15 PhD Positions, European Sepsis Academy (ESA-ITN), Worldwide (2016)

Applications are invited for 15 PhD positions (“Early Stage Researchers”) to be funded by the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network “ESA-ITN – European Sepsis Academy – Innovative Training Network” within the Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Commission. Number of positions available : 15 PhD positions

Career Stage
Early Stage Researcher (ESR), max 4 yrs post graduate

Sepsis, a severe life-threatening infection with organ dysfunction, initiates a complex interplay of host pro- and anti-inflammatory processes. It affects ~18 million individuals worldwide and has a very high mortality rate. Sepsis can be considered a race to the death between the pathogens and the host immune system. Key priorities in treating sepsis are 1) recognising 'sepsis' as such, 2) identification of the source and type of the infection, 3) identification of the stage of disease and 4) initiation of early targeted treatment.

The European Sepsis Academy (ESA-ITN) aims to develop and validate the pathological insights, biomarker diagnostics and clinical trial models that can enable development and implementation of personalised treatment strategies targeted at the immunosuppressive phase of sepsis.

Therefore ESA-ITN focuses on three subjects:
- Pathogenesis: To describe the pathogenesis of sepsis-induced immune suppression at the level of immune regulatory molecules and DNA methylation
- Discovery: To identify and validate biomarkers that can be used for clinical diagnosis and monitoring of sepsis-induced immune suppression
- Development: To prepare and optimise high-potential diagnostic technology platforms for use in diagnostic procedures in sepsis and test innovative clinical trial designs.

Further details:
http://www.researchgate.net