Postdoc Position in Translational Cancer Research

POSTDOC POSITION IN TRANSLATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH

in the labs of Prof. Clemens A. Schmitt and

Prof. Soyoung Lee (Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria)

A postdoctoral position is immediately available for a joint project of Prof. Clemens A. Schmitt and Prof. Soyoung Lee, at the medical faculty of Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria. Our labs are embedded in a young and innovative research environment, and located on the medical campus of the university.

The core interest of our research teams are cellular stress response programs with focus on cellular senescence and its impact on tumor development and the efficacy of anticancer therapies (see, for instance, Milanovic et al., Nature 2018, Lee and Schmitt, Nat Cell Biol 2019, Lee et al., Nature 2021, and Reimann et al., J Exp Med 2024). The research project aims at characterizing and targeting stress-exposed, state-switched cancer cells that persist in response to therapy and may become drivers of relapse subsequently. We utilize in vitro and in vivo model systems to dissect molecular mechanisms and to functionally explore novel therapeutic strategies by state-of-the-art multi-omics, spatial single-cell and imaging techniques. Our central aim is to understand the functional role of altered cellular states in cancer biology, its underlying molecular mechanisms as well as clinical implications, and to convert molecular dependencies into conceptually novel anticancer therapies. Specific experimental approaches will include the exploitation of cancer model systems by innovative spatial single-cell muti-omics (including ML/AI-driven data mining) and genetic screens to characterize ‘cancer cell persister ecosystems’, and to unveil vulnerabilities as the basis for fundamentally novel treatment strategies.

REQUIREMENTS

Join our highly collegial, cooperative and motivated team if you are interested in translational cancer research, striving for novel strategies to dissect treatment- and outcome-relevant signaling modules and cell states in cancer. The successful candidate will hold a Ph.D. or equivalent in a relevant discipline, is familiar with all basic techniques in molecular biology, biochemistry and tissue analyses (i.e. cloning and genetic modifications like CRISPR, tissue- and single-cell-based analyses of proteins and DNA/RNA, and 2D/3D-cell culture). Experience with functional assays in specific areas (growth/survival, DNA repair, metabolism, immunology a.o.), mouse models, genetic screening, and computational analysis of (single-cell) multi-omics data would be highly valued. Lab communication is in English. Please apply via the university job announcement link (https://karriere.jku.at/engage/jobexchange/showJobOfferDetail.do?jobOfferId=0cce88bc8bfc1054018dac853f40108e&j=&languageChanged=true) or send your CV including a list of publications and two references/letters of recommendation directly to soyoung.lee(at)jku.at or clemens.schmitt@kepleruniversitätsklinikum.at.