We are looking for talented scientists and engineers to join the Synthetic Physiology Lab at the University of Pavia in Italy. Traditional synthetic biologists use DNA parts to program cell function. Similarly, we study how to control tissue function using extracellular matrix (ECM) components. Our first goal is to reverse engineer human heart development in a project funded by the European Research Council and entitled “Synthetic Matrix Biology: Designer matrices to program healthy and diseased myocardial morphogenesis.”

For this project, we are looking for a computational scientist. The ideal candidate will have experience working with mechanical models of soft materials and (dissipative) particle dynamics in synthetic or biological systems. Previous work in the cardiac field, with LAMMPS/Chaste packages, parallel programming (especially if GPU-enabled), or cloud computing is a plus. At the same time, we will be doing things differently than most efforts in this field, so anyone with great scientific programming skills and interested in using particle dynamics to describe cell and tissue mechanics is welcome.

More information in the attachment:

Keywords: mechanobiology, finite-element, constrained-mixture theory, smooth muscle cells.

Academic context: This project will take place at Sainbiose (UMR INSERM-U1059 – Mines Saint-Etienne, France), in a group working in the domain of arterial mechanobiology, in collaboration with vascular surgeons. It is funded by an ERC consolidator grant.

Scientific context: The mechanical response of arterial tissue is a consequence of the arterial microstructure morphology. In the past decade, the different fiber networks (namely the collagen and elastin networks) have been investigated because of their important role in the arterial mechanics. Their maintenance is achieved by different intramural cells (smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts). Our objective is to investigate computationally how the impairment of important biological pathways involved in this maintenance can have dramatic effects on the integrity of fiber networks and lead to an aneurysm and a dissection in the aorta.

Project summary: During the past years, within the ERC project Biolochanics*, our group developed a mechanobiological model of the arterial wall. It can predict the non-linear mechanical behavior of arteries from their microstructure and simulate the growth and remodeling effects using the constrained mixture theory and the concept of maintaining stress homeostasis in the vessel wall. Presently, only the effects of proteolytic injury have been considered as triggers of growth and remodelling. However, recently published contributions show that impairment of mechanosensitivity and mechanotransduction of smooth muscle cells is a major driver of aneurysm development. Using our computational models and existing experimental data in our group, and integrating innovative theoretical developments, the successful applicant will investigate these effects computationally to eventually propose patient-specific simulations of aortic aneurysm progression. He/she will also be in charge of validating the proposed model.

Student profile: background in computational mechanics and mechanobiology. The ideal applicant has motivation for work at the interface between disciplines.

Administrative aspects: This is a 12-month position, renewable, starting 1st October 2020.
If you are interested, please send, via email, a curriculum vitae and a cover letter, to Prof. Stéphane Avril (avril@emse.fr)

*https://www.mines-stetienne.fr/en/research/projects/biolochanics/

PostDoc position in the frame of a H2020 project: PRIMAGE / PRedictive In-silico Multiscale Analytics to support cancer personalized diaGnosis and prognosis, empowered by imaging biomarkers (G.A. nº. 826494)

The PRIMAGE project is looking for a highly motivated researcher interested in working in an ambitious multidisciplinary project to work at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). PRIMAGE proposes a cloud-based platform to support decision making in the clinical management of malignant solid tumours, offering predictive tools to assist diagnosis, prognosis, therapies choice and treatment follow up, based on the use if novel imaging biomarkers, in-silico tumour growth simulation, advanced visualisation of predictions with weighted confidence scores and machine-learning based translation of this knowledge into predictors for the most relevant, disease-specific, Clinical End Points.

We are hiring a post-doc with certified experience in other research groups in the following tasks: advance computational simulation of living tissues, Imaging post-processing, management and coordination of research projects.

Deadline for applications: 15th September 2020

https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/548404