Open position for a PhD student within the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC)1371 in “Diet – gut microbiota – lipid metabolism – intestinal cancer” (m/f/d) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM)
30.1.2019Open position for a PhD student within the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC)1371 in “Diet – gut microbiota – lipid metabolism – intestinal cancer” (m/f/d) starting as soon as possible.
The gut microbiome plays a fundamental role in health and disease. CRC 1371 (Speaker Prof. Dr. Dirk Haller) focuses on the digestive tract and proposes an interdisciplinary approach to characterizing the functional relevance of microbiome signatures in the context of inflammation and cancer. Within CRC 1371, the Integrated Research Training Group (IRTG) provides a qualification program for PhD students containing excellent multidisciplinary training with tailor-made subject-based and soft skills courses, annual retreats, summer school, and a supervision concept.
Job description
“Impact of dietary fat-gut microbiota interaction on intestinal lipid
absorption, systemic lipid metabolism and intestinal cancer”
Variation in dietary fat and gut microbiota affect intestinal lipid resorption, systemic lipid metabolism and energy balance. Excess dietary fat intake promotes positive energy balance, fat accretion and obesity, which is a significant risk factor for colorectal cancer. The aim of this project is to reveal the role of dietary fat – microbiota interaction on host lipid metabolism under physiological and patho-physiological conditions. Wildtype and Apc1638N germ-free (GF), Oligo-MM and specific pathogen-free (SPF) receiving different diets will be tested for differences in lipid metabolic processes.
The effects of microbiota and dietary fat on energy balance will be assessed in mouse models. This includes calorimetric methods to measure energy intake, energy excretion and intestinal absorption efficiency, but also energy expenditure and metabolic fuel selection. To gain mechanistic insights, untargeted and targeted lipidomics will be applied to identify bioactive lipids (microbiota-, diet- and host-derived) and test their functional relevance. Taken together, the aim of the project is to define diets and gut microbiota communities beneficial in the suppression of obesity-driven metabolic diseases and intestinal cancer.
Related publication: Kübeck R, et al. Dietary fat and gut microbiota interactions determine diet-induced obesity in mice. Mol Metab. 2016 Oct 13;5(12):1162-1174.
Techniques/methods to be applied include:
- In vivo mouse experiments
- Metabolic phenotyping of mouse models
- Mass spectrometry/Lipidomics (GC-MS)
- Molecular biology and biochemistry
- Cell culture
More information and application at https://portal.mytum.de/jobs/wissenschaftler/NewsArticle_20190122_223956/newsarticle_view