PhD Development of a therapy for genetic cardiomyopathies

Standard treatment for heart failure fails to halt disease progression in patients who suffer from a mutation in the RBM20 gene (2000 each in the Netherlands). Ironically, the cardiomyopathies caused by these mutations are characterized by an aggressive clinical course and patients die young due to arrhythmias or need a heart transplant due to severe heart failure despite modern evidence-based therapies. Therefore, there is an urgent medical need to develop novel treatment options for these patients. The increasingly unraveled molecular basis of the disease is our lead, which allow us to directly target the cause of the disease and its molecular effectors leading to cardiac dysfunction.

We are looking for a PhD-student with a background in cellular or molecular biology who wants to join the group of Eva van Rooij at the Hubrecht Institute to investigate several approaches to target the molecular cause of these genetic cardiomyopathies.

About your role
We will use hiPSC derived cardiomyocytes with a genetic mutation in the RBM20 gene to investigate whether our molecular approaches indeed relieve the characteristics of the disease. We will molecularly interfere with the mutant RBM20 mRNA and use numerous methods to molecularly and functionally phenotype the cardiomyocytes.

As a PhD-student you will conduct independent and original scientific research which involves a wide range of (molecular) techniques. Furthermore, you will report on this research in (inter)national publications and presentations at scientific conferences and you are expected to finalize your trajectory at the end of the 4th year by a PhD dissertation.

We are looking for an enthousiastic, ambitious and motivated PhD-candidate with a strong background in molecular & cell biology.

The ideal candidate has:

• Master in Biomedical Sciences or a related field (minimal requirement)
• Research experience in molecular and/or cell biology (experience with iPSCs will be regarded as strong points)
• Article 9 certificate on animal experimentation will be regarded as a pre
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• The ability to work efficiently both independently and in a team
• Is precise and has an eye for details

You will be applied by Amsterdam Medical Research and fulltime working at the Hubrecht Institute via a secondment agreement.

At the Hubrecht Institute you will be part of a vibrant, international, motivated and collaborative team having access to the highly interactive and cross-disciplinary research environment of the Hubrecht Institure with great collaborative opportunities with the Department of Cardiology at the UMC Utrecht.

Furthermore, you will be part of a collaborative project with the Experimental Cardiology of the Amsterdam UMC