collaboration with Prof. Jens Lykkesfeldt and Associate Prof. Pernille Tveden-Nyborg (The ExPT Lab), Prof. Seyed Moein Moghimi (School of Pharmacy, Newcastle University), and different international collaborators.We strive for hiring a highly motivated and enthusiastic scientist who will focus on biophysical and complement activation studies. Your tasks would be production and surface nano-engineering of structurally tunable library of ω-3 PUFA nanocarriers for accelerated NAFLD treatment and actively targeting hepatic stellate cells, and their characterization by state-of-art methodologies (including SAXS/SANS, cryo-TEM, NTA, and AFM). Further, the deformability of these nano-self-assemblies will be tested, and the impact of their surface nano-engineering on complement activation will be investigated and mapped by testing possible alterations in their structural and morphological features and size characteristics on exposure to the biological milieu. The project will offer advanced training at biophysical characterization, immunology, and in vivo pharmacology. You will interact also with PhD student, who will focus on designing and conducting ex vivo and in vivo studies for investigate the pharmacokinetics of the constructed drug nanocarriers, and therapeutic efficacy experiments on selected nanoformulations. To gain experience, you will be involved in co-supervision of Master students.

Profile
We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic scientist with the following competencies and experience:

Essential experience and skills:

• You have a PhD in biophysics, nanoscience, physical chemistry, or a related subject from reputable university.
• You are highly experienced in and have a strong background in biophysics, nanoscience, or a related subject.
• You have an active interest in biophysical characterization of nanomedicines, experimental pharmacology, and ready to work in an interdisciplinary environment.
• Proficient communication skills and ability to work in teams.
• Excellent English skills written and spoken.
• The ability to travel for performing experiments abroad.

Desirable experience and skills:

• Experience with production and characterization of nano-self-assemblies (preferably at both theoretical and practical levels) will be preferred.
• Experience in nanoparticle characterization using scattering methods (SAXS or SANS) is advantageous
• Previous research experience in nanomedicine design and characterization, experimental pharmacology, and cell biology is advantageous.
• Relevant work experience
• Publications relevant to the research area

Place of employment

The place of employment is at the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. The mission of Department of Pharmacy is to advance the pharmaceutical sciences by performing drug-related research and research-based teaching in topics including pharmaceutical technology and formulation, drug delivery, advanced drug analysis, and clinical and social pharmacy. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and equipped with advanced techniques.

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 2 years. The starting date is 2 January 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Salary, pension and other conditions of employment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant organisation. Currently, the monthly salary starts at 36,290 DKK/approx. 4,860 EUR (October 2023 level). Depending on qualifications, a supplement may be negotiated. The employer will pay an additional 17.1 % to your pension fund.

Foreign and Danish applicants may be eligible for tax reductions, if they hold a PhD degree and have not lived in Denmark the last 10 years.

The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2020.

Questions

For further information please contact Associate Professor Anan Yaghmur, [email protected]

Application procedure
Your online application must be submitted in English by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. Furthermore, your application must include the following documents/attachments – all in PDF format:

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page).
2. CV incl. education, work/research experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position.
3. A certified/signed copy of a) PhD certificate and b) Master of Science certificate. If the PhD is not completed, a written statement from the supervisor will do.
4. List of publications.

Deadline for applications: 20 October 2023, 23.59pm CET

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor. Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

You can read about the recruitment process at http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

The applicant will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

The University of Copenhagen wish to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.

Kilde: Jobnet.dk