PhD position (m/f/d) in intestinal metabolomics in health and disease

 The Department of Gastroenterology and the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology are focused on the understanding of the mechanistic interactions between humans and their microbiome, and their variations across human populations and disease states. The IKMB is particularly dedicating effort to reveal the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory disease, namely inflammatory bowel disease, and its connection to human lifestyle, genetics and gut microbes. The Institute is one of the core research centres in various national and international research alliances (e.g. DFG ExC, BMBF consortia iTREAT, GUIDE-IBD and Try-IBD, H2020 SYSCID, IMI2 3TR and ImmUniverse).

The research group “Intestinal Immunometabolism” (Group Leader: Prof. Dr. Konrad Aden) focuses on the role of host-microbial interaction and instruction of intestinal immunity in the context of inflammatory bowel disease. We have a strong interest in understanding the principles of host immunity (Gastroenterology 2022, Nature 2022) and host-microbial crosstalk (Gut 2019, Gastroenterology 2019, ISME 2023) in the context of intestinal inflammation and carcinogenesis. Within the current DFG-funded project (miTarget, https://www.mitarget.org) we aim to dissect the role of microbial tryptophan metabolism in the context of inflammatory bowel disease.

Start in our team

We are looking for professional and competent support to start as soon as possible, limited until 30th September 2028.

What we offer:

• The salary will be based on the German E13 TV-L scale (65%), if terms and conditions under collective bargaining law are fulfilled
• Part-time employment currently 25 hours/week
• An excellent and exciting multidisciplinary team-oriented research environment and opportunities to being part of the national and international scientific community
• Our scientist are encouraged to attend international conferences and visit cooperation partners
• We offer flexible working hours and various opportunities to reconcile work and family life

Your role:

The candidate will be engaged in conducting in-vitro and in-vivo (mouse) experiments and in the generation and analysis of untargeted/targeted metabolomics data.

This will include 

• 13C-tryptophan exposure of miniature gut (organoids) and mice
• metabolic characterization of stool, serum, tissue models using LC-MS analysis (SCIEX Triple Quad, Orbitrap Exploris 240)
• metabolomics data analysis and multi-omics data integration
• manuscript writing
• close interdisciplinary interaction with clinicians, bioinformaticians, immunologists and metabolomics specialists on campus

Your profile:

We are interested in recruiting self-motivated individuals with a high desire to succeed and a strong dedication to excellence and high-quality research.

Desired skills:

• background in molecular medicine or analytical chemistry with interest in translational molecular medicine
• strong interest in LC-MS based metabolomics analysis and in preclinical models of intestinal inflammation
• interest in data analysis and collaborative research (bioinformatics, medicine, molecular biology)

Please submit your application until 21th October 2024, indicating the reference number 24732.

Additional Information:

• Prof Dr. Konrad Aden, Department of Gastroenterology and Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Phone: +49-431-500-22437
• Anna Gegautzke, e-mail: anna.gegautzke@uksh.de