PhD POSITION on BLOOD PROTEOMICS IN FONTAN PATIENTS

A position is available for a strongly motivated doctoral candidate in the Centre for Molecular and Vascular Biology in the Cardiovascular Sciences department at KU Leuven, Belgium. The main focus of the lab is on vascular biology, with a focus on vascular remodelling, both in physiolocal and pathological adaptation.

The Fontan circulation is a lifesaving strategy for people born with a single functional ventricle. The Fontan circulation is created by a two-stage surgery where the venous return is connected directly to the pulmonary circulation. The heart acts as a single chambered heart to produce the systemic and pulmonary circulation. As a consequence, blood flow in the lungs is steady, rather than pulsatile, creating a unique hemodynamic environment.  People with a Fontan circulation can live up to 40 or 50 years, however they live with increased pulmonary vascular resistance and are prone to various forms of vascular shunting.

In this project, the student will perform proteomics analysis of patient blood to identify circulating factors that are present in Fontan patients with abnormal vascular physiology.  The project will involve significant bioinformatics, including patient clustering by high dimensionality reduction, as well as analysis of blood proteomic data.  We are looking for a student with experience in bioinformatics and relevant statistical methods using R or Python languages. Some knowledge of common molecular biology techniques is beneficial but not essential, alongside a strong interest in either cardiovascular physiology or biomechanics.

https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60536846