MSCA - Postdoc Position: Identification of novel biomarkers associated with severe phenotypes in allergy and asthma

USP-CEU welcomes postdoctoral researchers with an excellent track record to apply jointly with a supervisor from the Institute for Applied Molecular Medicine, to the European Commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) Postodoctoral Felloships. Selected candidates will be provided with special assistance for proposal writing and development.

Research Proposal:

Our research group is focused on the study of the mechanisms associated with allergic inflammation. Our current projects aimed to identify biomarkers associated with the acquisition of severe phenotype and the biological pathways that are affected in these conditions.

We are essentially, developing a translational research in collaboration with clinical groups, currently more than 20 nationwide.

Our hypotheses are that by understanding these severe phenotypes, which are difficult to manage and do not respond to usual treatment, we will be able to develop personalized intervention strategies that provide solutions and improve the quality of life of these patients.

To achieve this objective, we propose an integrated analysis between different disciplines (metabolomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics, and proteomics) and the development of bioinformatics models that allow the integration of the data generated with the demographic clinical data…. This way of interpreting the results will provide a broad vision of these patients.

Furthermore, we believe that the inflammation process is not particular to each of the inflammatory pathologies, but rather involves a series of common processes, which we may be able to identify using the severe allergy phenotypes as a model.

Candidates should ideally have a background (PhD) in either cell/molecular biology or immunology. Knowledge in bioinformatics tools and epigenetic will be consider a plus.

They will receive training in -omic experimental approaches and data integration as well in other lab-based methods such as histology, MACs separation, Multiplex ELISA, qPCRs, flow cytometry….

The selected candidate will be mainly focused in translational research and will be expected to perform an independent research line, apply to further funding opportunities and supervise younger lab members.

Resarch Group:

The Institute for Applied Molecular Medicine (IMMA) is a multidisciplinary research team led by Domingo Barber, PhD (ORCID: 0000-0002-5488-5700) and Maria M Escribese, PhD (ORCID: 0000-0001-5057-5150). The team is formed by medical doctors in allergy and several PhD students and postdocs. Additionally, we have the technical support from the Institution with specialized technicians in genetic, histology and cell biology.

Our research is mainly funded by National and European Grants as well as by Pharmaceutical companies. Moreover, we are the coordinator group of a National research Consortium in Allergy and Asthma (ARADYAL); Domingo Barber is the Scientific Program Coordinator of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and María Escribese is Chair of the Working group in Genomic and proteomic. In the last five years, our group has published more than 35 research papers.

We work in the field of allergic inflammation with a special interest in severe phenotypes of respiratory allergies and asthma. We are developing a European project funded by the call “Nutrition & the Epigenome” from the JPI – HDHL, entitled: “Dietary Intervention in Food Allergy: Microbiome, Epigenetic and Metabolomic interactions”.

The aim of our research is to identify new biomarkers associated with allergic inflammation, and /or remodelling, useful in the design on novel personalized therapeutic strategies.

In order to achieve that, we have developed a translational research program with two main lines:

1. a basic approach, using cellular, and molecular approaches as well as -omic technologies and bioinformatic tools for their integration. In this regard, we have a team of 2 postdocs and few PhD students, specialized in immunometabolism. They are located at the Centre of Metabolomics and Bioanalysis (CEMBIO), from Pharmacy Faculty from our University.
2. a clinical approach, in which we collaborate with more than 20 different hospitals across Spain, that allow us to develop projects with patient populations that have particular allergic / asthmatic phenotypes.

Our main goal is to perform an integrative study of the particular allergic or asthmatic phenotypes that will allow us to identify biomarkers associated with this pathology and useful to evaluate the progression of the disease as well as to design new therapies.

Latest papers:

• Celiac Disease Causes Epithelial Disruption and Regulatory T Cell Recruitment in the Oral Mucosa. Front Immunol . 2021 Feb 25;12:623805
• Sample pre-treatment procedures for the omics analysis of human gut microbiota: Turning points, tips and tricks for gene sequencing and metabolomics. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2020 Nov 30;191:113592.
• Persistent regulatory T-cell response 2 years after 3 years of grass tablet SLIT: Links to reduced eosinophil counts, sIgE levels, and clinical benefit. Allergy . 2019 Feb;74(2):349-360.
• Multi-omics analysis points to altered platelet functions in severe food-associated respiratory allergy. Allergy . 2018 Nov;73(11):2137-2149.
• Profilin-mediated food-induced allergic reactions are associated with oral epithelial remodeling. J Allergy Clin Immunol . 2019 Feb;143(2):681-690.e1

Keywords:

Allergy, asthma, metabolomics, transcriptomic, bioinformatics

Application profiles:

At the deadline for the submission of proposals (12/10/2021), researchers:

• Shall have a maximum of 8 years of postdoctoral research experience.
• Must not have resided or carried out their main activities in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the abovementioned deadline.
• Shall have strong written and oral communication skills in English.
• Candidates should ideally have a background (PhD) in either cell/molecular biology or immunology. Knowledge in bioinformatics tools and epigenetic will be consider a plus. They will receive training in -omic experimental approaches and data integration as well in other lab-based methods such as histology, MACs separation, Multiplex ELISA, qPCRs, flow cytometry… The selected candidate will be mainly focused on translational research and will be expected to perform an independent research line, apply to further funding opportunities and supervise younger lab members.

An expression of interest shall be sent to Dr. Maria Marta Escribese. Your file should contain the following elements:

• A short CV (max. 2 page): Only CVs with considerable scientific achievements will be considered.
• A one-page research proposal.
• A short statement explaining why USP-CEU would be the best host institution for your research.
• Two letters of reference.