ERC-funded postdoctoral position on engineering gut bacteria for live bioth

at  VIB

JOB DESCRIPTION

Are you interested in harnessing the biosynthetic potential of beneficial, human-associated bacteria? Join our multidisciplinary and international team to perform innovative research aimed at developing commensal Clostridium bacteria into live biotherapeutic agents.
We are looking for a motivated postdoctoral scientist to engineer Clostridium strains for local, in vivo disease detection and drug delivery in the framework of an ERC Starting grant. You will leverage state-of-the-art synthetic biology tools and use advanced metabolic and biosynthetic engineering approaches to efficiently equip the Clostridium bacteria with these abilities while enhancing their safety and biocontainment.

WHO WE ARE

The lab of Joleen Masschelein at the VIB-KU Leuven Center of Microbiology is home to a multidisciplinary team of approximately 20 researchers, dedicated to studying and engineering micro-organisms and their secondary metabolites for therapeutic applications. Research in the Masschelein lab spans the exciting interface between chemistry & biology and centers around discovering new bioactive natural products from bacteria, elucidating unusual pathways for natural product biosynthesis, unravelling the ecological role and mode of action of natural products, and engineering host-associated bacteria for in vivo therapeutic applications. To accomplish this, we combine microbiology, molecular genetics, genomics, enzymology, bioinformatics, synthetic biology, analytical chemistry and chemical synthesis. For more information on our lab and publications, please visit https://masscheleinlab.sites.vib.be.
Our lab hosts state-of-the-art synthetic biology and analytical chemistry facilities for (i) the growth and genetic manipulation of aerobic and anaerobic micro-organisms; (ii) protein purification and in vitro biochemical assays; and (iii) the biosynthesis, detection, isolation and structural characterization of microbial metabolites.
The lab is part of the VIB Life Sciences Institute and is located at KU Leuven, one of the oldest and most prominent universities in Europe, consistently ranked within the top 50 universities Worldwide. The lab is situated in the beautiful park of the 15th-century Arenberg castle in Heverlee, near the city center of Leuven. Leuven is located 10 miles from Brussels, with frequent direct train connections to Brussels airport. It is a picturesque, historic university city with a young and vibrant atmosphere and a strong international allure.

Please refer the Job description for details