PRR Project

Summary

Climatic and socioeconomical changes have impacted many ecosystems, triggering the emergence, re-emergence and spreading of infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic is a paradigmatic example that has raised global health concerns about emerging zoonotic diseases attributable to not only viruses but also bacteria, fungi, as well as parasites. In particular, vector-borne disease (VBD) account for 17% of all communicable diseases causing more than 700,000 deaths every year. The fast globalization, along with climate change, represent important drivers for the introduction and spreading of pathogens and vectors throughout ecosystems. The increase in temperature is for example an important factor for the colonization of invasive insect vectors in temperate areas. This phenomenon has directly impacted the epidemiology and distribution of zoonotic vector-borne pathogens (e.g., Plasmodium spp. and Leishmania spp) in a very short time span. In addition, several human parasites can infect a broad range of wild or synanthropic reservoir animals, thus responsible for parasite maintenance and potential re-emergence. Among VBD, malaria caused by Plasmodium parasites, pays the heaviest toll and remains one of the most serious parasitic diseases in the poorest countries of the world, primarily in young children. In this context, a thorough understanding of parasites and parasitic diseases requires detailed knowledge of the respective biochemical, molecular and immunological aspects. Understanding parasites at the molecular level is an essential prerequisite for designing new strategies to control associated devastating diseases.Human-parasite co-evolution has endowed parasites with multiple strategies to infect the host and subvert its immune system in order to establish chronic infections and ensure transmission. Experimental models such as laboratory mice have the great advantage to mechanistically answer biological questions. Intravital microscopy-based approaches have been a mainstay in parasitic research to visually characterize the dynamics of pathogen infections. They allow the visualisation of how pathogens interact with host cells and tissues in living animals in real time and enable the understanding of host-parasite interactions under physiological conditions. In addition, multi-omics strategies have forever changed the way genomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes are analyzed, successfully generating huge amounts of molecular data for parasites, hosts, and their interactions.One main mission of the Infection, Immunity and Regeneration (IIR) Program of i3S is to conduct ground-breaking fundamental and translation research aimed at comprehending and addressing how our organism interacts and responds to pathogens, in order to develop new solutions to combat infection and mitigate immune response. For that, groups of the IIR Program are taking advantage of a unique range of experimental approaches to model human diseases, employing a series of microorganisms (including parasites,) in vitro primary and immortalized cells, 3D models, organ on chips, organoids and animal models.Given the importance of this area of research for human health, as well as for the IIR Program of the i3S, and to respond to one of the main objectives of the FCT-Tenure Program, i.e. provide professional stabilization of researchers and their lines of research, the selected candidate will be a principal investigator expert in the study of host-parasite interactions. We expect that he/she will perform a detailed analysis of the molecular mechanisms used by emerging and/or re-emerging parasites to infect and persist within their host using up to date approaches of intravital imaging and/or multi-omics. This research program should strengthen this i3S research line by revealing key infection machineries that can be used as target for next generation therapeutic or prophylactic approaches against these parasites.The selected candidate will be expected to lead a Research Group that matches and reinforces the scientific interests and strategy of the Infection, Immunity and Regeneration (IIR) Program of i3S. In that role, he/she is expected to demonstrate strong leadership skills, assemble his/her own team and secure extramural funding for his/her research. The selected candidate must hold a PhD in Health/Life Sciences, or related areas for 12+ years, an excellent scientific track record, and is expected to pursue highly innovative research projects in frame of the IIR Integrative Programs. The selected candidate must be experienced in the supervision of PhD and Master students, and willing to contribute to the i3S training mission, by supporting advanced training and participating in graduate and PhD programs. The selected candidate is also expected to carry out duties to which he/she has been elected or appointed in i3S collegiate bodies. Engagement into the i3S educational program and outreach activities is also expected.