PhD Position Opening in Marco MILAN’s Lab, IRB Barcelona, Spain 

Marco MILAN’s Lab at the IRB Barcelona is opening a 4-years PhD position to work on the role of cell competition in aneuploid cell surveillance. 

Aneuploidy, an imbalance number of chromosomes, is the primary cause of miscarriages in humans. However, this imbalance is highly pervasive in human embryos due to errors during initial zygotic divisions. To survive, these embryos must eliminate unfit cells. 

Using state-of-the-art genetic tools and multi-omics in Drosophila, the Development and Growth Control Laboratory investigates the cell-autonomous and non-autonomous mechanisms governing aneuploid cell surveillance. We are particularly interested on the role of Ribosomal Protein (RP) genes, haploinsufficient genes spread across all human chromosomes, in sensing this chromosome imbalance and driving cell competition. We are taking a functional multi-omics approach that combines genomics and functional genetics to identify the signalling mechanisms underlying aneuploidy-driven cell competition that are invariant to any RP gene.

The PhD candidate will use a newly generated Drosophila epithelial model of RP-driven cell competition to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms that are invariant to all RP genes. This model is based on the generation, with the FRT/FLP recombination technique, of genetic mosaics that consist of fluorescently labelled cells carrying one (segmental monosomies or losers) or three copies (segmental trisomies or winners) of the same genomic region bearing an RP gene, thus mimicking mis-segregation errors occurring during normal development. Transcriptomic analyses of the different types of cells, including wild type cells, will be combined with genetic manipulation tools to search for functional contribution of newly identified molecular elements. 

The application link will close on 30^th October 2026.