Development of Patient-Derived Organoids based on Lymph Node-inspired 3D Hydrogels as Hematological Cancer Models

We are looking for a PhD student to develop artificial extracellular matrices (ECM) based on 3D hydrogels to create patient-derived organoids as hematological cancer models in close collaboration with IDIBAPS-Hospital Clinic de Barcelona.

The PhD student will join an international team and will work closely with Dr. Patricia Pérez Galán group at (IDIBAPS-Hospital Clinic de Barcelona) with the final objective of improving the current preclinical models to develop new cancer (immuno)therapies and decrease the use of laboratory animals, thus lessening the implied ethical and economic burden, as well as decreasing the translation problems associated to variations among species.

The researcher will be incorporated in a highly multidisciplinary research line, and his/her responsibility will lie in the synthesis and physicochemical characterization of novel 3D hydrogels through spectroscopic techniques, rheology, SEM, X-ray tomography, etc. Moreover, the PhD candidate will actively participate in the formation and study of tumoroids of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) at IDIBAPS-Hospital Clinic de Barcelona. In these experiments, the student will characterize the quality and suitability of the patient-derived tumoroids formed through biological techniques such as optical and fluorescence microscopy, ELISA, flow cytometry, among others; and will also use them to evaluate different (immuno)therapies, e.g. immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Keywords: #3D hydrogels, #artificial ECM, #organoids, #tumoroids, #NHL, #CLL, #immunotherapy, #cancer

Requirements
• Master degree in Chemistry, Biotechnology, Materials Science, Nanotechnology, Biomedicine or related fields with an average grade equal to or greater than 7.5 out of 10.
• Experience in synthesis, microscopy and/or cell culture will be appreciated.
• Good level of oral and written English (minimum B2).
• Highly motivated person with good capacity for team work and eager to acquire new knowledge and skills.

Conditions
Salary equivalent to a predoctoral fellowships from the Spanish Ministry; starting as soon as possible.

How to apply
Please send your CV and a short motivation letter to Dr. Judith Guasch (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). The recruitment process will be closed when a suitable candidate is found.