PhD candidate (m/w/d), E13/65 %

We are looking for a PhD candidate (m/w/d) who wants to employ cutting-edge single-cell fate mapping to decipher how CD4 T cells adapt to chronic infection and answer, which subset of CD4 T cells retains a stem cell-like potential for self-renewal and host protection. Our long-term goal is to employ these insights for the design of optimized vaccination strategies and immunotherapeutic approaches.

“ERC-Starting-Grant: Studying the regulation of lymphocyte stemness by fate mapping of single T and NK cells (SCIMAP)”

Our profile

Our mission is to better understand how immunological memory of T and NK cells develops in response to infection or vaccination. To answer this question, we have developed a unique set of approaches that allow us to study adaptive immune responses starting out from single naïve precursors both in vivo and in vitro. Within this ERC-Starting-Grant project, we will combine single-cell fate mapping and single-cell RNA sequencing with genetic fate-reporting, mRNA barcoding and RNA velocity analyses. Thereby, we will generate a detailed map of the early fate decisions that CD4 and CD8 T cells undergo during chronic viral infection, decipher how these fate decisions lead towards distinct short- and long-lived subsets and pinpoint, which of these subsets retain the stemness to provide lasting host protection.


Your profile

  • PhD degree in Immunology, Genetics, Cell Biology, Biology or Biochemistry with outstanding results
  • In-depths experience in molecular biology and immunological assays/techniques
  • Hands-on experience in single cell RNA sequencing and multicolor flow cytometry
  • Experience with bioinformatics analysis tools (R/python) is a plus
  • Enthusiasm for basic science, specifically for lineage specification and immunological memory
  • Excellent team spirit, presentation, scientific writing and communication skills


Your tasks

  • Perform single-cell RNA sequencing and RNA velocity to identify a putative stem cell-like CD4 T cell subset
  • Test the stemness of this subset via repetitive single-cell adoptive transfer and re-infection cycles
  • Trace immune responses emerging from single CD4 T cells in vivo via single-cell RNA sequencing combined with single-cell mRNA barcoding
  • Trace differentiation and de-differentiation processes by single-cell fate mapping combined with ex-reporter construct
  • Identify target molecules active at key developmental bifurcations and test their function via induced overexpression in vivo
  • Supervision of graduate students


We offer

  • Ambitious and innovation-oriented team committed to dissecting and understanding the development of T and NK cell memory/stemness for future translational approaches
  • Close collaborations with several laboratories at TUM and external partners
  • Well-equipped laboratory in our institute close to Munich city center
  • Full time position as scientist / PostDoc (m/w/d) starting as soon as possible, currently secured for 48 months (salary according to TV-L)


Application

Are you excited about investigating CD4 T cell immune responses against chronic infection at an unprecedented resolution and hunt for a stem cell-like subset? Great! We are looking forward to your email application until July 30th 2021 (CV, letter of motivation and references in one document). TUM seeks to increase the portion of female employees. Qualified females are, therefore, explicitly encouraged to apply. Severely disabled persons with essentially comparable qualifications will be preferentially hired. Further questions? We are happy to receive your email or phone call!

Contact: Dr. Veit Buchholz (TUM Junior Fellow) / +89 4140 4156 / veit.buchholz@tum.de /

https://www.professoren.tum.de/tum-junior-fellows/buchholz-veit