PhD-student SARS-CoV-2 T-cell immunity (RIVM)

T cells are essential players in the protection against respiratory viral infections. COVID-19 vaccination elicits, besides neutralizing antibody responses, also specific memory T-cell populations against SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, these cells are thought to be responsible for protection against developing severe COVID-19 and seem less susceptible for escape mutations than antibody responses. In this project, we will gain more insight on what defines an optimal T-cell response in clinical COVID-19 vaccination cohorts using various (single cell) multi-omics approaches.

We are looking for an enthusiastic PhD candidate with a strong interest in cellular immunology in the context of infectious diseases and affinity with high-dimensional data analysis. In your PhD track you will utilize methodology to identify and characterize SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cells and relate findings to the broader immune profile of study-participants. Techniques will include cell sorting (MACS, FACS), cell culturing, immunological assays to measure cytokine secretion , and several (single-cell) omics approaches such as high-dimensional flow cytometry (functional/phenotyping), RNA sequencing (transcriptomics), ATAC sequencing (epigenomics) and data analysis in R. You will present the results of your research at (inter)national conferences and meetings. In parallel, you will follow a curriculum in a PhD graduate school. Finally, you will write and defend a dissertation comprising three to five scientific manuscripts to be published in international peer-reviewed journals.