The NKI, located in Amsterdam, is the only comprehensive cancer center in The Netherlands. It is a well-organized and dynamic institute accommodating over 50 research groups and many advanced core facilities. It is an internationally renowned center dedicated to fundamental, translational and clinical cancer research.

The Peeper lab develops and uses function-based genomic approaches to unravel mechanistic principles of cancer progression and to identify novel therapeutic targets for achieving more durable clinical responses for cancer patients.

For this project, we have put together a multidisciplinary team comprising molecular biologists, immunologists, bioinformaticians, protein chemists and medical oncologists. The aim is to improve clinical responses to immunotherapy (IT). The clinical outcome of late-stage melanoma and lung cancer patients has improved thanks to targeted therapy and T cell checkpoint modulation. However, still many patients fail to (durably) benefit mainly because of primary, adaptive, and acquired therapy resistance.

We will define the signaling pathways through which tumor cells are eliminated by, or instead cause resistance to, (IT-activated) T cell-mediated killing, aiming to identify therapeutically tractable vulnerabilities to prevent therapy resistance. This will be done both in tumor:T cell cultures and in humanized mouse models, as well as by analysis of samples from IT-treated patients. Prospective predictive biomarkers and therapeutic targets will be validated using functional genomics and therapeutic compounds in mouse models, and their mechanisms of actions will be investigated.

We seek an ambitious postdoc with experience in molecular biology and/or immunology, as well as a desire to translate the laboratory findings to the clinic.

You will be employed for a period of 3 years. The gross salary per month is € 3.421,- to € 3.840,- and depends on previous experience (postdoc). You will have the opportunity to follow high-quality courses offered by the NKI postdoc career development program. The terms of employment will be in accordance with the CAO Hospitals.