Doktorander/Utbildningsplatser

Doktorander/Utbildningsplatser
med placering vid Sahlgrenska akademin

Sista ansökningsdag: 2010-04-20

Sahlgrenska akademin utlyser doktorandplatser med placering vid institutionen för biomedicin, institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper, institutionen för medicin och institutionen för neurovetenskap och fysiologi.

Doktorandplatserna avser två års utbildningsbidrag och två års doktorandanställning, alternativt fyra års doktorandanställning, och beräknas leda fram till doktorsexamen.

För mer information och ansökningsblankett se:
http://www.sahlgrenska.gu.se/doktorandportalen/Doktor_Fran_start_till_mal/doktorandplatser


Radiobiological effects and tolerance doses of normal tissues in radionuclide therapy

Application deadline: 2010-04-20

Description of the research project
Toxicity in normal tissues is the limiting factor for radionuclide therapy of tumours.In most applications, bone marrow is the critical organ, but with the recently introduced radiolabelled small peptides nephrotoxicity is the major limiting factor.For radiohalogens the thyroid is an organ at risk.Other tissues that might be of importance are e.g.liver, intestines, and lungs.Today, the tolerance doses used for radionuclide therapy are regarded to be similar to that of external irradiation, due to lack of data.However, the absorbed dose distribution, dose rate, exposition time and fractionation will be most different from that of external radiation therapy.There is thus a clear need to determine the effects of radiation in normal tissues and also the tolerance doses.Knowledge about effects on cellular mechanisms may also indicate suitable toxicity markers useful for follow-up of negative effects during fractionated treatment in the individual patient, which might enhance individually optimised therapy for each patient.

The work will consist of studies on molecular mechanisms induced by radiation using different types of irradiation (radiation dose, dose rate, type of radiation (e.g.electrons vs.alpha particles) and time after irradiation.The genetic analysis with various genome-wide screening methods includes the assessment of DNA copy number changes, as well as changes in gene expression on irradiated tissue biopsies compared to non-irradiated tissues.These methods include array-CGH ("comparative genome hybridization") and expression microarrays.Based on the results, markers for radiotoxicity will be suggested and tested.Microdosimetric evaluations at the cellular level will be performed for chosen radionuclides, using suitable Monte Carlo codes (MCNPX, Geant4 and PENELOPE codes).Histological tissue samples will be used to geometrically describe tumour and risk organs (e.g.bone marrow, kidneys and liver) at a cellular level.Critical target cells will be defined.Detailed dosimetric modelling will be made, taking into consideration heterogeneous radionuclide distributions, including heterogeneous tissue.