.Organisation / Company: CEU San Pablo UniversityDepartment: Faculty of Pharmacy Laboratory MetbrainIs the Hosting related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? NoUSP-CEU welcomes early stage postdoctoral researchers with an excellent track record to apply to the European Commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA-24) Postdoctoral Fellowships, Marie Sklodowska-Curie 4 Ukraine (MSCA4Ukraine 2024) Postdoctoral Fellowships, or any other R2 research calls, such as: Juan de la Cierva (Spanish Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation) or Atracción Talento (Madrid Regional Government).Selected candidates will be provided with special assistance for proposal writing and development. Our University has been beneficiary of 8 MSCA PF since 2017, including one MSCA-PF with an evaluation of 100/100 in 2021.PI Fernandez-Martos 's career investigates pathological mechanisms in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and other neurodegenerative conditions. She has extensive training in translational neuroscience with a focus on leptin therapies. Her background also includes work on in vivo disease models. PI Fernandez-Martos is currently A/Professor at the School of Pharmacy of USP-CEU and leads her own laboratory group consisting of two A/Professors with a background in aging research, one experienced research assistant, and one PhD student under her primary supervision. Together they have expertise in histological and biochemical techniques relevant to this proposal.Research topic description:There is no cure for ALS. This devastating disorder is considered the third most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide and has significant socio-economic impact. The rapid disease course and severity of unmet medical needs demand new effective therapies that improve the lives of people living with ALS.New data suggest that being overweight or obese confers a survival advantage in ALS patients, and this metabolic alteration directly affects leptin—a fat cell-derived hormone that regulates body weight. A recent epidemiological study has determined that leptin levels are inversely associated with ALS risk: increasing leptin concentrations were associated with longer survival of ALS patients, suggesting a possible link between leptin and the clinical features of ALS. However, there is little mechanistic insight into how leptin confers a survival advantage in patients with ALS.My group has provided the first experimental evidence suggesting that ALS may be associated with alterations in leptin signaling pathways that might result in a leptin-resistant state and that this could play a critical role in the characteristic irreversible and progressive pathological changes associated with ALS. Our hypothesis is that leptin triggers neuronal signaling pathways which protect against ALS pathology.Candidate requirements:Background in Neuroscience, preferably in neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) such as ALS, FTD, and/or AD