Marie Curie Initial Training Network

Consortium on: Axonal regeneration, plasticity and stem cells (AXREGEN)

PhD studentships

The development of treatments that will help patients with structural damage to the CNS is one of the great remaining unmet needs in medicine.  Disorders include Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and dementias, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, glaucoma.  All these conditions have damage to axons as a common feature.

This training programme, funded by the Marie Curie Training Network, focuses on the problem of axonal damage (axonopathy), which is central to attempts to understand how the central nervous system (CNS) can be damaged, how this damage might be prevented or limited, and how new ways of repairing the CNS might be developed. The Consortium includes 10 academic  EU partners (see below), who together represent many of the prominent laboratories in Europe working on different aspects of axonal damage and repair.  There are also two industrial partners (Miltenyi Biotech GmbH, D, and Pharmaxon, FR).  The programme will coordinated by the University of Cambridge

Each student will have his/her own training schedule, encompassing a wide variety of technical and theoretical approaches, yet have a common interest in the problems of axonal degeneration and repair. In addition, there will be a strong emphasis on the commercial exploitation and development of potential new therapies.  There will be active collaborative links and exchanges between the partners.

Applications are now invited for PhD studentships (October 2008 or 2009) associated with this programme.  There will be two studentships (three years duration)  at each Institute   Topics and Institutions are as follows:

Enquiries: Isabelle Weiss (axregen@hermes.cam.ac.uk)

1. Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, UK (Prof J Fawcett)
(a) Stimulation of axon regeneration in Purkinje cells in vitro by expression of alpha9 integrin
(b)  Examination of the trafficking of alpha9, alpha5 and alpha6 integrins in sensory neurons and Purkinje cell neurons in vitro

2. Wallenberg Neuroscience Centre, University of Lund, SE (Prof P Brundin)
(a) How to obtain homogeneous human embryonic stem cell (hESC )-derived neurons without contamination of undifferentiated hESC or proliferating progenitors prior to grafting
(b) How to achieve highly integrated and functional neurons that have extensive fiber outgrowth after grafting

3. Developmental Biology Institute of Marseille-Luminy, FR (Prof H Cremer)
(a) Functional analysis of genes implicated in differentiation and synapse formation of interneurons: the proteoglycan Agrin
(b) Genetic control of neuronal differentiation in the postnatal brain

4. Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, the Nencki Institute, PL (Prof L. Kaczmarek)
(a) Regeneration and functional outcome after spinal cord injury.
(b) The effect of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 on axon regeneration in vitro

5. Institute of Neurosciences ,Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES (Prof X Navarro)
(a)  Specificity of axonal regeneration and functional recovery after peripheral nerve injuries
(b) Combined cell transplantation and neuroprotection for the repair of spinal cord injuries

6. Rita Levi Montalcini Centre for Brain Repair,Turin University, IT (Prof F. Rossi)
(a) Reconstruction of neural circuits by cell replacement: integration of new neurons in the cerebellar cortical network
(b) Interplay between intrinsic neuronal determinants, extrinsic regulatory molecules and interaction with the external world in physiological plasticity and repair

7. University of Zurich , Brain Research Institute,  CH (Prof M Schwab)
(a) Anatomical and physiological changes in adult rat forebrain motor-sensory cortex and cerebellum after spinal cord and brain injury.
(b) The influence of Nogo-A upregulation on migration, integration and differentiation of endogenous and grafted stem cells in the injured CNS.

8.  Fondazione Santa Lucia, Laboratory of neuroplasticity, IT (Prof P. Strata)
(a) Molecular mechanisms of synapse elimination in the cerebellum
(b) Activity-dependent regulation of dendritic spines in Purkinje cells

9. Institute of Experimental Medicine, Prague, CZ (Prof E. Sykova)
(a) The use of stem cells in the treatment of brain and spinal cord injury
(b) Stem cells, biomaterials and nanotechnologies as combined strategies for spinal cord repair

10. Workgroup Neuroregeneration, The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, NL (Prof J Verhaargen)
(a) Combined/simultaneous neutralization of inhibitory molecules to enhance regeneration of the injured nervous system
(b) The interaction of Semaphorins with chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans in perineuronal nets: functional implications for plasticity

Applicants may only apply for a maximum of TWO projects.  More detailed descriptions of each project are given on the following pages. An online application form is provided. Whilst awards are not limited to EU nationals, the programme requires 70% EU national participation, so such applications are particularly encouraged. 

Application form

You should read the detailed descriptions of the projects before you apply.