2 independent Junior Research Group Leaders “Early Translational Cancer Research” in Berlin bei Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum

Position: 2 independent Junior Research Group Leaders “Early Translational Cancer Research”

Code number: 2023-0424

The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is seeking for the partner site Berlin of the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) two independent Junior Research Group Leaders “Early Translational Cancer Research” to start as soon as possible.

The German Cancer Research Center is the largest biomedical research institution in Germany. With more than 3,000 employees, we operate an extensive scientific program in the field of cancer research.

Together with selected university partner sites, the DKFZ has established the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK). The alliance between the DKFZ as the core center and the university partner sites in Berlin, Dresden, Essen/Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Mainz, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Munich and Tübingen establishes joint translation centers at the University Medical Centers of each of the selected partner site. The DKTK contributes significantly to filling the translational gap between basic and clinical cancer research, thereby developing new strategies for personalized oncology in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. DKTK conducts transformative translational cancer research, educates the next generation of translation-oriented medical and clinical scientists and establishes strong pipelines towards clinical cancer research and the economy. Further information can be found at https://dktk.dkfz.de/en.

Job description:

We seek to appoint two independent junior research group leaders with a strong background in early translational cancer research to match and propel the profile of the DKTK partner site Berlin:

Translational research at the DKTK partner site Berlin is dedicated to tackling the most demanding clinical challenges in cancer: treatment resistance, metastasis, tumor evolution and immune evasion. Major focus programs are i) Preclinical development of new adoptive T-cell immunotherapies, ii) Implementation of functional oncology strategies (signaling-based precision oncology and target discovery) and iii) Advancement of molecular diagnostics (in particular epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics). Specific research fields to be strengthened in the near future at the DKTK partner site Berlin include: genetic screening technologies in pre-clinical models and patient biomaterial, cancer metabolomics, cancer microbiome, drug response profiling, characterization of the tumor microenvironment, development of novel (non)cellular immunotherapeutic interventions, and therapy monitoring with liquid biopsies.

The DKFZ and the DKTK partner site Berlin provide an outstanding, dynamic and vibrant research environment focused on interdisciplinary team science and including access to numerous technological platforms/core facilities, locally and DKTK-wide. This includes core facilities for genomics/epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, imaging mass spectrometry/cellular imaging, flow cytometry/CYTOF, optogenetics; a focus area on single-cell cancer medicine; data science support (bioinformatics, machine learning, modeling) and state-of-the-art computing clusters; GMP facilities. In addition, access to large retrospective and prospective cancer biomaterial sample collections from patient cohorts treated in large clinical trials with well-documented clinical data as well as to a rich repertoire of preclinical in vivo models (patient-derived and genetic) will be granted.

The two future independent DKTK junior research group leaders will be employed at the DKFZ Heidelberg and physically located at a closely collaborating clinical department at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. This will foster the development of relevant translational approaches addressing specific clinical issues and the establishment of technologies for clinical use.

Requirements:

• PhD in natural or data sciences and/or MD in medicine
• Excellent postdoctoral experience in a research area that matches the DKTK partner site Berlin profile
• Deep understanding of preclinical and clinical precision medicine approaches
• Internationally recognized record of accomplishment in the field of early translational cancer research including successful acquisition of third party funding, according to stage of the career
• Ability and interest in leading and managing a growing research group including the mentoring of postdocs, doctoral researchers and students
• Vision for an internationally competitive innovative research program and strong motivation to interact/collaborate with research groups in basic, translational and clinical cancer research within the DKFZ and DKTK
• Ability to manage and coordinate interdisciplinary cancer research projects
• Independent and self-reliant way of working, charac