Rapid diagnosis of infection is vital to save patients lives and optimize their treatment. State of the art routine diagnosis of bacterial infections still requires culture of the causative micro-organisms to allow their identification. This takes time, precious time. In order to drastically speed up diagnosis by eliminating the need for culture, the SiBaGem project (Single Bacterial Genomics and MALDI-TOF) is developing a novel diagnostic platform called DigiTOF® (www.biosparq.nl ). This system will identify single microbial cells directly in clinical samples, without the need for culture. This allows a quantitative diagnosis of single or multiple species in the sample and reduces time to diagnosis from days to minutes. 

The Postdoctoral Scientist will work in a highly stimulating multidisciplinary project, developing forefront diagnostic as well as scientific instrumentation, and data on its application. The research tasks will comprise:

• establishing a classifier database of single cell MALDI-TOF MS spectra of relevant collections of bacteria and yeasts for prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) representing high cost per case infections, and urinary tract infections (UTIs), representing high frequency infections, 
• design protocols for UTI and PJI diagnosis with the DigiTOF beta prototype and demonstrate their functionality in relevant clinical settings,
• setting up international collaborations to verify applicability of the DigiTOF in an international multicenter context.

The Postdoctoral Scientist will work in close collaboration with the Research Technician and other team members, and will be in direct contact with the developers of the DigiTOF at BiosparQ in Leiden, The Netherlands. The Postdoctoral Scientist will report to the project leader Dr. Zaat. The Postdoctoral Scientist will also be the central contact point in the project and will be responsible for internal and external reporting.  

• PhD in Biomedical Sciences, Microbiology, Biochemistry or a related field;
• Specific experience in mass spectrometry and/or rapid (molecular) diagnosis of bacterial infection is preferred;
• Ability to work and communicate well within a multidisciplinary team;
• Efficient organizer: collaboration with national and international research partners;
• Able to complete project objectives and meet deadlines;
• Independent, structured and working accurately;
• Experience in grant writing is preferred.

Working at the AMC means working in an inspiring and professional environment in which developing one’s talents and skills is encouraged.

We offer a salary in line with the Collective Labor Agreement for University Medical Centers in the Netherlands (CAO UMC) with a range of added fringe benefits, such as an annual bonus of 8.3%, holiday allowance, collective discounted rates for a number of insurances, public transport allowance, and free parking.

A Postdoctoral Scientist is placed in scale 10, with a fulltime gross salary that ranges from €3202,- to €4216,- (based on qualifications and experience).

You will be employed by AMC Medical Research BV.

The Department of Medical Microbiology employs over 160 people in 9 diagnostic and research Sections: the Laboratories of Clinical Bacteriology, Clinical Virology, Clinical Parasitology, Experimental Bacteriology and Experimental Virology (LEV) and of Applied Evolutionary Biology, and the sections of Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention, the Medical Microbiology Molecular Diagnostics Unit (MDU) and the Dutch Reference Laboratories for Bacterial Meningitis and for Leptospiroses.

The present project is embedded in the research of the Sections of Experimental Bacteriology and Clinical Bacteriology and is part of the research line “Biomaterial-associated infection and novel antimicrobial strategies” of Dr. S.A.J. Zaat and of the research on antimicrobial resistance and whole genome sequencing of Prof. Dr. C. Schultsz and Dr. C.E. Visser. Prosthetic joint infections will be studied as example of high morbidity, high cost, but low frequency infections, and urinary tract infection as an example of high frequency, low cost infection. The research team combines extensive expertise in fundamental and translational medical and clinical microbiology, and has achieved major breakthroughs in this area in recent years.