PhD-student Position, Olov Andersson Lab, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Doctoral studies in regeneration of insulin-producing beta-cells

The research group

The lab of Olov Andersson is offering a stimulating, international research environment. We are part of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, one of the world’s leading medical universities. The lab is located in Biomedicum, state-of-the-art research building on Solna campus.

Bridging developmental biology and drug discovery, we use the zebrafish model to elucidate organogenesis and related mechanisms of disease. We are currently focusing on pancreatic beta-cell regeneration.

Link to research group page:

https://ki.se/en/cmb/olov-anderssons-group

The doctoral student project and the duties of the doctoral student

We are seeking a highly creative, motivated and enthusiastic doctoral student to study regeneration of pancreatic beta-cells as an approach to curing diabetes. The lab uses chemical screening techniques in zebrafish larvae to identify and characterize compounds, signaling pathways and cellular mechanisms that can promote β-cell regeneration. We then validate our initial findings by changing the stage (larvae vs adult), approach (chemical vs genetic), and model organism (zebrafish vs mouse). Additionally, the prospective student will study how reinforcing gut-pancreas signalling can expand the β-cell mass and improve glucose control in diabetes. The molecular mechanisms of the identified drug candidates will be elucidated using single-cell RNA-seq of control and treated zebrafish.

For examples of how the research can be conducted, please see:

Karampelias et al., Nature Chemical biology:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-022-01047-x

Charbord et al., Nature Metabolism:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-021-00391-x?proof=t

Karampelias et al., Nature Communications:

The zebrafish are amenable to efficient transgenesis and high-resolution imaging. We will make use of these properties to generate transgenic, knock-in and mutant zebrafish for single-cell analysis of phenotypes and lineage tracing.

Please apply by august 10th via the following link: