Mitochondrial Dynamics in cancer during hypoxia Organisation / Company University of Granada Department Cell Biology Laboratory Mitochondrial Dynamics in cancer during hypoxia Is the Hosting related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No MSCA

- PF: Joint application at the University of Granada.

Department of Cell Biology.

Professor José Manuel Rodríguez Vargas, from the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidatesinterested inapplying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF)in 2026 at this University.

Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2026 call, please consult this link ).

Brief description of the institution: The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With more than 57,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and almost 7,000 members of staff, the UGR offers 97 undergraduate degrees, 157 master’s degrees (7 of which are double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers.

Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflectsthe institution’s commitment to continuously improve its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D; projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking

- Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

The 2025 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 301-400th position in the world and as the 3-8 highest ranked University in Spain, reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research.

From the perspective of specialist areas in the ARWU rankings, the UGR is outstanding in Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence and Dentistry & Oral Sciences (ranked between 51th-75th position), Computer Science & Engineering, Education and Hospitality & Tourism Management (between 76-100th position), and in the areas of Food Science & Technology and Business Administration (between 101-150th position).

A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in the areas of Earth Sciences, Law, Management, Nursing, Psychology and Statistics, in which the UGR is positioned in the 151-200th position.
Internationally,



the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union.

For the duration of the prevoius Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a totalof 124 projects with a total funding of more than €30 million. For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained 136 projects, so far, with a total funding of more than €38 million.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group: Currently, the Department of Cell Biology consists of a team of 21 members.

The academic staff includes three Full Professors and nine Associate Professors, two Permanent Labor Professors, one Assistant Professor, two Ramón y Cajal researchers, and two postdoctoral researchers.
Regarding the host institution, the University of Granada offers a highly stimulating environment for doctoral research, with an extensive program of internal and external seminars.

Consequently, beyond the resources and research projects available to them, PhD students have regular access to specialized courses and seminars relevant to their research and are frequently encouraged to present their work to an international scientific audience.

The research group BIO-178: Cellular Neurobiology primarily investigates the biology of microglial cells, which can be considered the resident macrophage population of the Central Nervous System (CNS).

In addition, the group hosts several research lines strongly supported by competitive funding programs such as the Ramón y Cajal Program, the EMERGIA Program of the Andalusian Regional Government, and national grants from the “Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento” program, particularly in emerging research areas related to tumor progression.

Specifically, my research (funded by Ramón y Cajal Program and the project referenced as “PID2023-152516OA-I00”), line focuses on the study of the mechanisms by which tumor cells adapt to hypoxic conditions and on how mitochondria emerge as a crucial organelle in this process.

Our work aims to understand the role of mitochondrial function in tumor adaptation to hypoxia, its contribution to tumor progression, and its potential characterization as a novel therapeutic target, in uveal melanoma, grade IV glioblastoma, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).





These tumor types share a remarkable capacity to adapt to hypoxic environments through processes such as metabolic reprogramming and aberrant angiogenesis.
My research activity began with the completion of my Doctoral Thesis at the Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine López-Neyra IPBLN-CSIC

- University of Granada in 2013.

In this institution, I joined Dr.

Francisco Javier Oliver Pozo’s laboratory, studing the implications of PARP-1 and Poly ADP-ribosylation in starvation-induced autophagy in cancer.
After completing my PhD in 2015, I obtained an EMBO Short-term Fellowship and then a postdoc fellow from Ramón Areces Foundation to carry out 2,5 years’ postdoctoral stay in the laboratory of Dr.
Francoise Dantzer at the École Supérieure of Biotechnologie of Strasbourg (UMR7242, ESBS-UNISTRA, France).
During these two years, my work focused on the role of PARP-3 in tumor progression and EMT processes in response to oxidative stress.
In 2017 I continued my investigation on PARP-3 implications in hypoxia ischemia in the adult brain obtained a postdoctoral contract from the University of Strasbourg (USIAS PROGRAM).
In 2020 I returned to Spain first thanks to a Juan de la Cierva Incorporación contract; in that period, I focused my research on the implication of lipid metabolism during oxidative DNA damage in GBM.
In 2022 I obtained a contract to recruit young talent from the University of Granada to aim my independent research project on the implications of mitochondria during hypoxia in melanoma and GBM at the Faculty of Sciences.
Finally, in 2023, I have been granted with a Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC2022-037617-I) to develop my independent research at the University of Granada (Department of Cell Biology).

Our discoveries (actually funded by PROYECTO DE GENERACIÓN DE CONOCIMIENTO, PID2023-152516OA-I00, including a FPI researcher) will open novel future therapeutic expectations of HIF factors (main hypoxia regulators) on hypoxia-dependent mitochondria response.

The main objective of my research is to decipher the role that HIF1α plays in the processes of mitochondrial dynamics and function of tumor cells during hypoxia.

Our discoveries will allow us to describe new mitochondrial therapeutic targets in tumors highly adaptable to the absence of oxygen, such as uveal melanoma or GBM, as well as to understand the molecular basis by which the ADP-ribosylation process and the transcriptional activity of HIFs modulate the progress of mitochondrial syndromes such as cancer, Leigh Syndrome and Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy; for which there are no effective treatment.

Research Area:

- Life Sciences (LIFE) For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor José Manuel Rodríguez Vargas ( [email protected] ): #J-18808-Ljbffr

📌 MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Cell Biology.
🏢 International Research Projects Office
📍 Granada