[BBC] COMPUTATIONAL IMMUNOLOGY: SINGLE CELLS TO CLINICAL RESPONSE

[Lodewyk Wessels]

COMPUTATIONAL TUMOR IMMUNOLOGIST: SINGLE CELLS TO CLINICAL RESPONSE


The research groups of Dr Marleen Kok, Pia Kvistborg and Lodewyk Wessels, are looking for a motivated and talented Computational Biologist to join their teams at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). 


THE PROJECTS

With your expertise in computational life sciences and a very good understanding of onco-immunology, you will be involved in the following projects: 

Single T cell analyses: To study the state of T cells we are investigating tumor-specific T cell responses on the population level as well as on the single cell level using transcriptome analysis and high dimensional (30 parameter) flow cytometry. Using these data, we want to understand how T cell populations differ in their gene expression and functional state depending on their antigen specificity and their place in the immunodominance hierarchy. 

Clinical systems Immunology: Using exome, TCR sequencing data, whole transcriptome and immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence data of the tumor microenvironment as well comprehensive flow cytometry data of peripheral blood, we aim to better understand how immune checkpoint blockade - alone or in combination with chemotherapy - affects the breast tumor microenvironment. In parallel, systemic immune response characteristics will be studied. You will be a key player in a translational research team with clinicians and immunologists.
 

YOUR PROFILE

You are an ambitious, creative computational biologist, with a strong commitment to translational research. Candidates should hold a degree in bioinformatics, computer science or a related discipline, have experience in statistics and/or machine learning and be proficient in bioinformatics programming languages (e.g. R, Python). We expect candidates to be team-players with strong communication skills. General background knowledge in biology and immunology is essential, and experience with projects involving the use of genomics and immune profiling data to identifying candidate targets and biomarkers is a plus.


THE RESEARCH GROUPS

You will join the dynamic, international research groups of Pia Kvistborg, Marleen kok and Lodewyk Wessels . You will collaborate with scientists and clinicians with expertise in different disciplines. 

The translational breast cancer immunology group of Dr Marleen Kok focuses on dissecting breast cancer-immune interactions, to optimize immunotherapy for breast cancer patients using novel combination treatments in clinical trials and the discovery of predictive biomarkers. 

The T cell immunology group of Dr Pia Kvistborg focuses on understanding the state of tumor-specific T cells in cancer. We are currently investigating two aspects of the tumor-specific T cell response: 1) does the T cell state depend on which type of antigen the T cell is specific for (e.g. tumor-associated vs tumor-specific); and 2) what is the role of immunodominance in the development of the tumor-specific T cell response. 

The Computational cancer biology group of Prof dr Lodewyk Wessels is focused on quantifying and understanding treatment response in model systems and patients. To this end we develop bespoke and novel computational methods focusing on data integration and tailored to new technologies. We actively collaborate with many research groups in the NKI and strongly believe in the power of ‘team science’.


WANT MORE INFORMATION?

For further information please visit our home pages 
Kvistborg group: https://www.nki.nl/divisions/molecular-oncology-immunology/kvistborg-p/
Computational Cancer Biology: ccb.nki.nl

or contact 

Pia Kvistborg, p.kvistborg at nki.nl or
Marleen Kok, m.kok at nki.nl, or 
Lodewyk Wessels, l.wessels at nki.nl