The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (www.vet.uu.nl) is an internationally leading institute in veterinary scientific education, research and associated patient care. It ranks number one in Europe and among the top five institutes of veterinary science world-wide and is accredited by the American Medical Veterinary Association and the Canadian Medical Veterinary Association.
The Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology invites applications for a
Postdoc Pathogen Targeting (m/f) (1,0 fte)
Task
Because pathogens become increasingly resistant to therapeutic drugs, and due to the emergence of new pathogens, novel approaches to the treatment of infectious diseases are required. By chemical cross-linking we have generated bifunctional proteins consisting of a lectin domain and a fragment of an antibody directed against Fc receptors on phagocytic cells. Studies in vitro in our laboratory have shown that such bifunctional proteins can stimulate uptake and killing of a broad spectrum of pathogens by recognizing the microbes through the lectin domain and targeting them to the phagocytes through the anti-Fc receptor part. Your task will be to expand this work by:
1) varying the anti-Fc receptor moiety,
2) developing a method for the production of the bifunctional proteins as fusion proteins, and
3) studying the effect of the bifunctional proteins in mouse infection experiments in vivo.
We are looking for a biochemist, biologist, or medical biologist, holding a PhD degree, who has experience with molecular biology, protein expression and immunology. Experience with mouse infection models is an advantage. Possession of Article 9 certificate to work with laboratory animals is desirable. Candidates from the European Union are eligible for this position. Applications from the American continent will also be considered.
We offer an experienced, collaborative and international group of colleagues and an excellent infrastructure that integrates molecular biology, biochemistry, life-cell imaging, and a state of the arts lipidomics facility. We take part in the Institute of Biomembranes (http://www.biomembranes.nl), the Academic Biomedical Centre (http://www.abc.uu.nl) and are engaged in many (inter)national collaborations.
We offer a fulltime temporary appointment for 2 years.
Your gross salary will amount between € 2,802 and € 3,678 per month (full-time appointment in scale 10 of the Collective Labor Agreement of the Dutch Universities), depending on previous qualifications and experience. There are outstanding secondary benefits, based on the CAO of Netherlands Universities and include e.g. a minimum of 31 days holiday per year, an arrangement for study facilities, generous contributions to healthcare, childcare, a pension scheme and flexible employment conditions.
Are you interested?
Informal inquiries should be directed to Dr. J.J. Batenburg (+31 30 2535381; e-mail j.j.batenburg@uu.nl).
Application
Please send your application (including a cover letter, a CV, a statement of education and research interests, a detailed list of publications and achievements) before 15-06-2008, accompanied by the names and contact info of persons who are able to provide professional reference, under the heading vacancy number 12847 to vacatures1@vet.uu.nl, or send your written application by regular mail to Utrecht University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Personnel and Organisation, attn. Mw. M.E.J. Willemse-van Soest, Yalelaan 1, NL 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands.
