MSCA POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS AT VU FACULTY OF MEDICINE, INSTITUTE OF CLINICAL MEDICINE, CENTRE OF VISCERAL MEDICINE AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH (liver transplantation, 2D/3D organoids, non-invasive diagnostic markers, tumour microenvironment)

Vilnius University (VU) invites motivated researchers with a strong track record to prepare joint applications for 2024 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PF) call with a deadline on September 11, 2024. MSCA PF are among the flagship, most prestigious research fellowships in Europe, with the objective of supporting researchers’ careers, enhancing their creative and innovative potential, and fostering excellence in research.

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe (12-24 months).
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries (12-24 months outgoing phase in a non-associated Third Country & 12 months mandatory return phase to a host organisation in Europe).
• Extra funding opportunity! If you apply for the European Postdoctoral Fellowship with the host institution located in a widening country (Lithuania), and in case your proposal is not funded under the MSCA PF call due to a lack of budget, it will be automatically resubmitted to ERA Fellowships call and will have one more opportunity to get funding.

HOST INSTITUTION AND RESEARCH GROUP

VU is one of the oldest higher education institutions in Eastern and Central Europe. It tops the ranking as the number one university in Lithuania and leads the country in education, a broad spectrum of fundamental and applied research, training and retraining programs, and consultancy services and provides research and development services to a wide range of businesses. VU offers dynamic research and training environment and is well integrated into a collaborative network of international universities.

Centre of Visceral Medicine and Translational Research at the Institute of Clinical Medicine of VU Faculty of Medicine conducts innovative, fundamental and translational research for Gastrointestinal, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and Nephrological diseases. In addition, the centre has a strong tradition of training undergraduate and postgraduate trainees and clinician scientists. The centre focuses on the epigenetic modalities, non-invasive biomarkers in cancer, specifically of DNA methylation in and from tumour or inflammatory cells, liver cell mapping. Our centre’s goal is to use laboratory data and apply into clinical practise in order to fight cancer and precancer inflammatory diseases. The research position of the prospective postdoctoral fellow contributes to research/ developing by assisting with experiments in a laboratory setting. The core responsibilities include to optimize, develop, qualify and execute the following assays: basic tissue culture, PCR, quantitative RT-PCR, western blots, flow cytometry, etc.  The centre fosters international scientific and clinical collaborations and always encourages participation at the international scientific meetings. The candidate will have the access to all research infrastructure located at VU Life Sciences Centre, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, Innovative Medicine Centre.

SUPERVISOR

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aiste Kielaite-Gulla, president of IHPBA Baltic chapter, serves as a Head of the Centre of Visceral Medicine and Translational Research at VU Faculty of Medicine, Visiting Professor at Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan.

Dr. Kielaite-Gulla received her undergraduate and medical education in Lithuania and further trainings in the United States: elective surgical training at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Stanford Hospital and Clinics during her general surgery residency; additional surgical experiences at Johns Hopkins Hospital and New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Centre. In addition, she earned a Masters in Health Care Management from Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School.

Dr. Kielaite-Gulla has done much to advance pancreatology on the international stage by disseminating her research findings and knowledge in Lithuania and worldwide. She is a co-author of surgical textbooks and chapters, serves as a guest reviewer for journals such as Cancers, Pancreatology. Dr. Kielaite-Gulla is also a member of many prestigious international societies, a council member of E-AHPBA and serves as a member of VU Intellectual Property Management and Investment Committee. 

Dr. Kielaite-Gulla's research interests are: microfluidics, non-invasive biomarkers, AI applications in OR, islet cell transplantation, liver graft transplantation, normothermic liver machine perfusion.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL SKILLS

Cell biology, immunology, experience in translational research, wet-lab skills.

POSSIBLE RESEARCH TOPICS

• Normothermic machine perfusion of donor livers for transplantation
• Non-invasive diagnostic markers for HPB diseases
• “Liver atlas” for metastatic microenvironment

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

• Supported fellows must be in possession of PhD at the call deadline (September 11, 2024).
• Have up to 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research from the date of award of the doctoral degree at the call deadline.
• Fellows must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months before the call deadline

Detailed information on the eligibility can be found on p. 91-94 of the MSCA Work Programme 2023-2024.

HOW TO APPLY?

• Contact the supervisor Assoc. Prof. Aiste Kielaite-Gulla, MD, PhD (aiste.kielaite-gulla@mf.vu.lt) directly to express your interest in making a joint application based on your research interests. Do not forget to provide the following documents (cc to research@cr.vu.lt):
  - curriculum vitae
  - list of publications 
  - proposal summary
• Request a letter from your supervisor endorsing you as a candidate, and send it to the Research Projects Office (research@cr.vu.lt). The candidates who wish to participate in VU MSCA PF Webinar are kindly requested to submit their endorsement letters by May 31, 2024.
• After receiving your supervisor’s endorsement, you can start preparing your MSCA PF project proposal. Please note that in order to prepare and submit your application on time (by September 11, 2024), you can seek support from VU Research Projects Office (research@cr.vu.lt).

For more information follow the link.