Research Analist | Cancer immunology

at  Amsterdam UMC

ABOUT THE PROJECT

One in two persons in the Netherlands will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. Immunotherapy is a promising addition to classical cancer treatments like surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Most immunotherapeutic approaches focus on engaging T cells for tumor cell killing. The van Egmond lab, however, identified neutrophils as additional cytotoxic effector cells. This project aims to recruit neutrophils in addition to T cells as effector cells to improve immunotherapy of cancer. Novel molecules will be developed with antibody engineering, and will be tested in vitro, and in vivo. To reduce animal experiments novel human ex vivo models will be developed. A tumor fragmentation platform and a human ex vivo liver metastases perfusion model will be developed, and you will test if the model can serve as a future platform for drug candidate screens with the ultimate goal to improve outcome of cancer patients. Thus, this translational project encompasses development of novel antibody-based immunotherapy, investigating activation of immune effector cells in vitro and in vivo, and testing of new molecules in complex human patient-derived ex vivo models.

PROFILE

We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic research technician with:

• A Bachelor of Applied Sciences (HLO) degree or equivalent, with affinity for immunology;
• Experience with cellular responses and functional assays;
• Experience with (tumor) model establishment and/or animals (article 13f2) is a pre;
• You have a flexible, pro-active team spirit, but you can also work independently;
• You have good communications skills in English, both written and verbal.

As a research technician on this project you will:

• Perform neutrophil and T cell functional assays;
• Assist with determining in vivo efficacy of novel antibody-based drugs;
• Develop and validate new ex vivo human tumor models;
• Work closely with our team and collaborators on this project.