Graduate Student position in the iCAPTURE Center UBC

Project title: Understanding the role of fibroblast differentiation in Pulmonary Fibrosis
A graduate student position (Pharmacology) under the supervision of Dr. Darryl Knight is currently available. Applicants should hold an undergraduate degree in life sciences – preferably Pharmacology, Biochemistry or Cell Biology. The projects consist in developing new pharmacological approaches for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. More precisely, the successful candidate will be expected to deepen his understanding and perform experiments related to fibroblast biology, fibrosis and transcription factor research.
Brief Project Description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common form of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias and also the most unresponsive to current therapies. The enigmatic origins of IPF and our incomplete knowledge of the disease pathogenesis have made treatments entirely empirical. The end stage of the disease is characterized by aggressive lung remodelling, increased collagen synthesis and deposition, loss of lung function and premature death. Emerging evidence indicates that functionally distinct subsets of fibroblasts exist within the lung may play key roles in IPF, although the mechanisms underlying this diversity are unknown. We propose that lung fibroblast heterogeneity in IPF stems from an imbalance between apoptosis (quiet death) and cellular senescence (quiet survival) and that the transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 is a key element in fibroblast growth regulation and apoptosis. Based on funding from our previous grant, we made the exciting discovery that ability of lung fibroblasts to activate STAT3 is a crucial factor for the transition of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts - the cells primarily responsible for the deposition of collagen and other extracellular matrix proteins that characterize IPF.
Our data suggest promise in specific pharmacological manipulators of the STAT3 pathway that suppress pathological and fibrosis-prone myofibroblasts while leaving other mesenchymal and epithelial cells in the lung largely intact.The student will work with a faculty member and his research team, based at the James Hogg iCAPTURE centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research at St Pauls Hospital. The student will be involved with establishing and maintaining primary cultures of human lung cells obtained from healthy donors as well as patients with IPF. He/she will also participate in designing experiments to investigate a number of cell functions such as proliferation, apoptosis, expression of integrins, growth factor receptors and a-smooth muscle actin.
Students interested are invited to send their curriculum vitae to:Dr Darryl Knight, Rm 166, St Pauls Hospital, 1081 Burrard St Vancouver, V6Z 1Y6. Tel 604 682 2344 (x62217); dknight@mrl.ubc.ca