Postdoctoral Researcher 'AI & Structural Modeling of T-cell Recognition for Cancer Immunotherapy'

Job Description

Job description

Host: Structural Bioinformatics Group, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Project background

Cancer immunotherapy can direct a patient's own T cells to recognize tumor-specific neoantigens and destroy tumor cells, but its promise is held back by high cost, long development times, and the risk of toxicity against healthy tissue. At the heart of these challenges lies the TCR specificity problem: understanding how T-cell receptors (TCRs) recognize peptide antigens presented by MHC molecules.

This curiosity-driven project develops cutting-edge AI technology for 3D TCR–pMHC modeling to improve neoantigen identification, TCR specificity prediction, and TCR design. The project is funded by an NWO (Dutch Research Council) Open Competition M grant. The successful candidate(s) will work within a well-connected international consortium, including leading academic groups in AI, 3D modelling and T-cell immunology, leading TCR discovery and TCR-biologics companies, a cancer vaccine research group running clinical trials, and the national super-computing center SurfSara.

What we offer

• A 1-year postdoc position with the possibility of extension, in a vibrant, interdisciplinary environment bridging AI and cancer immunotherapy.
• Training and career development opportunities.
• The chance to help shape a newly funded research line with real clinical impact, within an international network of academic and industry partners.

Place of work

The Netherlands is one of the leading research hubs for cancer immunotherapies. Radboudumc (Radboud University Medical Center) is one of the country's leading hospitals and university medical centers in the Netherlands, with active research programs in cancer immunotherapy, including cancer vaccines and CAR-NK cell therapy.

Our bioinformatics group offers a supportive, collaborative environment, and our trainees go on to PhD, postdoc, and engineering positions at leading institutions such as Oxford, the Max Planck Institutes, the Netherlands eScience Center (NLeSC), and pharmaceutical companies.