This vacancy is posted as part of RegMedXB, which stands for 'Regenerative Medicine Crossing Borders'. RegMedXB is a virtual institute composed of universities, health foundations, governments and private companies in the Netherlands and Belgium. The partners work together to tackle some of the greatest challenges in regenerative medicine, while building a community of researchers and companies to realize health and economic benefits.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering. There is an endless demand in modern healthcare for technologies to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of health problems. To meet this demand, TU/e has a strong focus on Health in its research and education programs and has a department devoted entirely to this socially vital area: Biomedical Engineering. Biomedical engineers improve human health by cross-disciplinary activities that integrate the engineering sciences with the biomedical sciences and clinical practice.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering presently consists of thirteen research groups, organized in 3 clusters and covers everything from regenerative engineering to biomedical image analysis to biomolecular engineering. With 58 (assistant, associate and full) professors, over 100 researchers and postdocs, 158 PhD candidates and circa 950 bachelor and master students, the Department of Biomedical Engineering provides high-quality academic education and cutting-edge research.
See
here for more information about the department, and
here or more information about the current research programs.
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is ranked as one of the most innovative universities located in the heart of the high-tech industry in the Netherlands, the Brainport region. The unique positioning in one of Europe's leading tech regions also means excellent job opportunities for spouses. TU/e actively facilitates career opportunities for partners of successful candidates. Eindhoven is the fifth largest city in the Netherlands, and including suburbs, it has about 420,000 inhabitants. Our training and research programs are highly regarded, and we foster close relationships with companies, organizations, and research institutes in the Brainport region and beyond. Fundamental and applied research are equally valued here. The high rank of the TU/e is due to the impact of its scientific research and also to its scientific co-publications with industry. TU/e is a social and inspiring university with a vibrant culture. Surrounded by people who share your scientific ambitions, we translate our basic research into meaningful solutions. The TU/e currently has nine departments, with over 11,000 students in total.
Project description: Within the RegMedXB Cardiac Moonshot program, the overall aim is to develop innovative strategies to regenerate the heart.
The project of this position aims to develop
in vitro and
ex vivo models that recapitulate the characteristics of myocardium. By reestablishing the three-dimensional architecture of the myocardium including matrix organization, disease initiation and progression can be minimized or prevented. In particular, the project will aim at identifying the critical mechanical and compositional parameters of the tissue required for healthy matrix remodeling and contractility.
We will collaborate intensively with our partners in the RegMed-XB Cardiac Moonshot consortium, in particular with the University Medical Centers in Leiden and Utrecht on cardiac cell sources and characterization, and with other TU/e groups on computational modeling and synthetic matrices.
About STEM: The research will be mainly conducted within the Soft Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology (STEM) group in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
The
STEM group, headed by prof.dr. C.V.C. Bouten, concentrates on the engineering of soft tissues, aimed at either the replacement of diseased or malformed tissues, or the development of in-vitro model systems of developing tissues. Important fundamental research lines concern the biophysical (stem) cell niche and the mechanobiology of tissue organization. Results are used to design novel approaches of in-situ tissue regeneration, with principle application in the cardiovascular area (heart valves and vessels) and organ regeneration (heart, kidney). The group houses the Cell and Tissue Engineering laboratory, a shared research infrastructure operating at the international forefront of the engineering of living, load-bearing tissues.