Postdoctoral Fellow Viral Vector Development to Cure Heart Rhythm Disorders

Job description

We are looking for an ambitious and goal-oriented postdoctoral fellow to help us construct, validate and apply viral vectors needed for the BioPace project, which works towards clinically applicable biological pacemakers as cure for heart rhythm disorders. Are you intrigued by the concept of gene therapy to treat cardiac diseases and would you like to be part of the BioPace consortium? Then apply for this position!

Specifications

• max. 36 hours per week
• max. €4800 per month
• Leiden View on Google Maps

Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC)

Requirements

Electronic pacemakers constitute the present state-of-the-art treatment for patients with disease-causing failure of impulse formation and/or conduction in the heart. Although these devices have greatly improved the care of patients with sinus node dysfunction, acquired atrioventricular block and specific types of fascicular blocks, electronic pacemakers have a number of shortcomings and may cause serious complications. Accordingly, there is a clear demand for alternative approaches to treat the aforementioned heart rhythm disorders. It is for this reason that the Amsterdam Medical Center and Leiden University Medical Center together with the companies PacingCure and Biotronik initiated a project called “BioPace – Towards clinically applicable biological pacemakers as cure for heart rhythm disorders”. The aim of this project to provide a biological alternative for the use of electronic pacemakers consisting of viral vector-mediated transfer of genes that endow working cardiomyocytes with pacemaker properties or restore normal cardiac excitability and conduction in another way. Within this project, your main tasks are to construct, produce, purify and test adenovirus and/or adeno-associated virus vectors that transduce cardiomyocytes with higher efficiency and specificity and cause less inflammation than those currently used. These optimized vectors will subsequently be used to genetically modify cardiac muscle cells and cells of the cardiac conduction system in order to provide a biological treatment for heart rhythm disorders caused by sinoatrial or atrioventricular node dysfunction. In the performance of these tasks you will receive technical support of your team members and guidance from the consortium leaders. In addition, you will be (involved in) writing one or two papers for publication in high-impact peer-reviewed international scientific journals on the results of the BioPace project and may also contribute to the (sub)projects of other researchers within the BioPace consortium.

In short

·         You are a skilled molecular biologist with a special interest (and preferentially some expertise) in viral vector development and (in vivo) gene transfer

·         You hold a PhD degree in biology or related life sciences, medicine, pharmacy, chemistry or another relevant scientific discipline

·         You will construct, validate and apply viral vectors to convert working cardiomyocytes into pacemaker cells and/or to regenerate defective sinoatrial and/or atrioventricular node

Conditions of employment

Fixed-term contract: 2,5 years.

You will be employed on the basis of 36 hours per week. Appointment is for 2,5 years. Your salary is based on your education and experience and is a maximum of  € 4,800  gross per month for a full time position (scale 10 in the Collective Labour Agreement for University Hospitals).

Employer

At the Leiden University Medical Center, we continuously work on improving patient care. We invest in groundbreaking, international research and work with the latest equipment. Together with our team of doctors, medical specialists, teachers, academic researchers and supporting staff, we aim for the best quality in health care, education and international research. And we need you to realize our goals!

Department
Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology

The research of the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology focuses on the understanding and treatment of heart damage and rhythm disorders for which all necessary facilities, equipment, skills and knowledge are available, including the support of dedicated technical personnel. The laboratory is internationally recognized for its research on optogenetics, cell line development (using a unique conditional cell immortalization approach dubbed immortogenetics) and application and the genetic modification of cardiomyocytes. The Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology houses a highly motivated and committed multidisciplinary team of researchers from different countries with backgrounds in biology, medicine, electronics, physics and mathematics. As part of the Heart Lung Center Leiden, the team members maintain close contacts with clinicians.

Additional information

Your primary workplace will be the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology of the Department of Cardiology (see our website here ). Occasionally, you might also work elsewhere (especially at the Amsterdam Medical Center or at one of the laboratory animal centres used for the in vivo studies).

Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated.

Contact details

Antoine A.F. de Vries, Principal Investigator, Department of Cardiology, telephone: +31 (0)71 526 58 59, email: [email protected]

Getting better by breaking new ground

At the LUMC we continuously work on improving patient care. We invest in groundbreaking, international research and work with the latest equipment. Together with our team of doctors, medical specialists, teachers, academic researchers and supporting staff, we aim for the best quality in health care, education and international research.

And we need you to realize our goals!

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Application procedure

Please provide a full application in English including a CV and a one-page personal motivation letter. References may be requested. Selected candidates will be asked to give a presentation and/or to write a brief project proposal and will be given the opportunity to have personal chats with members of both research teams.