Description

Professor Sergio Granados Principal, from the Department of Biochemistry and Molelucar Biology 2 at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) in 2023 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2023 call, please consult:(http://sl.ugr.es/0d7F)

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR) was founded in 1531 and is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With over 51,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and almost 3,000 members of staff, the UGR offers over 90 undergraduate degrees, 160 master’s degrees (8 of which are international double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the institution’s commitment to continuously improving its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2022 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 201-300th position in the world and as the 2-5 highest ranked universities in Spain (http://sl.ugr.es/0d7D), reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. The UGR stands out in the specialties of Library & Information Science (position 38); Food Science & Technology (30) and Hospitality & Tourism Management (51-75), according to the latest edition of this prestigious ranking by specialties (http://sl.ugr.es/0bSp). A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in Mathematics (76-100).

Additionally, the UGR has 9 researchers who are at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list (http://sl.ugr.es/0d7E), most of these related to the area of Computer Science. It is also well recognized for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i), being positioned at 42th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe.

Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the last Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a total 120 projects with a total funding of around 29,4 million euros.  For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained 38 projects, so far, with total funding around 11 € million.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

Dr. Granados Principal is co-leader of the research group “Translational and Integrative Oncology” (IBS.Granada), and his laboratory is located in the Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO). Dr. Granados’ laboratory is focused on translational and precision oncology in triple-negative breast cancer by investigating on biomimetic nanomedicine to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs, gene therapies, and cancer vaccines to improve immunotherapy. We also investigate novel prognostic and predictive biomarkers to serve as therapeutic targets associated with tumor progression, and alternative treatment approaches to target cancer stem cells, tumor relapse, chemoresistance and metastasis, through drug repositioning, gene therapy and natural compounds. We develop our research by generating both patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and organoid cultures (PDO) to enhance the translational impact of our discoveries. Our team is young (three predoctoral fellows, two postdoctoral fellows), multidisciplinary (pharmacists, biologists, clinicians) and competitive, as demonstrated by our publications (more than 40 in the last 5 years), patents (4 in the last 5 years) and our leadership in clinical trials.      

Project description:

Our research line “Biomimetic nanomedicine and immunotherapy” includes the development of biomimetic nanoparticles, derived from triple-negative breast cancer patients, for cancer vaccination by the delivery of co-stimulatory molecules (proteins) and/or CRISPR/Cas9 systems to enhance immunogenicity and antitumor immune response, by their investigation in patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and organoid cultures (PDO). Given the topic of the project, expertise in nanomedicine (including the encapsulation of proteins and gRNA), immune cell culture (patient-derived lymphocytes and dendritic cells) is required. Experience in co-cultures of tumor (organoids) and immune cells, PDX animal models (humanized models, preferably), and excellent writing skills, is also convenient.

Research Area:

☒ Life Sciences (LIFE)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Sergio Granados Principal (sergiogp@ugr.es)

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)