PhD Position – Systems Biology of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Spheroids

The InPhInit program by La Caixa offers a competitive PhD fellowship to attract international early-stage researchers to the top Spanish research center with the Severo Ochoa / Maria de Maeztu excellence accreditation. We invite talented and motivated students to apply for the InPhInit Caixa Fellowship program to do a PhD at the “Self-Organization of Biological Systems” laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Luciano Marcon (www.marconlab.org). The PhD will be carried at the Gene Expression and Morphogenesis Unit (GEM) at the Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology (CABD), in the charming city of Seville, southern Spain. The CABD offers a dynamic and stimulating environment in close interaction with other groups working on Mouse, Zebrafish, Xenopus, Drosophila and Caenorhabditis development. External seminars by prominent international speakers are organized on a weekly basis.

The successful candidate will work in the emerging field of organoid biology [1] by investigating the morphogenetic movements observed during germ layer self-organization in mouse embryonic stem cell spheroids. His/her project will be based on a systems biology approach that combines experiments, 3D lightsheet microscopy and computational modeling.

PhD position – systems biology approach to study tissue movements in mouse embryonic stem cell spheroids during germ layer self-organization

Duration: 3-years 
Salary per year: 34,800€ + 3,564€ for conferences, courses or consumables
Deadline application: 01/02/2018
Starting date: September/November 2018

When cultured in vitro as spheroids, embryonic stem cells can self-organize into the three germ layers and undergo tissue movements that mimic early embryonic development [2]. The aim of our group is to elucidate the genetic and cellular mechanisms that underlie this self-organizing behavior.

We are looking for a motivated and talented predoctoral student to investigate the morphogenetic movements observed during germ layer self-organization in mouse embryonic stem cell spheroids. The student will work with mouse embryonic stem cell cultures and will generate different reporter cell lines by using CRISPR/Cas9. He/She will perform 3D live-imaging of spheroids to simultaneously analyze cells movements, cell divisions and germ layer markers distribution. The data will be used to build a 3D computational model of spheroid development to explore how quantified cellular behaviors translate into gastrulation tissue movements. The candidate will perform cell behavior quantifications in spheroids exposed to different external stimuli and upon perturbations of the signaling pathways involved in gastrulation.

The work will be carried in a multidisciplinary laboratory and the student will receive training both in modeling and experiments. The project is part of the long-term goal of the lab of developing a comprehensive computational model of germ layer patterning to explore how gene regulatory networks, cellular behaviors and external signals are coupled by feedback to control patterning and morphogenesis. This will allow us to devise novel bioengineering strategies to steer stem cell development towards normal embryonic development or towards the induction of specific cell fates for tissue-engineering.

The deadline for the application is 1st of February 2018. Candidates should submit their application on the InPhInit website. For more information contact: luciano.marcon[at]marconlab.org

Refs:
[1]: Little MH. Organoids: a Special Issue. Development. 2017 Mar 15;144(6):935-937. doi: 10.1242/dev.
[2]:Simunovic M, Brivanlou AH. Embryoids, organoids and gastruloids: new approaches to understanding embryogenesis. Development. 2017 Mar15;144(6):976-985. doi: 10.1242/dev.143529.

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