The current job opportunity is supported by the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project title "Induced pluripotent stem cell-based therapy for spinal regeneration" (iPSpine). The consortium addresses an unmet clinical need of a societal problem that is the leading cause of disability and morbidity worldwide, i.e. low back pain (LBP). Although the cause of LBP is multifactorial, it is widely accepted that a major contributor to LBP is degeneration of the spines intervertebral discs (IVDs). The iPSpine consortium, initiated and coordinated by Professor Tryfonidou, was granted 15 million Euro to initiate a European-led research effort to identify a future advanced therapeutic strategy that can address the societal need for a radical new treatment of LBP.
You will become a member of the iPSpine team, a multidisciplinary team with expertise in the development of advanced therapies and their translation from bench to bedside. The aim of iPSpine is to investigate and develop a new advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) of the future, based on a novel developmental biology approach involving induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and smart biomaterials. The iPSpine consortium will develop and demonstrate preclinical proof-of-concept for this radical new iPSC-based therapeutic strategy.
The candidate will work within an interdisciplinary team in order to contribute to the aforementioned overall aim of the iPSpine consortium. In particular, the candidate, depending on his/her scientific background and expertise, will improve currently available iPS-differentiation protocols towards the notochordal cell-specific phenotype, and/or explore and exploit the role of epigenetics in lineage commitment, and/or perform functional studies to provide a better understanding on the mode of action of the differentiated iPSCs being developed.
