Postdoc - Therapeutic Gene Delivery
Postdoc - Therapeutic Gene Delivery
UMC Utrecht
Utrecht, Netherlands
Do you have experience in in vivo gene therapy and a passion for enhancing viral delivery to target cells? Join us at one of the Netherlands' most innovative centers to advance gene therapy for clinical applications.
This is what you will do
We offer a (senior) postdoc position in gene therapy with a focus on the nervous system within UMC Utrecht to tackle diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, focal epilepsy and inborn errors of metabolism. To this end, you will work in a division overarching team that strives to accelerate clinical development of gene therapies by focusing on one of the current main obstacles in this field: efficient delivery of gene products to the right organs and cell types of interest (by designing minimal promoters and enhancers). You will optimize viral delivery vectors and test their efficacy in vivo in mice. We are looking for a molecular biologist with knowledge and experience in viral vector development for in vivo delivery and efficacy. You should have the ambition and capacity to build your own research line. The project is funded by the Governmental Sector Money and aims to build an in-house gene therapy platform within UMC Utrecht to support development of gene therapy. For this team, three new members are recruited to develop genetic therapies for early phase clinical trials through the Innovation Center for Advanced Therapies (ICAT) using viral delivery (in the department of Translational Neuroscience) and non-viral delivery strategies for different gene-products (in the department of Metabolic Diseases in the Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht (RMCU)). Your role is to develop viral vector strategies, apply gene therapy in vivo (mostly in mouse models) and assess the delivery and efficacy in vivo.
This is where you will work
The position is embedded within the Department of Translational Neuroscience of UMC Utrecht. The project focusses on building an in-house viral vector production platform within UMC Utrecht to support development of gene therapy. In addition to this embedding, the postdoc will be team member of the UMCU gene-therapy delivery platform and thus closely collaborate with the other UMC Utrecht groups working on gene therapies, in particular with Innovation Center for Advanced Therapies (ICAT) and Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht (RMCU).
This is what you take with you
We are looking for someone with:
- a PhD in a relevant field (Biopharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Bioengineering, Virology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology) and affinity with applied virology including viral vector development, production and delivery;
- knowledge about viral vector design and delivery, designing minimal promoters for cell specific targeting, scRNAseq, analytical characterization, and process development with hands-on experience in viral transductions, flow cytometry, and quantitative gene expression analyses (ddPCR, qPCR, RNAseq);
- experience with delivery of gene therapy in vivo, preferably in mice;
- self-motivation, accountability, inquisitivity, and excellent organization and communication skills (written and verbal);
- the ability to present technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences;
- professional proficiency in English (written and spoken);
- the ability to think analytically, problem-solving skills, and a drive to succeed;
- the ambition to work in an innovation driven, highly collaborative and fast paced environment;
- skills to work independently as well as collaborate with other team members with interdisciplinary background and international environment and social skills for fruitful interactions;
- availability to work fulltime.
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