Researcher

A 3-year researcher position funded by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority is available at the Department of Immunology, Oslo University Hospital.

The successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary team developing antibody-based immunotherapies against invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) — infections by pathogens such as Candida, Aspergillus and Cryptococcus spp. that remain a major cause of mortality in immunocompromised patients.

Antifungal defense depends on the coordinated action of T cells, B cells and antibodies, yet how these arms cooperate — and why antibodies to the same fungal antigen can be protective, inert, or disease-enhancing — remains poorly defined. The lab combines antibody engineering with in vivo models and advanced imaging to address this.

The position centres on engineering antibodies to strengthen immune defense against fungi, using this as a tool to understand how antibody responses can help restore protection in immunodeficiency states such as neutropenia or phagocyte dysfunction. The successful candidate will also help develop antibody-based probes and imaging tools to detect, visualize and quantify fungal infection and immune-cell engagement in vitro and in vivo, and will use the lab’s B cell receptor (BCR) knock-in platform, alongside matching T cell models, to study how B and T cell responses shape antifungal immunity.

Duties and Responsibilities

The researcher will contribute to a project developing high-affinity human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to combat life-threatening fungal infections in immunocompromised hosts. The role spans three complementary areas:

• Engineering antibodies — both patient-derived and existing lead candidates — to enhance their immune effector functions, using approaches such as affinity optimization and bispecific formats.
• Using antibody engineering as a systematic tool to understand how antibody responses can help restore fungal clearance in specific immunodeficiency states (e.g. neutropenia, phagocyte dysfunction), and characterizing these effects through functional immunological assays and in vivo fungal models.

• Generating engineered antibody reagents and reporter systems to detect, visualize and quantify fungal targets and immune-cell engagement, both in vitro and in vivo.
  
• Applying advanced imaging approaches — including fluorescence- and bioluminescence-based readouts, high-resolution microscopy, and intravital imaging — to monitor infection and immune responses directly in tissue.

• Using the lab’s BCR knock-in platform, together with matching T cell models, to generate mice carrying defined fungal-specific lymphocytes and track how B and T cell responses develop upon fungal antigen exposure.
• Studying how T cells, B cells and antibodies together contribute to fungal clearance, using intravital microscopy and knock-in mouse technology to generate and track antigen-specific lymphocytes in vivo.

Qualifications

We seek a highly motivated researcher with a PhD in immunology. The ideal candidate will have:

• A strong background in B-cell or T-cell immunology, germinal center biology, or antibody engineering.
  
• Extensive experience with molecular biology techniques, including cloning, plasmid design, and CRISPR-Cas9 technology.
  
• Proficiency in flow cytometry (FACS) for single-cell sorting and multi-color phenotyping.
  
• Experience with BCR sequencing/bioinformatics pipelines.
  
• Practical experience in preclinical research, specifically handling of transgenic models (FELASA C approval or equivalent); experience with knock-in mouse models is an advantage.
  
• Experience with advanced microscopy or imaging (e.g. confocal, intravital, or fluorescence-based assays) is an advantage.
  
• Experience with host-pathogen (fungal) infection models is an advantage.

Personal Qualities

• Highly motivated, accurate, and a strong drive for excellence in research.
• Good problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently on complex technical challenges.
  
• Strong cooperative skills and the ability to work as part of an international research team.
  
• Proficiency in English with good writing and communication skills.

Application

All applicants must apply through WebCruiter and include:

• Application letter detailing your research experience and motivation.
  
• CV summarizing all relevant experience.
  
• Full list of publications.
  
• Copies of educational certificates and transcripts of records.
  
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references.
  

The application letter and CV should be in English or a Scandinavian language.

We Can Offer

• An exciting and vibrant international scientific environment at the forefront of immunotherapy research.
• Potential for personal and scientific growth within a dynamic, growing research group.
  
• Membership in the Norwegian pension fund.
• Possibility of extension.

Kontaktinformasjon

Arbeidssted

Nøkkelinformasjon: