Two postdoctoral fellowships are available to study chemorepulsion signal transduction pathways in Dictyostelium cells and human neutrophils at Texas A&M University. In addition to elucidating the relatively poorly understood mechanism of chemorepulsion, this work may impact our understanding of mechanisms such as the resolution of inflammation and the spread of glioma cells. If desired, the training will allow students with experience in Dictyostelium to additionally gain experience with Monte Carlo calculations, work with other human innate immune system cells such as monocytes and macrophages, work with mouse models of lung injury, and help develop potential therapeutics for neutrophil-driven diseases such as venous and pressure ulcers and acute respiratory distress syndrome, where neutrophil chemorepellents could be used to prevent neutrophils from entering and/or drive neutrophils out of a site of acute inflammation.
For background, please see
Phillips, J.E. and Gomer, R.H. (2012). A secreted protein is an endogenous chemorepellant in Dictyostelium discoideum. PNAS, 109, 10990-10995. 
Herlihy, S.E., Pilling, D., Maharjan, A.S., and Gomer, R.H. (2013). Dipeptidyl-peptidase IV is a neutrophil chemorepellent. J. Immunology, 190, 6468-6477. 
If you are interested, please contact 
Richard Gomer  
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Richard Gomer
Thomas Powell '62 Professor of Biology
Texas A&M University
ILSB    MS 3474
301 Old Main Drive
College Station, TX  77843-3474
979 458 5745