Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher in ITN - Astrotech - Disruptive materials, technologies & approaches to unravel the role of Astrocytes in brain function and dysfunction: towards to Glial interfaces

A position is available for an Early Career Researcher in the ITN Astrotech (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/956325, www.astrotechproject.eu) at University of Bari Aldo Moro (UniBA) in Bari, Italy.

The European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network ASTROTECH brings together 11 beneficiaries and 14 partners belonging to 9 European and Non-EU countries, including the participation of 5 partners from the private sector.

ASTROTECH mission is to create and develop the field of Glial Engineering, providing innovative tools to record, study, and manipulate astrocytes in the healthy and diseased brain. To this goal, the ASTROTECH network gathers all complementary expertise for engineering biomaterials, nanostructured interfaces and optoelectronic devices for stimulation, recording and biosensing of astrocytes, joint to computational approaches to describe and predict neuron-astrocytes interactions.

This will happen by giving 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) exposure to a wide spectrum of expertise: state-of-the-art biomaterials interfaces, electronic, photonic devices will be combined with in depth knowledge on optogenetics, neuroscience, glial physiology and biology and computational methods to validate the developed tools in vitro, ex vivo, in silico and in pathological models of glioma, ischemia, epilepsy and depression.

By monitoring AQP4 mediated water dynamics, UNIBA has the scientific task of 1) contributing to the development and validation of optogenetics approaches, optical and photonic tools by in vitro and ex vivo experiments; 2) validating healthy and astrogliotic cell interaction with nanostructured biomaterials; 3) studying glioma and gliosis in vitro and in in vivo. The ESR project title will be “Monitoring of astroglial water channel proteins structure and function”.

In particular, the goals of ESR activity will be related to:

• Identifications of the effect of photostimulation on water transport;
• Validation of glial interface in vitro model at molecular and cellular levels and identification of the role of astrocytes water channels and permeability in cell material interaction;
• Identification of mechanisms underlying gliotic cell migration and gliotic scar formation in ASTROTECH scaffold, role of water channels and cell volume in organoids and gliotic astrocytes and relative model;
• Identification of mechanisms beyond glioma cells proliferation role of water channels and cell volume in 3D ASTROTECH;
• Definition of the role of AQP4 assembly in Ischemia.

The candidate will participate to events organised by the network (workshops, summer schools, conferences, etc.) and carry out secondments to partner sites (both academic and industrial).

During the Project implementation, the candidate will be exposed to a multidisciplinary environment with merging excellence in competence and state-of the art infrastructure in Neuroscience, Biomaterials Science, Engineering, Chemistry, Physics both Academic and

Private sector. Complementary skills will be promoted by specific training sessions and defined in career development plan, shared with supervisors.