A postdoctoral position on multiscale modeling of microcirculatory blood flow in health and in cancer is available at the Theoretical Soft Matter and Biophysics group, Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-2) of Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany. Our group works at the interface between physics, biology, and chemistry using computer simulations and analytical theory.
Description
Blood flow in microcirculation plays a fundamental role in a wide range of physiological processes and pathologies in the organism including transport of molecules and cells, organism defense, haemostasis, and various diseases. A prominent example of the significance of microcirculatory blood flow is cancer, where blood flow is essential for tumor growth and metastasis, but also strongly affects tumor detection and treatment, since it is the main path for the delivery of imaging agents and drugs. Our current understanding of blood flow behavior under well-defined and controlled conditions is not sufficient to describe and, if necessary, control or manipulate various microcirculatory processes and to achieve efficient drug delivery to tumor sites. This postdoctoral project will provide an opportunity to investigate blood flow behavior in normal and tumor microcirculation using analytical and novel numerical methods.
Job description:
The new postdoctoral associate will be investigating blood flow in normal and tumor microcirculation using the blood flow model developed in our group. The model is based on the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method and is implemented within a highly parallelized code. Blood flow in various vessel structures characteristic for normal and tumor microcirculation will be studied. In particular, he or she will be looking at local blood flow properties, hemodynamic resistance, and cell migration and trafficking for various conditions including endothelial surface layer, vessel leakiness, and altered blood rheology. The postdoctoral associate will also focus on the development of theoretical models for blood flow in normal and tumor microvascular networks and on model validation against available experimental data. At the same time, he or she will actively participate in the development of efficient algorithms and a parallel code to enable realistic blood flow simulations in large microvascular networks.
Nr of positions available : 1
Research Fields
Physics - Biophysics
Career Stage
Early stage researcher or 0-4 yrs (Post graduate)
Research Profiles
First Stage Researcher (R1)
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Your profile:
- Strong motivation to study flow of complex fluids and its related processes and to develop new algorithms.
- A PhD degree (or equivalent) in physics, biophysics, applied mathematics, or a relevant engineering discipline.
- Solid programming skills and expertise in numerical and particle-based methods.
- Experience with parallel programming using MPI and high-performance computing resources is advantageous, but not necessary.
- Some knowledge of biological and biophysical aspects of normal and cancerous blood flow would be beneficial.
- Solid English speaking and writing skills.
What we offer:
- Experienced and friendly international research team with a strong background in biophysics and modeling blood flow.
- Cutting-edge computational facilities including the on-site top European supercomputers.
- Collaboration with the world's leading experimental groups on blood flow in healthy and tumor microcirculation.
- Independent as well as team work and a possibility to get involved in other interesting projects.
- Possibility to co-supervise PhD students.
- 1+1 year position with the starting first year and the strong possibility of renewal including competitive salary and social benefits.
Starting date:
February 2015 or later. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
How to apply:
Please send your application by email to Dr. Dmitry Fedosov (d.fedosov@fz-juelich.de) including
- Curriculum Vitae with a publication list.
- A one page statement of your background and research interests.
- A copy of your PhD degree.
- Contact information of three references.
Contact:
Dr. Dmitry Fedosov
Email: d.fedosov@fz-juelich.de
Phone: +49(2461)-612972
URL: iffwww.iff.kfa-juelich.de/~fedosov/D_Fedosov.html
Forschungszentrum Juelich
Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-2)
Leo-Brandt Strasse
52425 Juelich