Dear Colleagues,

I am looking for a post-doctorate fellow to work on the project entitled
"Medical diagnostic tool for platelet activation evaluation from whole blood
samples".

In hemostasis, platelets rapidly adhere at sites of vessel wall injuries,
aggregate and form a hemostatic plug that is strengthened by a fibrin
network. At the onset of this phenomenon, platelets adhere on von Willebrand
factor, collagen and fibronectin located in exposed extracellular matrix
after vessel injury. The exposition of platelets to these molecules induces
important changes in their morphology and physiology, which are needed to
stimulate platelet aggregation and fibrin formation. This process is termed
platelet activation. In contrast to non-activated platelets, activated ones,
for example, express the trans-membrane protein P-selectin, present an
alternate conformation of the GPIIb/IIIa integrin and even extend pseudopods
to enhance aggregation.

The clinical significance of platelet activation is very important. An
increased platelet activation level in circulating blood has been
demonstrated to be an important stroke and ACS risk factor and is thought to
precede these acute events

The overall aim of this project is to develop and to validate a medical
diagnostic kit to rapidly detect platelet activation level from whole blood.
The specific objectives are:

1. To rapidly detect platelet activation levels with a large level of
confidence in patients at-risk, or being treated for platelet activation
disorders such as cardiovascular diseases.
2. To detect platelet activation in blood products.
3. To miniaturize the instrument to be used during blood tests.
4. To develop an automated detection and interpretation module that may
“read” the diagnostic surfaces and yield an easy to interpret result.

This project involves:
1. The development and surface characterization of bioactive surfaces to
capture activated platelets from whole blood.
2. The validation in clinic of novel medical diagnostic tools based on
previous research and development efforts.
3. To make the link between physicians and researchers.

The candidate would join a very dynamic and interdisciplinary Team.
Candidates must have a background in biochemistry, biology, biomaterials,
physic engineering, or chemical engineering. Candidates must be curious,
creative, rigorous, and highly motivated. Candidates will gain knowledge in
surface chemistry and physics, colloidal science, biomaterials, material
science, and cell biology.

KeyWords: Biomaterials; Surface chemistry; Biosensors.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact:


Patrick Vermette, Professor, P. Eng.
Département de génie chimique et de génie biotechnologique
Université de Sherbrooke
2500, boulevard de l'Université
Sherbrooke, Québec
Canada, J1K 2R1

E-mail: Patrick.Vermette@USherbrooke.ca
Telephone: 1-819-821-8000 ext. 62826
Fax: 1-819-821-7955

http://www.chimique.usherbrooke.ca/biogenie/