PhD student position in Prostate Cancer Research (f/m/d)

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to be jointly hosted by the team of Assoc. Prof. Brigitte Hantusch and Prof. Lukas Kenner at the Department of Pathology (Medical University of Vienna) and at the Department of Experimental Animal Pathology (Vetmeduni Vienna). The PhD project will be part of a project for “Role of thyroid hormones and thyroid hormone receptor β in prostate cancer” funded by the “FWF”: https://www.fwf.ac.at/forschungsradar/10.55776/P37116

The overarching goal of this project is to elucidate the role of the thyroid hormone signaling pathway for prognosis and therapy response of PCa. We could show that thyroid hormones stimulate PCa growth and that TRβ can regulate PCa-specific genes in conjunction with the androgen receptor (AR). Interfering with this yet unnoted T3/TRβ/AR axis might represent a potential approach for novel therapies in androgen-refractory PCa. We aim to elucidate the TRβ/AR signaling interaction with and without androgen and/or T3 stimulation in vitro and in xenografted PCa mouse models in vivo. The student will measure the transcriptional activity of TRβ and AR complex by promotor gene activity, nuclear translocation and gene expression studies. He/she will further investigate the effects of anti-thyroid agents, validate the results in human xenograft models for PCa and correlate them with histo-pathological and molecular findings in PCa patients to identify those that might benefit from therapeutic targeting of thyroid hormone signaling.

- Master’s degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Bioanalytical Sciences or a related field.

- Experience in cell biology including experience in cell culturing, cell transfections and assays, gene knock down and knock out, and animal experiments with tumor cell xenografted mice.

- Strong background in molecular biology methods such as DNA and RNA isolation, qRT-PCR, cloning, luciferase reporter assays, Western blotting, protein chemistry (affinity purification), Co-IP, ChIP, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing.

- Background in pre-clinical research (e.g. experiments with cells and mice) and/or background in biostatistics/data science are of further advantage.

- Willingness to learn novel (e.g. omics) technologies and more about data-science analyses.

- Very good communication skills in English (optional: German); Lab management and organization skills; high flexibility and mobility.

We offer:

• State-of-the-art laboratory and imaging infrastructure and supervision by recognized experts.

• Position in an inspiring, dynamic, young, multi-disciplinary and engaged research environment.

• Full-time PhD position starting as soon as possible; salary according to collective FWF guidelines.