More than 15 million babies are born preterm every year - before 37 weeks of a typical 40 week pregnancy - and are at risk of long-term disability due to brain damage. Disturbances in the brain's growth, such as through premature birth, can result in cerebral palsy, severely impaired cognitive functions and disorders such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

To 'rebuild' the damaged areas of the brain, the use human mesenchymal stem cells (H-MSC) will be investigated. Human mesynchymal stemcells (MSC) have the unique capability to regenerate damage cells, next to regulating inflammatory responses. Together with fifteen partners from eight countries, involving different professionals such as clinicians, researchers and healthcare organisations specialised in neonatology in both Europe and Australia the application of MSC will be investigated. Towards clinical application various doses, timings and routes of administration will be tested in several animal models and in vitro culture systems.

The Radboudumc task will be to characterize the immunoregulating and regenerative potential of H-MSC from different sources including cord blood, endometrium and placenta, in in vitro culture systems. In collaboration with Maastricht UMC they will examine the in vivo regenerative potential of H-MSC in a sheep model for preterm birth.

In this 4 year PhD project, we will use state of the art techniques such as multiparameter flowcytometry, single cell epigenetic programming, multiplex secretome analysis using Flex Map3D. For this project, we are looking for an ambitious PhD candidate. This four-year project should culminate in a PhD thesis. Read more about the project.

Tasks and responsibilities

• You will be responsible for the planning, organization and the execution of the experiments.
• You will communicate the results to the supervisors, present data on international meetings, and write scientific papers.

Masters degree in (Medical) Biology, Molecular Life Sciences, Technical Medicine, Chemistry or related discipline. Experience in the field of MSC and immunology and sufficient technical skills to dissect human reproductive tissues such as placental tissue and endometrium. Skills to perform cell culture, flowcytometry and functional immune assays with NK cells and regulatory T cells. Knowledge of Kaluza software (flowcytometry) and graph path prism.

• An independent and well-structured working style, demanding high quality of your own work.
• Well-developed social skills directed to work in a team, excellent interpersonal and communicative skills.
• Strong motivation to succeed in scientific research.
• Excellent presentation and scientific writing skills.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Upon commencement of employment we require a certificate of conduct (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag, VOG) and there will be, depending on the type of job, a screening based on the provided cv. Radboud university medical center's HR Department will apply for this certificate on your behalf.

Read more about the Radboudumc employment conditions and what our International Office can do for you when moving to the Netherlands.

Radboudumc

Department of Laboratory Medicine (Laboratory for Medical Immunology)
The laboratory of Medical Immunology performs research and diagnostics for patients with immune related disorders. The main research topic is immune regulation from a translational perspective: designing new strategies for immunotherapy, and defining biomarkers to monitor immune status and treatment efficacy in patients suffering from transplant related or (auto)inflammatory disorders. We work within the successful research theme "Inflammatory Diseases" and the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS). PhD students will actively participate in the RIMLS PhD program.

Research Institutes
At the moment there are more than 1,300 PhD candidates at our medical hospital. This number includes PhD candidates on our pay roll as well as external candidates (those employed somewhere else but researching on our premises).

• Radboud Institute for Health Sciences: ± 700
• Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences: ± 400
• Donders Center for Medical Neurosciences: ± 200

Read what it is like to do a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.

Radboudumc
Radboudumc strives to be a leading developer of sustainable, innovative and affordable healthcare to improve the health and wellbeing of people and society in the Netherlands and beyond. This is the core of our mission: To have a significant impact on healthcare. To get a better picture of what this entails, check out our strategy.

Read more about what it means to work at Radboudumc and how you can do your part.