Organisation/Company Fundacion MEDINA Department Screening and Target Validation Research Field Medical sciences » Health sciences Biological sciences » Biology Neurosciences » Neurobiology Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 15 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid) Country Spain Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 40 Offer Starting Date 1 Feb 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number 101312030 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description Phenotypic drug discovery in age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
The PhD position is part of the MSCA Doctoral Network PANDORA , focused on discovering Pathomechanisms and Novel Drug Optimization for AMD (Age-Related Macular Degeneration).
Oxidative stress is a major contributor to retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) dysfunction in age-related macular degeneration (AMD)



and may interact with genetic risk associated with dysregulation of the complement system, including the CFH Y402H risk variant. The PhD student will develop disease-relevant cellular models and phenotypic drug-screening approaches to identify and characterize compounds capable of protecting RPE cells from oxidative stress and complement-associated damage.
A central component of the project will be the culture and differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into retinal pigment epithelial (iPSC-RPE) cells , followed by morphological, molecular and functional characterization of the resulting RPE models. These models will be used to investigate oxidative stress-associated phenotypes and to validate compounds identified through screening.
The PhD student will establish high-throughput screening assays using oxidative stress-induced cellular models and screen a library of antioxidant and redox-modulating compounds , including a selected subset o

📌 PhD position in EU Doctoral Network "PANDORA". Discovering pathomechanisms and novel drug optimisa (Madrid)
🏢 Fundación Medina
📍 Madrid