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Computational biology position - Genomics of breast cancer and prostate cancer

Project information:

Breast cancer and prostate cancer are the most-commonly diagnosed tumor types, globally. Both tumor types are considered hormone-dependent cancers, and hormonal therapy represents the mainstay therapeutic option for most of these patients. However, resistance to treatment is common, and an urgent clinical need exists to identify novel therapeutic options and to develop new biomarkers for therapy response prediction. Hormone receptors are ligand-dependent transcription factors that associate with enhancer elements to regulate gene expression programs in 3D genomic space.

The project is aimed to identify biomarkers for hormonal treatment response in breast cancer and prostate cancer, and involves multi-dimensional genomic data integration (RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, Hi-C, GRO-seq etc). Data from cell lines as well tumor tissue from multiple clinical trials will be used, geared to bring the scientific results swiftly and efficiently to the patient.

The project will employ the complementary expertise and tools from the groups of Wilbert Zwart, specialized in chromatin genomics of breast and prostate cancer and the Computational Cancer Biology group lead by Lodewyk Wessels at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam. The position is will be shared between these groups.

We are seeking highly motivated Postdoc or PhD candidates with a degree in bioinformatics, computer science, mathematics or physics and with a strong cancer biology interest. Preferably applicants should have a strong documented experience in analyzing high-throughput genomics data. Fluency in spoken and written English is a strong requirement.

Postdocs will be employed for a period of 4 years. The gross salary per month will be from € 3490 to € 3917 according to the FWG – level 55, depending on previous experience. PhD students will be employed for a period of 4 years. The gross salary per month will be from € 2665 to € 3282 according to the PhD-scales depending on previous experience. The terms of employment will be in accordance with the CAO Ziekenhuizen (Collective Labour Agreement for Hospitals).