PhD Opportunity – visualizing extracellular vesicle secretion from brain cancer cells

We are looking for an ambitious PhD student for our project on visualizing cancer EV secretion at the single cell level with innovative fluorescent reporters and decipher the molecular mechanisms of EV production and cargo selection.

About the project

Current systemic cancer therapies can be damaging to healthy cells and organs. Novel immunotherapies or targeted therapies may initiate uncontrollable immune responses or fall short in curing all patients. Exploration of unique cancer-specific traits may reveal novel vulnerabilities that could lead to more potent and less toxic cancer therapeutics. Glioma, is an extremely aggressive brain cancer with notably poor prognosis and in urgent need of improved treatment strategies.

A better understanding of glioma biology should provide new opportunities for improving patient care. Recent studies suggest a role for virus-modified nanoparticles (extracellular vesicles/exosomes) in the interaction between brain tumor cells and their surrounding tissue promoting tumor growth.

About your role

In this project we will employ advanced microscopy techniques and genetic screens to visualize cancer EV secretion at the single cell level with innovative fluorescent reporters and decipher the molecular mechanisms of EV production and cargo selection. You will face several key challenges: 1) what drives cancer EV production and secretion 2) what genes are involved 3) is there a key role for a viral oncoprotein in brain cancer EV production and 4) can we interfere with this process?

Your profile

You are a highly curious and ambitious scientist with a relevant master degree. You are intrigued by the cell biology of cancer, knowledgable of CRISPR-CAS9 gene-editing and ideally experienced with confocal and live-imaging techniques.

In addition you are:

• Intrinsically motivated for biological sciences, pro-active and thrive in a multidisciplenary teams;
• Fluent in English (written and verbal).

Our sacrifice

• A contract for the duration of the project.
• Salary scale OIO: € 2.789 tot € 3.536 gross at full time employment (depending on qualifications and experience);
• Additional benefits including an 8.3% end-of-year bonus and 8% holiday pay;
• Pension is accrued at the ABP. VUmc contributes a large part of the premium (70%);
• In addition to excellent accessibility by public transport, we reimburse 75% of your OV travel costs (commuting costs);
• For more information about our fringe benefits, please visit: employment conditions.