Postdoctoral project on cancer therapy via nanomedicine, engineered cells and preclinical imaging

The work to be performed is linked to the research group "NanoHealth and Optical Imaging" at the Faculty of Medicine (KU Leuven, Belgium). This research group is part of the Translational Cell and Tissue Research Unit and is further heading the Centre for Multimodal Oncology Research (C-More). The latter houses a wide range of non-invasive imaging modalities, which the applicant will join. Our team has an excellent international reputation in nanomedicine and optical imaging. We also often work together with other research groups at the KULeuven to assist them with imaging techniques.

The field of nanomedicine is receiving increasing attention and has enormous potential for a plethora of pathological conditions, including cancer. One of the main advantages of nanomaterials is the ability to combine multiple modalities in one platform, allowing the nanomaterials to be used simultaneously for diagnostic and therapeutic applications and to use multiple therapeutic options simultaneously. The main bottlenecks hindering the full use of nanomaterials for biomedical purposes is the need for a higher level of selectivity in terms of targeted delivery of the nanomaterials to the target cells, along with the development of new, alternative therapeutic options. These topics are central to the research group. To answer these questions, multidisciplinary research is highly regarded, in which we make extensive use of non-invasive imaging (optical imaging and soon magnetic particle imaging) to investigate the biodistribution and functionality of the nanoformulations.

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Responsibilities

Main responsibilities:

• Design, development and characterization of nanoformulations with genetic cargo (mRNA, siRNA, pDNA).
• The culture, evaluation and validation of engineered cell types (CAR-NK and CAR-T).
• The applicant will work on synthesis of nanoformulations. Microfluidic systems (e.g. Ignite system from Precision Nanomedicine) are available in-house to assist.
• The applicant will work on biodistribution and targeted delivery of either the engineered cells or nanoformulations using in vitro (cell culture) and in vivo (mouse models) systems.
• The applicant will propose and design novel targets and/or methods for improving targeted delivery of their therapeutic agents
• The applicant will contribute to teaching the techniques to PhD students and follow-up on different students.

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Offer

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. dr. Stefaan Soenen, tel.: +32 16 33 00 34, mail: s.soenen@kuleuven.be.

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