MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology.

euraxess.ec.europa.eu - Jobboard; España; Presencial; EUR 30.000 - 55.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

The University of Granada seeks postdoctoral candidates for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. Candidates will join a multidisciplinary research group focusing on the implications of estrogens in cancer development and progression, contributing to innovative approaches and research advancements.

Formación

• Candidates should hold a PhD in Life Sciences or equivalent.
• Experience in cancer research and related methodologies is valued.

Responsabilidades

• Participate in research projects focused on ER+ cancer development.
• Analyze the role of estrogens in cancer progression.

Educación

PhD in Life Sciences or related field

Descripción del empleo

Organisation / Company University of Granada Department International Research Projects Office Laboratory Human Anatomy and Embryology Is the Hosting related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Professor Manuel Picón Ruiz , from the Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidatesinterested inapplying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF)in 2025 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2025 call, please consult this link .

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With amost 54,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and more than 6,000 members of staff, the UGR offers over 90 undergraduate degrees, 157 master’s degrees (7 of which are international double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the institution’s commitment to continuously improve its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2024 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 301-400th position in the world and as the 3-8 highest ranked University in Spain ( http://sl.ugr.es/0dwJ ) , reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. From the perspective of specialist areas in the ARWU rankings ( http://sl.ugr.es/0bSp ) , the UGR is outstanding in Mathematics and Dentistry & Oral Sciences Food Science & Technology (both ranked between 51th-75th position), Computer Science & Engineering, Food Science & Technology and Hospitality & Tourism Management (all three ranked between 76-100th position), and in the areas of Statistics and Psychology (both ranked between 101-150th position). A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in the areas of Business Administration and Earth Sciences, in which the UGR is positioned in the 151-200th position.

Additionally, the UGR counts with 3 researchers at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list ( http://sl.ugr.es/0cmD ), most of them related to the Computer Science scientific area. It is also well recognised for its presence in the top 200 Universities in Europe ( http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i ) at 43th place .

Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the prevoius Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a totalof123 projectswith a total funding of around€30 million.For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained108 projects, so far, with a total funding of€33 million.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

Dr. Picon Ruiz belongs to the Research Group "Advanced Therapies: Differentiation, Regeneration and Cancer (CTS-963)", a multidisciplinary group composed by specialists in medicine, pharmacy, biology and biochemistry. This research group conducts basic and translational research projects focused on investigating the clinicals implications of normal and cancer stem cells. In brief, the research conducted in our group advances in the knowledge about the role that cancer stem cells have in the development and progression of different cancers, and in the therapeutic application of normal stem cells.

In relation to the cancer stem cell field, the studies carried-out by this research group include the development and application of nanotechnological strategies for the detection of predictive biomarkers and response to chemotherapy in the blood of cancer patients (microRNAs and exosomes), together with the application of new therapeutic strategies based on gene therapy, functionalized nanoparticles and selective drugs against tumor stem cells.

The CTS-963 Research Group has participated in over 40 national and international research projects, from which more than 150 publications have been derived in national and international high impact journals with more than 70% within the first quartile of the JCR, as well as 38 books and book chapters in prestigious national and international publishers. They have directed 17 PhD thesis, 16 of which have received a European or International mention. In the knowledge transfer area of their research, they have 16 patents, of which 4 have already been licensed to companies for their exploitation.

The MSCA postdoctoral fellow will participate in a Research Project which Aims to elucidate the key role of different estrogens, and the enzymes involved in estrogen biosynthesis, in Estrogen Receptor Positive (ER+) Cancer Development and Progression. In brief, it is well known that the risk of being diagnosed with cancer increases with age; however, development of ER+ cancer types in women are more closely related to menopausal status than age. In fact, general risk factors for cancer development, such as obesity, show differences in their association with ER+ cancer risk in pre- and postmenopausal women.

Our group is pioneer in demonstrating a differential role of main bloodstream estrogens before and after menopause, estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1) respectively, on inflammation, epithelial-to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cell enrichment in several human ER+ cancer types, including breast and gynecologic cancers. Moreover, we have observed that high intratoumoral expression levels of 17B-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD17B) isoforms involved in E1 synthesis is a poor prognosis factor, while overexpression of E2-synthetizing HSD17B isoforms is associated with a better outcome, for patients diagnosed with ER+ breast, ovarian and uterine corpus carcinomas.

Results obtained from these studies open a new line of research in the study of ER+ cancer subtypes, highlighting the potential key oncogenic role of E1 and HSD17B E1-synthesizing enzymes (HSD17B- E1) in the development and progression of these diseases.

The EOI offered in this proposal aims to advance in the clinical application of the discoveries made until date, such as the potential prognostic value of measuring HSD17B-E1 expression or the therapeutic potential of developing HSD17B inhibitors.

Research Area:

• Life Sciences (LIFE)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Manuel Picón Ruiz ( [e-mail] ):