PhD in Cardiometabolic Variant-to-Function

PhD in Cardiometabolic Variant-to-Function

Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen is seeking a highly motivated and talented PhD fellow to commence February 1, 2025, or after agreement in the Loos Group at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR), University of Copenhagen.

The PhD fellowship is part of the CBMR International PhD & Postdoc Program.

About Us
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR) is an academic research center that pioneer’s groundbreaking research towards better cardiometabolic health. Through collaborative interdisciplinary research from single-cell genomics to whole-body systems, CBMR aims to transform the basic understanding of cardiometabolic health and accelerate its translation into prevention and treatment strategies. The Center’s uniquely multi- and interdisciplinary approach combines research in genetics, physiology and pharma­cology, to better understand the complex interplay of the many factors that drive cardiometabolic disease.

You can learn more in the Executive Summary of CBMR's Strategy 2024–2028.

CBMR was established in 2010 at the Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences and has been located in the Maersk Tower at PANUM since 2017. The around 260 employees create an international, highly collaborative research environment across disciplines.

Our Research
The PhD project is a truly interdisciplinary project supervised by Professor Ruth Loos and co-supervised by Associate Professor Camilla Schéele and in collaboration with the Pers lab at CBMR, with the opportunity for short study-stays abroad. The Loos Group aims to identify the genetic and non-genetic determinants of body weight regulation to gain insight into the deeper layers of biology that underlie obesity and metabolism. Additionally, the group aims to improve prediction, prevention, and treatment through the implementation of precision health strategies. You can read more about the Loos Group here.

The Schéele group aims to understand adipose tissue heterogeneity and map inter-cellular and inter-organ crosstalk important for metabolic regulation. The Schéele group is implementing multi-omics and high-content imaging approaches to study cellular models relevant to cardiometabolic health.

You can read more about the Schéele group here.

Project Description
Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified hundreds of genetic variants for body mass index (BMI). However, it has led to limited biological insights into the regulation of body size and composition. One reason may be that the BMI is a crude index for adiposity as it does not distinguish between lean and fat mass, which may be a barrier when pointing towards relevant pathways. Recently, our group and collaborators have identified hundreds of genetic loci associated with body fat percentage and fat-free mass index. In this PhD project, we strive to gain insights into the regulation of body composition, in particular fat and lean mass, from these genetic loci. This project will identify clusters of the genetic variants using multiple clustering approaches and phenotypes and further characterize the molecular signatures of each cluster to learn more about their shared and distinct biology.

The project will also identify candidate causal genes using multiple gene prioritization approaches and identify which tissues and cell types each of these genes may act in. Finally, the project will investigate the role of some of these candidate causal genes in human adipocytes, myotubes, and hypothalamic neurons using omics techniques, high-content imaging, metabolic assays to identify mechanisms regulating body composition. Collectively, this project has the potential to pinpoint biological pathways that regulate fat and lean mass and provide novel attractive drug targets for preserving muscle mass during weight loss.

Principal supervisor: Professor Ruth Loos (ruth.loos@sund.ku.dk).

Start:         February 1, 2025

Duration:  1 year as a Research assistant followed by 3 years as a PhD fellow contingent on a positive evaluation of the 1st year.

Profile
The PhD fellowship is aimed at early-career researchers with a basic science background or clinicians who aspire to a career in academic medicine. We seek an early career researcher skilled in both wet lab and computational techniques with an excellent understanding of cardiometabolic health.

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants for the position  
You have a master's degree in Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Molecular Biomedicine, or related sciences (equivalent to a Danish candidate 3+2 years). 

Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted.

As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database.

Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

Required qualifications:

• Experience in culturing primary human adipose or muscle cells and experience with metabolic assays related to these cell types is required.
• Experience in working with omics datasets (RNA-seq and proteomics) is required.
• Some experience in working with genetics data is required and an excellent understanding of current paradigms in variant-to-function approaches is highly desirable.
• Strong statistical understanding and experience with programming in R is required.
• A curious mindset with a strong, demonstrated understanding of cardiometabolic health.
• Previous publications, particularly in the variant-to-function field, is advantageous.
• Excellent English communication skills, both written and oral, and ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams. International research experience is a plus.
• An interest in conceiving and designing new projects, in line with the groups’ research focuses.

Eligibility
The PhD fellowships within the CBMR International PhD & Postdoc Program are open for applicants that hold a Master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years). The Master’s degree has to be obtained before February 1, 2025. You are not eligible to apply for the program if you have been employed in a Research Assistant position for more than two years at the University of Copenhagen prior to the commencement of the fellowship.

Terms of Employment
The employment consists of 1 year as a Research assistant followed by 3 years as a PhD fellow contingent on a positive evaluation of the 1st year. Starting date is February 1, 2025, or after agreement.

The employment as a PhD fellow is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant. The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.

Salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State.

Questions
For further information about the position, please contact Professor Ruth Loos (ruth.loos@sund.ku.dk).
Questions regarding the CBMR International PhD & Postdoc Program must be directed to cbmr@sund.ku.dk.
For questions regarding the recruitment procedure, please contact HR at sund-hr-cbmr@sund.ku.dk.

General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School’s website.

The University of Copenhagen International Staff Mobility office offers support and assistance to all international researchers on all issues related to moving to and settling in Denmark.

Application Procedure
Your online application must be submitted in English via the ‘Apply now’ link below. Furthermore, your application must include the following documents/attachments – all in PDF format:

• Motivated letter of application (max. one page).
• CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant to the position.
• Certified copy of original Master’s diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in another language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted.
• List of publications.
• References (name and contact details of at least two references).  

Application deadline: Friday 20 September 2024, 23.59 pm CET.

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The Further Process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor. Once the assessment work has been completed, each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

The applicant will be assessed according to Ministerial Order No. 242 of March 13, 2012, on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of their personal backgrounds.