PhD Student

Job description:

The Bridge Institute for Experimental Cancer Therapy and the DKTK Division of Translational Oncology for Solid Tumors are multidisciplinary translational research groups. We are interested in translational research in solid tumors and liquid biopsies is one of our major research focus. We are interested in developing liquid biopsy tools that can be used clinically for early detection of tumor diseases, monitoring treatment response and patient stratification. We are using plasma-derived analysis such as circulating cell-free DNA, to analyze DNA mutation as well as DNA methylation on the one hand, and cell-free RNA analyses on the other hand. To analyze these liquid biopsy compartments, we apply next generation sequencing and droplet digital PCR. We equally use in vitro and in vivo models to validate our finding to establish functional relevance and ease clinical translation.

Within the framework of a recently funded project, we are interested in identifying and validating biomarkers for early response prediction in solid tumors using state-of-the-art technologies. The focus is on patients receiving targeted therapies as well as those receiving immunotherapy where molecular tissue profiling data is available. Within this project, blood samples will be collected before and during treatment for plasma preparation and isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Plasma samples will later be used for isolation of cell-free DNA, which will subsequently be analyzed by next generation sequencing and droplet digital PCR.

We are looking for a highly motivated and technically skilled PhD student to join our team and perform cutting-edge multidisciplinary research, while learning different aspects of translational research. The candidate will be interacting very closely with treating doctors as well as the clinical documentation system of the hospital for curation of patient data. We offer a highly multicultural and interdisciplinary research environment with interesting career development opportunities.