The group of Dr. Jop Kind currently has a vacancy for a Postdoc to work on: Deep multiplexed epigenetic profiling of cell-free nucleosomes for early cancer diagnostics in liquid biopsies

Description of the project:
Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in blood originates from dying cells of natural or pathological sources (e.g. tumors). cfDNA thus holds rich information on a person’s physiological state.  Cancer diagnostics based on cfDNA in liquid biopsies have proven great promise in guiding treatment and screening for recurrent disease. Current diagnostic strategies are based on the analyses of DNA mutations, fragment length or DNA methylation status. However valuable, these strategies do not provide a universal approach for cancer identification, are costly and labor intensive, and generally fall short in detecting cancer at early tumorigenic stages.

Recently, cfDNA in blood was found to be still wrapped around nucleosomes that had retained their cell-of-origin epigenetic signatures. For this research project, we plan to leverage our expertise in single-cell genomics to develop a novel cancer diagnostic-strategy based on these cfDNA-derived epigenetic signatures. The method that we plan to implement is currently under development in the lab and has been optimized for the detection of multiplexed epigenetic signatures from very low input material. In collaboration with the Medema group (AMC), this method will then be evaluated in discriminating various subtypes of colon cancer. The ultimate aim of this project is to establish an easy assay for the highly sensitive early detection of diverse cancer types based on a few drops of blood.

More information on our research
https://www.hubrecht.eu/research-groups/kind-group/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31118510/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31209373/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30901978/

We are looking for highly motivated and goal-oriented postdoctoral candidates with mastery of molecular biology, biochemistry and/or genomics, fluent in English and willing to join a highly innovative, interdisciplinary and collaborative scientific project. 

Duration:
Initially one year with a potential extension with another 2 years.

Salary:
According to “CAO-Nederlandse Universiteiten” (CAO-NU), depending on experience scale 10 excluding 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% year-end bonus. We offer an extensive package of fringe benefits.

Hubrecht Institute

The Hubrecht Institute is a research institute focusing on developmental and stem cell biology. It encompasses 24 research groups that perform fundamental and multidisciplinary research, both in healthy systems and disease models. The Hubrecht Institute is a research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)., located on the Utrecht Science Park ‘De Uithof’. Since 2008, the institute has been affiliated with the University Medical Center Utrecht, advancing the translation of research into clinical practice. The Hubrecht Institute has a partnership with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).