Neuronal Calcium Channels in Disease

Human Research Potential - Research Training Network

 

Welcome to the home page of Neuronal Calcium Channel Research Training Network. We are addressing the roles of L- and P/Q-type Ca²⁺ channels in several human diseases. In particular, we are interested in:

1. the roles of class C and D L-type Ca²⁺ channels in mediating Ca²⁺ influx into pancreatic islet cells, and in modulating insulin secretion,
2. the mechanisms by which mutations of the human gene CACNA1A, which codes for the a _1A subunit of P/Q-type channels, cause familial hemiplegic migraine, and
3. the broader role of Ca²⁺ channels in neurological and other diseases.

The Educational Resource website on Calcium Channels can be accessed from here.

Our Research Training Network is supported by the European Community as part of the programme: ‘Improving the Human Research Potential and the Socio-Economic Knowledge Base’. We apply clinical, genetic, physiological, behavioural and anatomical research methods.

Research training positions available

If you would like to join this network as a pre- or post-doctoral researcher, you may be eligible to apply for one of approximately 7 positions available. There are three criteria that have to be satisfied:

(a) You have to be 35 or under by the time of appointment (allowances will be made for compulsory military service or child-care).

(b) You have to be a national of the European Community or associated states, or have resided for at least 5 years in the European Community.

(c) You are only eligible to apply to a laboratory in a country other than where you have been resident for more than 12 months of the last two years before appointment. This means, for instance, that if you have been working or studying in the UK, you cannot apply to a UK lab.

These eligibility rules are imposed by the EC, and cannot be violated.

If you think you are eligible to apply, then you should approach one of the following host laboratories:

 

Austria:

Joerg Striessnig, Institute for Biochemical Pharmacology, University of Innsbruck (biochemical and functional characterization of calcium channels, generation of mutant mice) (Website) (Positions offered)

 

Great Britain (1):

Dimitri Kullmann, Institute of Neurology, University College London (in vitro electrophysiology) (Website) (Position offered)

 

Great Britain (2):

Paul Chapman, Merck, Sharp and Dohme, Hertfordshire (behavioural studies, electrophysiology) (Website) (Position offered)

 

Italy:

Paola Carrera, Fondazione Centro San Raffaele del Monte Tabor, Milano
or Stefania Battistini Department of Neurological Sciences,
University of Siena, (clinical genetics) (Website)( Positions offered)

 

Netherlands:

Rune Frants, Preclinical Laboratories, Leiden University (mutation analysis) (Website) (Position offered)

 

Sweden:

Patrik Rorsman, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology (pancreatic islet cell physiology) Lund University (Website) (Positions offered)

Please go to the relevant website to find out what is being offered in each laboratory. Young researchers funded by this scheme will have the opportunity to attend network meetings and to spend time in other laboratories, including Merck, Sharp & Dohme.