PhD position in CD8+ T cell immunotherapy

Job Information

Organisation/Company: Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation (Sanquin)
Research Field: Medical sciences
Physics
Researcher Profile: Recognised Researcher (R2)
First Stage Researcher (R1)
Country: Netherlands
Application Deadline: 18 Jun 2023 - 21:59 (UTC)
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Not Applicable
Hours Per Week: 36.0
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Not funded by an EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No

Offer Description

The project:
CD8+ T cells are crucial players of immunity due to their paramount role in killing malignant and virally infected cells. This is why novel immunotherapy treatments use CD8+ T cells to eradicate cancer. In one of these treatments, the T cells are genetically modified to express artificial receptors that target specific proteins on cancer cells. This CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) T cell therapy uses patients’ T cells to recognise and fight cancer and achieves up to 90% clinical responses against some blood cancers. However, CAR-T cells usually die early after administration, and their persistence depends on tumour type and production method. CAR-T cell therapy also shows very low efficacy against solid tumours due to low CAR-T cell infiltration within the tumour and the inhospitable tumour microenvironment. Long-lasting CAR-T cells that can infiltrate tumours better and persist for longer periods are crucial for successful therapy and prevention of disease relapse.

This project will investigate how to produce fitter CAR-T cells that can persist for longer and infiltrate solid tumours better. To do that we will focus on determining the role of low oxygenation (hypoxia) in T cell responses. We want to uncover how and why hypoxia can have both beneficial and detrimental effects and use the gained knowledge to improve CAR-T cell persistence in solid tumours.

Requirements

Specific Requirements

We are looking for:

an enthusiastic candidate with an Master’s degree in a relevant field (eg. immunology, molecular/cellular biology, oncology) with good communication skills and committed to undertaking and supporting high quality research
hands on experience, independent thinking, responsible and team-oriented
good organizational skills, excellent record-keeping, and efficient
proficiency in written and spoken English, high presentation skills
willing to work with experimental animals (no experience required)

The successful candidate can grow in a lively and interactive working atmosphere within a well-connected network of PhD students and scientists

Additional Information

Benefits

We offer:

diverse and challenging wide-ranging studies in social sciences, clinical and translational
research in a multi-disciplinary and enthusiastic international team;
temporary position (project duration of four years);
salary and conditions are according to CAO Sanquin;
8.33% end-of-year bonus; i.e. a thirteenth month in case of full-year employment;
partial reimbursement of travel costs;
pension plan with Pensioenfonds Zorg & Welzijn (PFZW);
at fulltime employment (36 hours) 201 hours of leave per annum.

Selection process

Does this vacancy trigger you, do you recognize yourself in this profile? Please send us via the application button your motivation letterexplaining why this specific position is interesting for you, how your skillset would fit this research), together with your curriculum vitae,both in English.

Please send your application before the 1st of July 2023. After pre-selection of applications, we follow a two-step procedure, i.e.,

an interview followed by
a presentation based on the research proposal for shortlisted candidates.

A pre-employment screening will be part of the onboarding procedure.

Additional comments

Information can be obtained from Iosifina Foskolou, i.foskolou@sanquin.nl