PhD Studies with PACE – Protein and Cell Engineering Laboratory

“Tailored stem cell models to study and eventually cure degenerative diseases will be unlocked with engineered and enhanced biomolecules.”

The PACE lab led by Ralf Jauch plays with the molecular switches that turn one cell into another cell. If we can understand how cells maintain and change their identity well enough, we will be able to reliably program cell states in a dish so they can be used for biomedical research and clinical applications. One of our aims is to make ‘old stem cells’ that help us to study aging and related diseases. Analogously we aim to decouple cell fate transitions from rejuvenation as a safe way to repair organs and reverse aging. Our vision is that we can generate such cells with new methods to program the state and identity of cells – for example empowered by engineered proteins and RNAs, comprehensive factor libraries and the directed evolution in mammalian cells.

Themes and projects in the laboratory

We seek to recruit driven innovators to take part in this journey as interns, exchange students or graduated students supported by attractive PhD stipends of up to US$54,760 per year.

About lab and PI:

http://www.sbms.hku.hk/staff/ralf-jauch

Publications:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=ralf+jauch

About the fellowship

Research Postgraduate Studies - Scholarships and Financial Support

HKU Presidential PhD Scholar Programme

Please get in touch: ralf@hku.hk