PhD fellow within In Vivo Pharmacology

Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen is offering a PhD project commencing 1/1 2011 or soon thereafter. The application deadline is December 1st 2010. 

The Faculty of Life Science and Novo Nordisk A/S have recently established a research centre - The Novo Nordisk-LIFE In Vivo Pharmacology Centre (NNLIVPC) - with a total budget of DKK 68 mill covering activities until end 2018. The present positions are part of the new Centre´s activities. The purpose of the research centre is to strengthen the research in experimental pharmacology and toxicology and to increase the output of candidates and PhDs with a strong in vivo pharmacological profile. It is expected that the future PhD fellows will be enrolled in the In Vivo Pharmacology PhD program at LIFE and participate actively in this network. The In Vivo Pharmacology PhD program was established in 2006 as a collaboration between the Faculties of Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, University of Aarhus, and industrial partners; Novo Nordisk A/S, LEO Pharma and H. Lundbeck A/S. 

Project description

Obesity, increased visceral fat mass, and liver steatosis (fat in liver) are factors associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. A common side effect following insulin therapy is weight gain - an issue for patients with type 2 diabetes as they often are obese when starting on insulin therapy. At present, the association between insulin-induced weight gain in type 2 diabetic individuals and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is unclear.

With this project we wish to i) establish how insulin-induced obesity is associated with visceral fat mass and liver steatosis in an animal model of type 2 diabetes, ii) investigate how such changes are associated with relevant blood and tissue markers of inflammation and cardiovascular disease, and iii) investigate how insulin-induced weight gain in patients with type 2 diabetes is associated with changes in markers of cardiovascular disease.

Principal supervisor

Professor Jens Lykkesfeldt

jopl@life.ku.dk

Direct Phone: (+45) 35333163