PhD student in the Ullenhag research group - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

PhD student in the Ullenhag research group

The Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University has a broad research profile with strong research groups focused on cancer, autoimmune and genetic diseases. A fundamental idea at the department is to stimulate translational research and thereby closer interactions between medical research and health care. Research is presently conducted in the following areas: medical and clinical genetics, clinical immunology, pathology, neuro biology, neuro-oncology, vascular biology, radiation science and molecular tools. Department activities are also integrated with the units for Oncology, Clinical Genetics, Clinical Immunology, Clinical Pathology, and Hospital Physics at Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala. The department has teaching assignments in several education programmes, including Master Programmes, at the Faculty of Medicine, and at the Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology. The department has a yearly turnover of around SEK 500 million, out of which more than half is made up of external funding. The staff amounts to approximately 345 employees, out of which 100 are PhD-students, and there are in total more than 700 affiliated people. 

Project description
A PhD student position is open for a highly motivated candidate interested in cancer immunology and immunotherapy in the research group of Gustav Ullenhag, Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University. The PhD position will be part of the National ATMP (Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product) research school. The PhD project will be performed in close collaboration with the research group of Angelica Loskog. These two research groups have a shared interest in the development of cancer immunotherapies based on immunomodulatory adenoviral vectors. These adenoviral vectors usually carry immunomodulatory transgenes to induce anti-tumoral immune responses and may also have the ability of selective lysis of tumor cells, so called oncolysis. Together the research groups cover all the steps of developing an immunotherapy from scratch to bringing it into the clinic. Thus, the research is highly translational working from the bench to the bed side and back again. The groups are presently involved in several ongoing and recently finished clinical trials with the adenoviral vector LOAd703 being tested in pancreatic, ovarian, colorectal, biliary cancers as well as in malignant melanoma, in combination with various chemotherapy drugs and also checkpoint blockade.

One project for the PhD student will be to, in pre-clinical cancer models, evaluate the combination of LOAd703 with a large panel of small molecular drugs including but not limited to new targeted cancer therapies. The aim is to search for synergistic/additive effects between the virus and these drugs. Another focus will be to develop new adenoviral vectors with other transgenes and to evaluate these in in vitro and in vivo cancer models. Finally, a third project will be to develop an in vitro model to study the effect and mechanisms of adenoviral vectors in a human ex vivo model containing all factors and cells normally present in the tumor microenvironment, including infiltrating immune cells. This in vitro system will be based on malignant ascites from ovarian cancer patients and the read-out will be detailed multiplex analysis of soluble and intracellular proteins as well as RNA analysis on the single cell level.

The successful candidate will focus mainly on research but teaching and administrative work within the department can be included in the employment (maximum 20%). The time of the PhD education will be extended with the time spent on such tasks to achieve four years of full-time graduate studies. During the PhD studies the student will also attend courses of which some are mandatory courses from the Faculty of Medicine, Uppsala University and some are mandatory courses from the National ATMP research school. The National ATMP research school will also organize other teaching events.

Qualifications
The applicant must have MSc degree in a relevant area (e.g. biomedicine, molecular medicine, biopharmaceuticals, precision medicine, drug discovery etc). Documented knowledge from previous courses or projects in immunology, cancer biology and/or in analysis of large datasets using bioinformatics/biostatistics are very strong merits. Other merits are practical experience of culturing cells (cell lines, primary cells), working with immune cells and immunological methods such as flow cytometry, immunoassays (e.g. ELISA), cell viability assays etc or with molecular biology assays such as nucleic acid purification and quantitative PCR. Experience of working with class II viruses, with animal models and/or with patient samples is also favorable. A good command of written and oral English is required. Personal qualifications include ability to take own initiatives, honesty, accuracy and a good team spirit.

Application procedure
The application should contain a letter describing the candidate and her/his research experience, a CV, copies of certificates, diplomas, degrees and grades as well as names and contact details of two references. Letter(s) of recommendation as well as published papers (related to the research area) may also be included.

Information from the Faculty of medicine and Pharmacy about postgraduate level studies, admission requirements and admission decisions can be found at https://www.uu.se/en/disciplinary-domain/medicine-and-pharmacy/study/doctoral-studies

Information about the National ATMP research school can be found at https://www.stemcellcenter.lu.se/atmp-research-school

Selection of applicants will be done by the future tutor for the selected student in consultation with the postgraduate study group of the Department. The Research Training Committee at the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine will formally approve the student's admission.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

Salary
The salary will be set according to local guidelines at Uppsala University. For more information on salary please see: https://www.saco.fackorg.uu.se/doctoral-students/doctoral-student-salaries/

Starting date: November 1st 2024 or earlier upon agreement

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date: November 1st 2024 or earlier upon agreement. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position please contact: Professor Gustav Ullenhag (gustav.ullenhag@igp.uu.se) or Associate Professor Tanja Lövgren (tanja.lovgren@igp.uu.se)

Please submit your application by August 16 2024, UFV-PA 2024/1440.

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