• PhD or postgraduate degree with focus in cellular and molecular biology, gene editing, human stem cell biology, hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis
• Experience with gene editing technology, HSC culture, and in vivo models of blood cell disorders is highly desirable
• Experience in GMP production and clinical trial development is desirable
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills 
  
• English proficiency required

The Faculty of Medicine is one of the four founding faculties of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. With its non-clinical facilities as well as its research and teaching area corresponding to the organisational units of the University Hospital, it is one of the largest medical training and research institutions in Baden-Württemberg.

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled Postdoctoral Researcher to join our interdisciplinary team in the Division of Translational Oncology headed by Prof. Julia Skokowa. Our laboratory is dedicated to advancing the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of hematopoiesis, granulopoiesis, and leukemia development. We also develop innovative gene therapy approaches for hematopoietic stem cell disorders, with the ultimate goal of clinical translation.

Our research focuses on pre-leukemic bone marrow failure syndromes, supported by the integration of the Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry (SCNIR), enabling clinically driven translational research. We employ state-of-the-art experimental models to study the pathomechanism of severe congenital neutropenia and Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome as well as the stepwise process of leukemogenic transformation. Our approach integrates gene editing in human and murine primary hematopoietic and iPSC-derived stem cells, in vivo zebrafish and mouse models, multi-omics analyses (e.g., RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, scRNA-seq, scDNA-seq, WES/WGS, targeted NGS, DigiWest), a broad spectrum of molecular and cellular biology techniques, biochemistry and biophysics, computational drug repurposing, and de novo design of novel protein-based therapeutics. Our work also includes developing gene editing strategies to correct or inactivate mutations associated with severe congenital neutropenia, Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome and leukemia.

This position offers the opportunity to contribute to the high-impact project „PHOENIX: Promoting Healing and Overcoming ELANE Neutropenia with Ex Vivo CRISPR” with a clear translational goal: bringing gene editing of ELANE-mutated severe congenital neutropenia to clinical application, which is based on a gene editing approach recently published by our group (Nasri M, Ritter M et al., Mol Therapy 2024; Skokowa et al., NEJM 2021) and is currently funded by the BMBF/SPARK-BIH program. The postdoc will also participate in the development of gene therapies for other types of congenital neutropenia and other pre-leukemia syndromes.