Scientific research technician cancer stem cells (veterinary faculty)

We are looking for a scientific research technician who will be providing technical support to our research team. You will be working closely with 2 PhD candidates and with Master's students. You will be embedded in Salvatori’s group (Regenerative Medicine Utrecht and Veterinary Faculty) and you will work closely with the group led by Prof Leendert Looijenga, Princess Máxima Centrum.

Your job
Our group focuses on malignant of stem cells. Human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells can be maintained in culture indefinitely (self-renewal) and differentiate into virtually all cell types of the human body (pluripotency). Challenges in stem cell therapies include the detection and removal of incompletely differentiated cells, addressing the genomic and epigenetic alterations in the generated cells and overcoming the tumorigenicity of these cells that could arise on transplantation.Moreover, long-term culture of PSCs can lead to (epi)genetic drift, potentially activating processes that resemble malignant transformation as an adaptive mechanism to the culture conditions.

Indeed, the malignant potential of human pluripotent stem cells is not fully understood, and its evaluation currently relies solely on the assessment of the cells’ behaviour in vivo upon their engraftment into mouse models (teratoma assay). Our group is currently working on in vitro models able to answer the malignancy question. Stem cells are also key to normal development and health from conception through adulthood. Stem cells survive much longer than ordinary cells, increasing the chance that they might accumulate genetic mutations. It might take only a few mutations for one cell to lose control over its self-renewal and growth and become the source of cancer.

Our work has the aim to develop in vitro, animal-free models for detecting malignancy of stem cells and other relevant human and veterinary tumors.

Your daily work consists of supporting the team in hands-on practices such as cell and tissue culture, biochemistry, molecular biology, and histology.

Used techniques will include:

• cell culture of stem cells, including 3D cultures and 3D culture assays, organoids;
• microRNA analysis;
• single cell analysis including bioinformatic tools;
• generation of induced pluripotent stem cell lines using the CRISPR/Cas9 system;
• histology, advanced microscopy, FACS.