Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) is the leading public research center in Luxembourg for basic, pre-clinical and clinical research in biomedicine and public health. Our clinically-oriented biomedical research activities in Oncology, Infection & Immunity and Population Health encompass the generation of knowledge on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of diseases with large impacts on public health and the epidemiological surveillance of these diseases.

With the mission to deliver scientific, economic and societal value for Luxembourg, LIH aims to translate knowledge into clinical applications impacting on healthcare systems while shaping personalized medicine.

Two postdoctoral positions: diet, microbiome and mucus interactions in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

3 year fixed-term work contract with a possibility of extension up to 5 years

Two postdoctoral researchers will carry out their work on interactions between diet, gut microbiome and colonic mucus in IBD as part of a fully funded grant by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR).

The projects are based on the recently published work (Desai et al., Cell, 2016; Martens…Desai, Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2018) on the same topic and involves gnotobiotic mouse models, synthetic microbial communities, IBD patient cohorts and key international collaborations in Europe and in the USA.

The postdocs will participate in an exciting research program in the ‘Microbiome and Ecoimmunology’ group headed by Prof. Mahesh S. Desai. The ultimate goals of this research are: 1) To identify the disease-causing immune pathways; and 2) To enhance the anti-TNF treatments in IBD using dietary therapeutics.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct research project with sufficient guidance, yet enough independence to design and execute the experiments
• Participate in multi-disciplinary research projects that will potentially open job opportunities in both academia and industry
• Carry out experiments using gnotobiotic mouse models and samples from patient cohorts
• Learn key techniques in microbiology, molecular biology and immunology
• Develop scientific methodology and techniques adapted to the research project
• Present research work in leading international conferences

Key Skills, Experience and Qualifications

• PhD degree in Microbiology/Immunology/Systems biology/Biochemistry/Molecular Biology/Bioinformatics
• High level of motivation for research, attention to detail, scientific creativity and originality, and writing skills
• Languages skills : fluent command of English
  Both positions are available immediately,
  but the start date can be negotiated up to October 2019.

Applications including one page motivation letter, CV and names of two referees should be sent via our website only :
www.lih.lu/jobs – https://tinyurl.com/yczqdj8y
Application deadline: 28 February 2019