Instituto de Neurociencias CSIC-UMH PhD offer

The Instituto de Neurociencias CSIC-UMH is looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated PhD Student with an interest in Neurobiology and Cancer. The position is funded under the FPI fellowships programme of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (call to be launched soon) for a position already secured to the Project.

Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer. Unfortunately despite the existing public campaigns to prevent melanoma, its incidence continues to increase worldwide. Critically, melanoma agressiveness can be attributed to its intrinsic high plasticity. We are interested in understanding the contribution of the reactivation of embryonic  programmes to melanoma plasticity. In addition, brain metastases are associated with very poor prognosis in melanoma patients and constitute a leading cause of death from this cancer type. We aim to gain insight into the molecular determinants of melanoma brain metastases and the contribution of the brain microenvironment to melanoma metastatic colonization and response to therapies.

The group is located at the Instituto de Neurociencias (Alicante, Spain) a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence that offers a unique multidisciplinary environment, both in the neurosciences and in the cancer fields, to develop a successful scientific career.

Applicants must have a strong background in biology, biochemistry, biotechnology or related disciplines. Experience in neurobiology, cancer or mouse models is welcome, but is not a requirement; however a genuine interest to learn these topics, is necessary. In addition, applicants should be highly motivated, enthusiastic about science, have good organization skills and work well with others.

For additional information contact Dr Berta L Sanchez-Laorden: berta.lopez@umh.es

Please be informed that the Postgraduate Programme in Molecular Biosciences is not linked with the above introduced PhD offer.