Doctoral ; DC– University of Antwerp

Protease-guided tumor targeting tools to revolutionize cancer diagnostics and treatment (Onco Pro Tools ) Doctoral Candidate (DC1) – Design and discovery of novel GrnzB ligands and their evaluation as diagnostics tools in CAR T cell therapy assessment About Onco Pro Tools :

Onco Pro Tools  is an MSCA Doctoral Network that is currently starting up. The mission of Onco Pro Tools  is to develop tumor targeting strategies for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, to make them more effective, selective, patient-friendly and personalized. Tumor targeted diagnostics and therapeutics are molecules that are typically equipped with a vector unit. The vector unit binds to a protein that is over expressed on cancer cells or in the Tumor Micro-Environment (TME), causing the diagnostic or therapeutic payload to accumulate in the tumor.

Exciting, recent innovations rely on small molecule vectors that target TME proteases. Proteases are ideal candidates for tumor targeting: they are often strongly over expressed in the TME and possess an active site that allows high-affinity anchoring of vectors. Members of this consortium have played a leading role in these recent developments.

Onco Pro Tools  wants to force breakthroughs by:

• Exploring innovative venues for protease targeting in cellular
• Discovering novel vectors that bind to other TME proteases, like cathepsins and
• Personalized applications of protease targeting: deliver innovative diagnostics through deeper understanding of TME

Onco Pro Tools  will deliver a training program to 10 Doctoral Candidates that truly captures the MSCA values, hence providing them with all capabilities to become leaders of tomorrow’s R&I in Europe.

The University of Antwerp is a young, dynamic and forward-thinking university. It is a merger (2003) of the former three university institutions in Antwerp. It ranks 18th in the “QS Top 50 Under 50 2020”. The University has ca. 1850 PhD students, 680 tenured professors, over 350 assistants and over 3400 tenured researcher and education staff members. It produces over 3600 peer-reviewed scientific publications per year.

The European Commission has awarded the University the “HR Excellence in Research” quality label and the University has a Gender equality Plan in place.

This interdisciplinary doctoral position is jointly hosted by the Medicinal Chemistry (UAMC) and Radiopharmacy groups at the University of Antwerp. The Medicinal Chemistry group has expertise in bioactive compound discovery and optimization, among others in protease inhibitors and derived tool compounds. The Radiopharmacy group focuses on the radiolabeling and evaluation of cancer-specific radiopharmaceuticals that can be used for molecular imaging (PET, SPECT) and/or radio therapeutic applications.

In this position, you will:

• Design, synthesize and characterize novel granzyme ligands and transform optimal ligands into radio labeled, fluorescent and biotinylated
• Perform analytical, biochemical and biological investigations on the
• Write project reports for your local and network supervisors on a regular basis
• Enroll in the Antwerp Doctoral School (ADS) and comply with ADS’s doctoral training
• Participate actively to Onco Pro Tools ’ training, dissemination, communication and valorization program
• Prepare a doctoral thesis, and publish scientific articles related to the research project

Furthermore, the selected candidate will take part in the following planned secondments:

• Academic secondment to University of Bern (1 month, Switzerland) to evaluate the fluorescent GrnzB probes in tumor
• Industrial secondment at Cell Carta (6 months, Belgium) to evaluate fluorescent GrnzB probes in biopsies

• Applicants must hold a master’s degree or equivalent in the field of (Bio-) Chemistry, (Bio-) Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences or equivalent
• Master students in their final year may apply. Transcripts of the master’s degree should be obtained before signing the
• Applicants must have a solid knowledge of organic chemistry and
• Applicants obtained outstanding academic results
• Applicants must have an ability to understand and express themselves…