Job TI Food and Nutrition - Postdoc in the area of systems biology/physiological modeling and computational simulation/ fluxomics

The Postdoc researcher will work on computational modelling based on quantification of SCFA-related metabolic activities in microbiota in vitro as well as in vivo in animal model.

The metabolic flux modeling will be performed in cooperation with the UMC Groningen and the Amsterdam VU Medical Center. Rather than performing new experiments, the project will exploit data already acquired in ongoing and finished projects.

• Development of a multivariate correlation model that relates the gut bacterial SCFA production profile to physico-chemical characteristics of the substrate;
• Development of a microbial food chain model that describes how the SCFA production profile depends on the microbiota composition;
• Stable-isotope based Metabolic Flux Analysis of the metabolic fate of SCFA in vivo in the mouse;
• Multicompartment physiologically based kinetic (PBK) modeling of transorgan SCFA metabolic fluxes in vivo.

• a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology or related fields with relevant experience in mathematical modeling approaches;
• a team-member with high level of knowledge, skills and ability to independently accomplish predefined tasks.

A labour contract for 2 years is offered by TNO  and the work will be carried out within a NCSB/TIFN project.

TI Food and Nutrition is a joint initiative of government, industry and research institutes to strengthen the capacity for innovation and the competitive strength of the food industry. TI Food and Nutrition performs long-term strategic research at the highest level for the development of new and innovated food products with attention to health aspects. This leading institute for Food Sciences gives the Dutch food industry the innovative capacity to meet the challenges of the 21st century

The Netherlands Consortium for Systems Biology (NCSB www.ncsb.nl) implements systems biology as a powerful scientific approach in three major Dutch biological research areas: biomedical research, agricultural biotechnology and microbial biotechnology. The NCSB is financed by NGI (www.genomics.nl) and by the participating knowledge institutes and industry. The Netherlands Consortium for Systems Biology forms part of NGI's Enabling Technologies cluster and also organizes courses for the scientists that participate in projects funded by the NCSB.

For further information contact Dr. Albert A. de Graaf (albert.degraaf@tno.nl, +31 (0) 30-6944734) or Dr. Koen Venema (koen.venema@tno.nl, +31 (0) 30-6944703)

All applicants are asked to submit a Curriculum Vitae, a list of publications and a statement of purpose. These documents shall be sent to: personnel@tifn.nl with the reference number of the vacancy.