PH. D. student position (m/f/d)

Application deadline: 30 April 2024

The University Hospital Würzburg, Department of Internal Medicine II offers at the laboratory of AG Prof. Dr. Löffler, a

Our laboratory provides a highly innovative, stimulating and nurturing environment with an experienced team of scientists. Further, the applicant and project will benefit from collaborating with the Sonderforschungsbereich TransRegio 124 “FungiNet” Consortium and the Sonderforschungsbereich 1583 “DECIDE” Consortium as well as from an international team of outstanding collaborators and partners. This includes a close collaboration with the Wuerzburg Biocentre (Department of Biotechnology and Biophysics and Department of Bioinformatics).

We encourage our Ph. D. students to become a member of the Wuerzburg Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS), which offers a broad programme of further education. In addition, PhD students will be able to participate at mentoring programmes of the University of Wuerzburg and contribute to lab management and organization.

Your challenge is to analyse the cross-talk of human immune cells (equipped with or without antifungal CAR structures) with A. fumigatus with technologies used in cell biology, molecular biology and immunology, including transcriptomics, proteomics and state-of-the-art microscopy.

Our research group combines two decades of experience in fungal immunology with leading translational research efforts. Our research focus is based on the pathogenic mould Aspergillus fumigatus, which represents the most relevant and detrimental fungal pathogen in immunocompromised patients. The risk to develop invasive aspergillosis is enhanced in patients after allogenic stem cell transplantation and patients with severe immunosuppression.

Our current research focuses on the development of a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-based immune therapy of Aspergillus infections, emphasizing the translational research focus and promoting direct and interdisciplinary bed-to-bench side flows. Thereby, we specifically concentrate our efforts on the interaction between CAR Natural Killer (NK) cells and CAR macrophages with A. fumigatus and aim to understand and to improve this CAR – A. fumigatus cross-talk.
Furthermore, in a parallel project, we deeply characterize the functional in vitro interaction of human Natural Killer cells with A. fumigatus, especially the cross-talk between the human receptor CD56 and its fungal ligand as well as the downstream pathways of CD56 using CRISPR-Cas9 and other tools.

Applicants for this position should have a strong background in immunology, cell biology and molecular biology, and are about to or have obtained their Master with excellent results.

Key characteristics of successful applicants will include enthusiasm, a team and result-oriented work style, excellent communication and organizational skills, the ability to face scientific challenges with creativity and dedication.

• Training and Continuing Education
• Retirement Pension Plan
• Collegiality
• Sport and Fitness Options
• Employee Events

In the case of a university degree from a non-EU country, a long version of the certificate evaluation from the Central Office for Foreign Education is required.

Remuneration is in accordance with the relevant collective agreements. Severely disabled applicants will be given preference if they are otherwise equally qualified.