Research Technician | “Development of next generation CAR T cells”

Our group aims to attain broader relevance of CAR T cell therapy through improvement of tumor targeting and tumor elimination, overcoming resistance, minimization of off-tumor toxicity and expansion of the availability across histocompatibility bariers. Specifically, we use synthetic immunology to develop novel engineering strategies, we apply multi-targeting of CAR T cells and investigate CAR T and drug combinations to improve the efficacy and specificity of CAR T cell therapy. Our scientific hypothesis are tested in in vitro and in vivo xenograft models. Our ultimate goal is to develop CAR T cell therapies that can be translated in clinical trials and improve the therapeutic outcomes of patients with hematologic but also solid tumors.

About your role

• You will work in a dedicated team of postdocs, PhD students and technicians and you will be supervised by an expert in the field of CAR T cell therapy;
• You will be mainly working in a BSL-II tissue culture laboratory and your main activities will be: production of viral vectors, generation of CAR T cells, evaluation of CAR T cell function in in vitro assays and in vivo cancer models;
• You will be performing molecular cloning and generating new CAR constructs;
• You will be performing multi-color flow cytometry.

The temporary employment starts with a contract of 1 year and will be for a period up to 3 years.

Salary Scale 7M: € 2.751 tot € 3.896 when employed full-time (depending on qualifications and experience).

In addition we offer:

• An 8.3% end-of-year bonus and 8% holiday pay.
• The opportunity to follow further training and development.
• Pension is accrued at the ABP. VUmc contributes a large part of the premium (70%).
• In addition to excellent accessibility by public transport, we reimburse 75% of your OV travel costs (commuting costs).
• Scientific advice from internationally recognised experts.
• Access to a broad network of innovative enterprises and organisations.

For more information about our employment conditions, please visit our website

The department of Hematology of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers-Location VUmc is one of the biggest Hematological Centers in the Netherlands. As part of the Cancer center Amsterdam (CCA), one of the five Amsterdam UMC research Institutes, the department is known for its high quality translational research aiming at the improvement of survival chances for patients with leukemia and multiple myeloma. You will be working in a collaborative environment consisting of hematologists, experienced scientific staff, medical and non-medical researchers in training and experienced technicians. The immunotherapy program of the department aims to develop and translate novel immunotherapeutic strategies for multiple myeloma (MM) and other hematological malignancies such as AML, MDS and lymphoma. Among the strategies investigated is the adoptive cell therapy with CAR T cells and pursue to translate our findings into clinical applications.