PhD fellowship in translational metabolic human research

About the role

This PhD fellowship investigates a high‑impact mutation in the Inuit population that dramatically increases type‑2 diabetes risk. The research combines exercise physiology, metabolic phenotyping, and advanced cardiac imaging to understand how physical activity and cardiac glucose uptake influence disease development.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct Project 1: evaluate whether physical activity mitigates the mutation’s effect on skeletal‑muscle glucose uptake using metabolic phenotyping and invasive mechanistic methods.
• Conduct Project 2: assess the impact of reduced cardiac glucose uptake on heart metabolism with state‑of‑the‑art cardiac PET‑CT.
• Stay in Greenland for the ~1‑year training intervention and collaborate with supervisors in Copenhagen and Greenland.

Required profile

• Background in medicine or a related life‑science field.
• Willingness to reside in Greenland for the duration of the intervention.
• Degree equivalent to a Danish master’s (180 ECTS + 120 ECTS) in a relevant discipline.
• Eligibility for enrolment as a PhD student at the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen.

Required skills

• Metabolic phenotyping
• Invasive mechanistic methodologies
• Cardiac positron emission tomography‑CT (PET‑CT)
• Glucose uptake assays
• Exercise physiology

What we offer

• Full‑time PhD position (up to 3 years) under a fixed‑term contract.
• Access to cutting‑edge laboratory and imaging facilities.
• Supervision by leading experts in human physiology and metabolic health.
• Opportunity to contribute to high‑impact translational research on diabetes genetics.