PhD Position (m/f/d)

Our group has identified immunothrombosis - the interplay of platelets, the coagulation cascade and the innate immune system as a crucial mechanism in host defense as well as infectious and thrombotic disease. We have highlighted that particularly the interplay between platelets and neutrophils is central to immunothrombosis. Beyond its protective effects, this interplay can cause severe hyperinflammation, for example in COVID-19. We have utilized novel Omics approaches to further understand the mechanisms behind these diseases, ranging from shot-gun proteomics to bulk and single cell RNA (scRNA) sequencing (compare Pekayvaz et al, Nature Communications, 2022, and Kaiser et al, JCI Insight, 2021). We now strive to further our understanding of platelet-neutrophil interplay in atherosclerosis and acute inflammatory disease. For this, we strive to combine advanced mouse models and patient samples with RNA sequencing approaches, including CITE-sequencing. The pipeline for cell isolation from murine tissues as well as human samples is established in our lab. The PhD student will combine wet lab work – mouse models of atherosclerosis, cell isolation – with bioinformatics work analyzing and integrating datasets to define new axes in platelet leukocyte interplay in infection and inflammation.