The Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in Utrecht is the national center where care, research, and education for children with cancer come together. With a clear mission to cure every child with cancer while improving quality of life, researchers and healthcare professionals collaborate intensively every day. Within this inspiring environment, you will have the opportunity as an intern to actively contribute to cutting edge research. You will work with advanced facilities and modern technologies and be part of a multidisciplinary team dedicated to breakthroughs in pediatric oncology.
Children with aggressive brain tumors such as diffuse midline gliomas, medulloblastomas, and AT RT still face a poor prognosis. New therapies such as antibody drug conjugates offer promising opportunities, but reaching the tumor remains a challenge due to the blood brain barrier. Focused Ultrasound has the potential to temporarily open this barrier and improve the effectiveness of these treatments.
During this internship, the main focus will be on in vitro laboratory research. You will investigate the effectiveness of antibody drug conjugates on selected pediatric brain tumor cell lines. You will actively contribute in the laboratory and support the setup and execution of experiments.
Your work will include characterizing the expression of target proteins on tumor cells. You will also select and culture relevant cell lines and analyze the cytotoxic effects of the treatments. In addition, you will contribute to optimizing experimental setups used to test novel therapeutic strategies. Through your work, you will generate essential data that forms the foundation for follow up research and future preclinical studies in which these therapies are combined with Focused Ultrasound.
You are a motivated and ambitious master student in Biomedical Sciences, Immunology, Life Sciences, or a related national or international program. You have a strong interest in laboratory research and are eager to further develop your skills in a research environment.
Experience with techniques such as qPCR, western blot, flow cytometry, and cell culture is highly desirable. Knowledge of cell related assays and antibody studies is also valuable. You have strong communication skills and a good command of the English language, both written and spoken. In addition, you are organized, work accurately, and can function both independently and as part of a team.
