Postdoctoral researcher focusing on the role of molecules from the human microbiome in chronic diseases

The Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) is an interdisciplinary research centre of the University of Luxembourg. We conduct fundamental and translational research in the field of Systems Biology and Biomedicine – in the lab, in the clinic and in silico. We focus on neurodegenerative processes and are especially interested in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and their contributing factors. 

The LCSB recruits talented scientists from various disciplines: computer scientists, mathematicians, biologists, chemists, engineers, physicists and clinicians from more than 50 countries currently work at the LCSB. We excel because we are truly interdisciplinary and together we contribute to science and society.

The University of Luxembourg has the following vacancy: Postdoctoral researcher focusing on the role of molecules from the human microbiome in chronic diseases.

AREA: Multi-omic analyses of extracellular molecules from the gut microbiome.

DESCRIPTION:

The Systems Ecology group at the LCSB is further expanding its research efforts on microbiomes and has an immediate opening for a highly motivated and talented postdoctoral researcher (entry- to advanced-level position) to work on the generation as well as on the analysis of microbiome multi-omic data (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metametabolomics) in the context of the ERC-funded ExpoBiome project.

The human gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem which contributes essential functions to human physiology. Changes to the microbiome are associated with several chronic diseases characterised by inflammatory signatures including autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases. The gut microbiome produces a complex mixture of biomolecules comprised of soluble nucleic acids, (poly-)peptides and metabolites with bioactive properties, which have so far eluded in-depth study (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2022.08.015 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2022.08.016 ). This gap in knowledge is limiting our understanding of the role of the human microbiome in governing human physiology and how changes to the gut microbiome impact inflammation-linked chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). As part of the ERC-funded ExpoBiome project, a quantitative integrated multi-omic analysis (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics) will be performed on gut microbiome samples collected from healthy human individuals and patients newly diagnosed with RA or PD. Using the cross-sectional data, extracellular microbial molecules will be identified, which are particularly enriched in, depleted in or common to the respective diseases, and traced to their respective microbial populations of origin. The resulting molecular signatures will be used to populate a dedicated Knowledge Base and to develop microbiome-based diagnostic classifiers and models for RA and PD.