Research Technician neurodegenerative Diseases

VHIR-RRHH-FOR-003_vs02_

TheVall d'Hebron Research Institute

(VHIR) is a public sector institution that

promotes and develops the research,

innovation and biosanitary teaching of the

Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. Through

the excellence of our research, we identify

problems of society and we contribute to

spread them around the world.

In April 2015, the **Vall d’Hebron**

**Research Institute (VHIR) **obtained

the recognition of the European

Commission **HR Excellence.**

This recognition proves that VHIR

endorses the general principles of the

European Charter for Researchers and

a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment

of Researchers **(Charter & Code)**.

**VHIR embraces Equality and**

**Diversity. As reflected in our values**

**we work toward ensuring inclusion**

**and equal opportunity in**

**recruitment, hiring, training, and**

**management for all staff within the**

**organization, regardless of gender,**

**civil status, family status, sexual**

**orientation, religion, age, disability**

**or race.**

**Research Technician**
**Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Group**

related to the mechanisms of inter-organ communication in Parkinson's disease to establish novel pathogenic mechanisms

and new possibilities for biomarkers and disease-modifying therapeutic strategies.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common progressive human neurodegenerative disorder of unknown origin that is
becoming more frequent due to the increase in life expectancy. Importantly, there are no reliable biomarkers that allow
an early diagnosis nor therapies that stop or slow down its progression, so it remains an incurable disease.
This project looks more deeply into the communication between the brain and other body organs in PD. Current diagnosis
requires the identification of classical motor symptoms, first noticeable when there is already a significant neuronal loss
in susceptible brain regions. However, PD patients present with other non-motor symptoms (NMS) that usually appear
clinically before the manifestation of parkinsonism in a prediagnostic phase of several years. These include
gastrointestinal alterations and other alterations of the autonomic nervous system. Also, an altered microbiota composition
has been reported in the gut of PD patients. The main aim is to understand how alterations in the gut-brain axis and other
communication axis (i.e. neuroendocrine, immune and metabolic) contribute to the onset and/or progression of disease,
with the goal of identifying possible early biomarkers and new therapies to prevent or slow down disease progression.
The transversal position offered ranges from the analysis of human biological samples and clinical data from patients to the

basic understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease in rodent and cellular models.

**JOB DESCRIPTION**

**Education and qualifications**:
**Required: **

Bachelor’s Degree in Health/Life Sciences.

Completed Master’s degree in Neurosciences, Translational Biomedicine Research, Microbiology or similar.

Good communication skills and fluency in spoken and written English.***
- VHIR-RRHH-FOR-003_vs02_

TheVall d'Hebron Research Institute

(VHIR) is a public sector institution that

promotes and develops the research,

innovation and biosanitary teaching of the

Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. Through

the excellence of our research, we identify

problems of society and we contribute to

spread them around the world.

In April 2015, the **Vall d’Hebron**

**Research Institute (VHIR) **obtained

the recognition of the European

Commission **HR Excellence.**

This recognition proves that VHIR

endorses the general principles of the

European Charter for Researchers and

a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment

of Researchers **(Charter & Code)**.

**VHIR embraces Equality and**

**Diversity. As reflected in our values**

**we work toward ensuring inclusion**

**and equal opportunity in**

**recruitment, hiring, training, and**

**management for all staff within the**

**organization, regardless of gender,**

**civil status, family status, sexual**

**orientation, religion, age, disability**

**or race. **

Experience and knowledge of basic laboratory histological techniques (e.g. stereological cell analysis, IHC, IF,

confocal microscopy) and molecular techniques (ELISA, RTqPCR, WB, Dot Blot).

**Desired: **

Previous knowledge in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, specifically in Parkinson’s Disease.

Certification and experience working with animal models and knowledge of animal experimentation techniques

(stereotaxic injection of AdenoAssociatedViral Vectors (AAV), behavioral tests).

Previous experience processing human and animal samples (brain tissue and biofluids).

Experience in specific software for image and data analysis (OlyVIA, Image J, GraphPad, Stata).

**Experience and knowledge**:
**Required: **

Previous experience in basic laboratory techniques.

P