1 Postdoctoral position on Molecular approach for improving patient care in Polycystic Liver Disease in Netherlands | Radboud University Medical Centre

Within the department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology we are looking for a Postdoc to steer an exciting translational project on the pathogenesis of polycystic liver disease. PLD manifests as multiple fluid filled cavities in the liver leading to hepatomegaly which in severe cases can advance to life threatening complications such as portal hypertension and jaundice. PLD is mainly caused by mutations in the PKD1 or PKD2 gene in 90% of ADPKD patients or caused by mutations in the PRKCSH, SEC63 or LRP5 gene in 25% of PCLD patients. The main therapies to reduce liver volume are surgical procedures like cyst fenestration and aspiration-sclerotherapy or medication with somatostatin analogues. Because the surgical procedures can only be performed on patients with superficial cysts and somatostin analogues only work to a certain extent, we are looking for alternatives to reduce liver volume.

The project that the postdoc will work on, will bank on recently developed models for PLD such as organoid tissues and zebrafish to isolate and dissect the functional PLD-associated modules. Readouts will be achieved through affinity proteomics, ciliary and nextgen RNAseq procedures. In parallel, the PLD models will be screened for therapeutic potential of FDA approved drugs in antagonizing cyst development. This project is a collaboration with Prof. Ronald Roepman of the department of Genetics. The ultimate aim is to develop new medical treatment strategies for human PLD patients.

Requirements

• PhD in Medical Biology or equivalent discipline
• High affinity for translational research related to gastrointestinal and hepatological disorders
• Experience with in vitro and in vivo modeling using cell lines and Zebra Fish (Article 9 of the Dutch Law on Animal Experimentation) is a plus
• Experience with molecular and cell biology
• Good social skills and able to work in a team
• Experience in writing research proposals

Conditions of employment

Scale 10: max € 55700 gross per year at full employment (incl. vacation bonus and end of year payments)

Organisation

Radboud university medical center

The Radboud university medical center advances human knowledge by conducting biomedical, translational and clinical research in order to improve wellbeing. Our key strength is medical life-sciences and clinical practice, with an impressive infrastructure comprising state-of-the-art technology platforms and (translational) research facilities. The Radboud university medical center is therefore uniquely positioned in the emerging Euregio and Dutch healthcare infrastructure to play a leading role in the new healthcare paradigm of prediction, prevention and personalised medicine. The Radboud university medical center focuses on scientific health challenges of today, with an eye on emerging diseases of the future. Our mission: ‘to have a significant impact on healthcare’.

Department

The department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology treats all patients with gastrointestinal diseases and has a special focus on the themes Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Oncology, Intestinal failure & Total Parenteral Nutrition, Hepatology and Advanced Endoscopy. Besides clinical research the department also has its own small well equipped research laboratory in which translational research is performed on every theme by multiple PhD students helped by technicians. The department is part of the research institute Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Science (RIMLS).