PhD Student to work on Wearable optical sensors for detecting biomarkers relevant to wound healing

Infos sur l'emploi

Date de publication :23 janvier 2025
Taux d'activité :100%
Type de contrat :Temporaire
Langue :anglais (Intermédiaire)
Lieu de travail :Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014 St. Gallen

PhD Student to work on Wearable optical sensors for detecting biomarkers relevant to wound healing

Materials science and technology are our passion. With our cutting-edge research, Empa's around 1,100 employees make essential contributions to the well-being of society for a future worth living. Empa is a research institution of the ETH Domain.

In our research group, we design smart stimuli-responsive (nano)-materials that can be applied as diagnostic tools or as controlled drug delivery systems aiming to improve the management of infected wounds. Our group is focused on: i) Developing novel fluorescent-based detection approaches for the continuous monitoring of wound healing. ii) Achieving temporal and spatial controlled drug release systems through stimuli-responsive materials. These tasks are part of a larger Empa's initiative, called Wound Booster , involving several PhD students working on different topics related to wound healing.

Project background

Wound healing is a complex process in which a cascade of physiological events takes place to restore injured skin to its full functionality. The presence of bacteria in the wound impairs the healing process leading to persistent inflammatory lesions, chronic wounds and, worst-case scenario, to sepsis. Due to the often inappropriate wound management and the increased number of multidrug-resistance strains, infected wounds represent a concerning burden for global health, with high costs due to the required long hospitalization. It is therefore imperative to develop alternative highly efficient treatments and improve wound management. In the Wound Booster initiative, we will design a precision, self-care integrated system to completely understand, simulate and monitor skin wound evolution, with the ultimate aim to treat and even prevent chronic wounds. We will couple an in vitro analytical, omics-based platform to self-care wearables for spatiotemporal wound monitoring and patient-specific, timely wound treatment.

Your tasks

In this PhD project, you will develop sensors integrated in adaptive wound dressings. The sensors will be designed by combining optical sensing approaches, which will prevent signal interference and allow for simultaneous assessment of multiple markers (multiplexing and multifunctionality). Besides the biomarkers newly identified in Wound Booster, the sensors will also include known biophysical markers, and known inflammatory markers characteristic for CW. You will work in close collaboration with two other Empa PhD students: one working on optical sensing of bacterial loading and one student who performs an unbiased study of protein biomarkers , which objectively indicate wound status and deliver insights required to develop the optical sensors. You will functionalize hydrogels with the transducers, and study their sensing properties under physiological conditions. Later, you will validate the sensors with real wound exudate, obtained from our clinical partners.

Your profile

The candidate should have a strong background in Chemistry or Materials Science. We are looking for a highly motivated person capable of working in a multidisciplinary environment, driven by scientific curiosity and open to learning new topics. The Ph.D. candidate needs to be proficient in spoken and written English and have a Master's degree. S/he will participate in writing scientific publications and presenting data at national and international scientific conferences. Previous experience in one or more of the following topics is required: surface functionalization chemistries, spectrophotometric analysis, analysis of release kinetics and synthesis of hydrogels (nanocomposites).

Our offer

The work will be carried out at Empa St. Gallen (under the supervision of Dr. Luciano F. Boesel) and ZHAW (under the supervision of Dr. Mathias Bonmarin). The PhD student will be affiliated at ETH Zürich (Prof. René Rossi, D-HEST). The project will have a duration of 3-4 years, with a starting date upon mutual agreement.

Candidates need to address the project and points mentioned above in their letter of motivation. Applications missing this information will not be considered

We live a culture of inclusion and respect. We welcome all people who are interested in innovative, sustainable and meaningful activities - that's what counts.

We look forward to receiving your complete online application including a letter of motivation, CV, certificates, diplomas and contact details of two reference persons. Please submit these exclusively via our job portal. Applications by e-mail and by post will not be considered.

Sarah Stüdli,
Bereichspersonalleiterin / HR Partner