PhD Student for the project "Inflammation, Sepsis, and Regeneration: Development of Efficient Diagnostic Methods and New Therapeutic Approaches in Inflammation and Sepsis"

Starting date: Spring 2020

Project Description

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction resulting from a severe systemic inflammation caused by an infection. Worldwide, approximately 31.5 million sepsis cases occur annually with a mortality of up to 50% in septic shock. The development of supportive sepsis therapies remains a major challenge due to the complex pathogenesis of this inflammatory syndrome and due the vast heterogeneity of septic patients.

The aims of this project are (i) to improve the diagnostic potential of sepsis by establishing new biomarkers for systemic infections, in particular, the role of extracellular vesicles; (ii) to investigate the central role of the endothelium in sepsis; and (iii) to study the effect of inflammatory mediator modulation by extracorporeal adsorption therapies in sepsis patients.

Tasks

• Establishment of physiologically relevant cell culture models for sepsis
• Characterization of endothelial cell lines with light-inducible pathogen receptors
• Characterization of clinical samples from sepsis patients on endothelial activation and barrier function
• Participation in the PhD study "Regenerative Medicine" at the Danube University Krems, with corresponding publication and lecture activity

Requirements

• Master's degree in the field of Biotechnology, Biochemistry, or a related discipline
• Experience and knowledge in mammalian cell culture and biochemical analytics
• Commitment and pleasure in scientific work
• Excellent knowledge in English

Renumeration

• based on the FWF personnel cost rate for PhD students (30 h)

Please request further information or submit your application (CV and letter of motivation) to

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Viktoria Weber
Donau-Universität Krems, Department für Biomedizinische Forschung
viktoria.weber@donau-uni.ac.at
www.donau-uni.ac.at/biomed