PhD candidate Immunology of vaccination response

Protecting older adults from infectious diseases is a major societal challenge and a prerequisite for healthy ageing. The age-related decline in immune competence leads to an increased risk of severe infection and lowers the efficacy of vaccination. The exact causes of the decline in immune competence, and in particular why the rate of decline is different for every individual are poorly understood. In the current project we will use innovative molecular and immunological tools to uncover the determinants predicting whether or not an older individual will be sufficiently protected from infection by vaccination. Your research will focus on understanding why some individuals, particularly older adults, do not achieve optimal protection after vaccination. To answer this question, you will generate novel functional immunology data from two unique longitudinal cohorts of vaccinated individuals whose immune systems have been thoroughly profiled. You’ll apply advanced visualization and statistical analyses in R. In addition, you will use in vitro models systems and analyse (single-cell) data from ex vivo experiments to gain deeper insight into the immuno-epigenetic processes that underlie vaccine response. You will collaborate within a multidisciplinary team of researchers from three Dutch institutes. Based on your findings, you will present at scientific conferences and write multiple articles for submission to leading academic journals.

We are looking for a candidate with a MSc in Immunology and a strong interest in T cell immunology in relation to age and infectious diseases, evidenced by previous internships on immune ageing, viral infections and vaccination. You will apply innovative methodology to understand biological ageing and immune responses in patient samples and in vitro culture models using both well implemented immunological technologies to assess T cell immunity as well as novel omics based approaches at the single cell level. Candidates with experience in novel data analysis approaches including using R will receive advantaged consideration. You will work closely with a PhD student focusing on the epigenetic part of the project.

Specific requirements:
- MSc in biomedical sciences, life sciences, or a related field with a specialty in Immunology;
- strong affinity with human cellular immunology, specifically T cell immunology;
- experience with primary cell cultures, functional immunological T-cell assays and multi-colour flow cytometry;
- experience with novel data analysis approaches using R is an advantage;
- excellent skills in English (speech and writing);
- teamplayer with excellent communication skills;
- innovative in scientific questions, presentation and publication.

- A dynamic PhD position in an enthusiastic team with dedicated researchers for the duration of 4 years.
- Your salary will be between €3.108 and €3.939 gross per month, based on a full-time appointment.
- Additionally, the UMCG offers an 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% year-end bonus. The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for Medical Centres (CAO-UMC).

More information
For more information contact prof. dr. Debbie van Baarle, group leader Immunology of Vaccinations. email: d.van.baarle@umcg.nl (please do not use e-mail address for applications), phone: 06 5513 2057.

Link
prof. dr. D. (Debbie) van Baarle

The department of Medical Microbiology & Infection prevention is responsible for patient specific laboratory diagnostics, teaching and research in the area of Virology, bacteriology, mycology and parasitology. For the research group Immunology of Vaccinations, the Department is looking for a PhD candidate in the field of Immunology of infectious diseases, specifically with expertise on adaptive immunity and vaccination and unravel novel biomarkers for vaccination response and immune signatures related to (un)healthy ageing.