Technical University of Denmark - PhD scholarship in food allergy and threshold of sensitisation

Do you want to contribute to the development of new tools for the prediction of allergenicity of novel foods and alternative food proteins and enable the production of new and safe food for the future?

If you have knowledge within the area of immunology or allergy as well as experience working with bioinformatic tools and are looking for a PhD fellowship opportunity to put your skills into practise, you have it right here. The Research Group for Food Allergy, DTU Food, is looking to recruit a talented and highly motivated PhD student for one of 10 PhD fellowship positions being part of the ALLPreT project. The ALLPreT project is an international European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral-Network project (ALLPreT - No 101072377)

As part of the ALLPreT project and as our new colleague in the Research Group for Food Allergy at DTU, you will be part of dynamic and highly ambitious research and innovation environments, with many national and international collaborators from both academia and industries.

Project description

Your role will be to:

• Collect data from the literature as well as generate data using LC-MS on protein abundance in selected allergenic foods
• Collect data on food consumption of the selected allergenic foods based on consumption databases from the Netherlands and Denmark
• Determine the allergenic potential of proteins from the selected allergenic sources using basophil activation test and IgE binding analyses
• Perform programming in R for quantitative data modelling

Results from your research will be used to determine a putative threshold of allergic concern.

This shall bring insights to the existence and order of magnitude of a threshold of sensitisation and enable a strategy on how a threshold of sensitisation can be applied in food safety assessment, especially with in silico models.

Responsibilities and qualifications

In this PhD project you will contribute to developing a toolbox with methods allowing for prediction of allergenicity of new foods and test the specific hypothesis that there exists a threshold for food protein exposure below which there is only a minimal risk for being sensitised to proteins in novel food. You will be involved in research, innovation, publication, and scientific dissemination, where your primary research tasks will focus on:

• Collecting and analysing data from the literature
• Collecting and analysing data from food consumption databases
• Performing mass spectrometry analysis
• Performing in vitro and ex vivo allergenicity analysis
• Performing bioinformatic analyses on data collected

With the overall aim of determine a putative threshold of allergic concern based on data collected and analysed.

Further, it is expected that you will take part of all training, networking and collaborative tasks offered by the ALLPreT project, which include development of both technical and soft skills (organisation of meetings, grant writing, presentation for different audiences, etc.)

External stays are a mandatory part of your new PhD fellowship position, where DSM, TNO and UMCU in the Netherlands will be the hosting institutions for a total period of four months.

We are looking for a team player with the motivation and drive needed for making a difference that matters. You should have a critical mindset, be curious and eager to learn. As you will join several international teams good command of written and spoken English is necessary.

Your CV comprises a master’s degree (or equivalent) in Allergology, Immunology, Bioinformatics, Biomedicine, Protein Chemistry, Molecular Biology or a related field as well as:

• Knowledge of immunology and/or food allergy, and
• Solid understanding of protein-chemistry, and
• Solid experience in bioinformatics, and
• Experience in performing in vitro and/or ex vivo cell-based assays, and/or
• Experience in proteomic analyses, preferably including mass spectrometry.

According to the rules for MSCA doctoral networks, applicants should not have resided or worked in Denmark for more than 12 out of the last 36 months.

You must have a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree.

Your new team

The Research Group for Food Allergy, headed by Senior Researcher Katrine Lindholm Bøgh, researches the relationship between different physicochemical features of food proteins and their capacity to induce either allergy or tolerance with an aim to deepen the understanding on why certain food proteins are more allergenic than others and to develop new and improved preventive, management and treatment strategies. We are part of the Danish National Food Institute where we conduct research at the forefront of healthy, safe and sustainable food. Read more at https://www.food.dtu.dk/english

Approval and Enrolment

The scholarship for the PhD degree is subject to academic approval, and the candidate will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes at DTU. For information about our enrolment requirements and the general planning of the PhD study programme, please see DTU's rules for the PhD education.

We offer

DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

Salary and appointment terms

The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union. The period of employment is 3 years.

The position is a full-time position starting April 1st 2023 (or according to mutual agreement).

You can read more about career paths at DTU here.

Further information

Further information may be obtained from Head of Research Group, Senior Researcher Katrine Lindholm Bøgh, National Food Institute kalb@food.dtu.dk and at Research Group for Food Allergy - DTU Food

You can read more about DTU Food at https://www.food.dtu.dk/english

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark. Furthermore, you have the option of joining our monthly free seminar “PhD relocation to Denmark and startup “Zoom” seminar” for all questions regarding the practical matters of moving to Denmark and working as a PhD at DTU.

Application procedure

Your complete online application must be submitted no later than 27 October 2022 (Danish time).

Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply online", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma (in English) including official description of grading scale

You may apply prior to ob­tai­ning your master's degree but cannot begin before having received it.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

Information on the ALLPreT project

The introduction of novel foods, such as insects, will strongly contribute to the security and stainability of our food supply. However, these novel foods must be safe (EU regulation 2015/2283). Allergenicity assessment is an essential part of the safety assessment of novel foods. Unfortunately, current methods to assess de novo allergenicity lack predictive power and are not validated. Consequently, food producers and risk assessors struggle with allergenicity assessment, slowing the introduction of novel foods in our food supply. Enabling the safe introduction of novel foods while protecting humans from unacceptable food allergy risks, calls for a multidisciplinary approach. The ALLPreT consortium is a highly multidisciplinary group of experts from universities, research institutes, hospitals, patient organisations and industry arising from the EU COST Action ImpARAS (Improved Allergenicity Risk Assessment Strategy). This puts them in an ideal position to consolidate their previous collaboration and establish an innovative doctoral training network in this area. The overall goal of ALLPreT is to train the next generation of scientists who can tackle the shortcomings in the current food allergy assessment of novel food products. ALLPreT will train 10 PhD students in the core aspects of food allergy risk assessment, immunology, protein chemistry, bioinformatics, in vitro/in vivo/in silico model development and complementary “soft” skills to deliver welleducated young scientists with a unique position within the EU labour market. The PhD students will explore the new field of research on de novo sensitisation by novel foods and develop a toolbox of in vitro/in vivo/in silico allergenicity prediction tools that are scientifically sound, validated and easily usable by industry and food safety authorities. This toolbox will contribute to fast and accurate safety assessment, thereby speeding up safety approval and market uptake of novel foods. Read more at www.AllPreT.eu

The National Food Institute (DTU Food) 

DTU Food conducts research into and disseminates - through advice, innovation and teaching - sustainable and value-creating solutions in the area of food and health for the benefit of society. The institute’s vision is to make a difference by generating future prosperity through research into food and health. The institute prevents disease and promotes health, develops new and better food products for a growing population and creates sustainable technological solutions. The institute’s tasks are carried out in a unique interdisciplinary cooperation in e.g. nutrition, chemistry, toxicology, microbiology, epidemiology, modelling and technology.

Technology for people

DTU develops technology for people. With our international elite research and study programmes, we are helping to create a better world and to solve the global challenges formulated in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear mission to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society. That mission lives on today. DTU has 13,400 students and 5,800 employees. We work in an international atmosphere and have an inclusive, evolving, and informal working environment. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland, and we collaborate with the best universities around the world.