Thilo Köhler and Christian van Delden at @unige_en @hug_ge offer a position on clinical phage therapy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its microbiological basis . It is funded by @NCCR_AntiResist and will be in collaboration with ETH Zurich.
Deadline: 31st January 2024
Start date : 01/02/2024 or date to be agreed
Salary is based on SNSF guidelines and the position is limited to 48 months
A PhD position is available within the “NCCR AntiResist -consortium from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) on ‘Phages and Competing host for flora to prevent and/or treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections”.
PhD project outline
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for chronic and acute infections mainly in immunocompromised hosts due to its ability to become rapidly resistant to antibiotic therapies , alternate strategies are urgently needed.
one option showing increased interest are bacteriophages, whose efficacy have recenlty been demonstrated for the successful treatment of a chronic lung infection due to multidrug resistant P. aeruginosa (1).
The project aims at the further development of such personalized phage therapies. specific goals involve the
(i) isolation of phages against MDR clinical P. aeruginosa isolates and their genetic and phenotypic characterization (genome analysis, molecular targets)
(ii) application of phage training to select or improve lytic activity of phages
(iii) assessment of their capacity to prevent or treat P. aeruginosa infections in combination with antimicrobials and /or host flora in vitro cell cultures and non mammalian hosts
Host Laboratories
The PhD project will be conducted successfully in two academic institutions. Until 2026 the the position will be affiliated to the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine at the Medical Faculty of the University of Geneva ( group of Thilo Köhler and Christian van Delden ). The PhD thesis project will be completed at the Department of Health Sciences and Technology at the ETH Zurich(group of Prof. Alexander Harms).
Education and experience
Master in Life Sciences with a special interest in microbiology and host – pathogen interactions. skills in DNA sequence analysis and bioinformatics would be an asset. The candidate should be organized and flexible and is expected to develop rapidly the capacity to work independently and to integrate in an interdisciplinary research environment. English proficiency is requested. German and or French would be an additional asset
Application and Contact
Please send your online application including CV, motivation letter and addresses of two referees via emails to Dr. T. Kohler ( [email protected] ) or Prof.A. Harms ([email protected]
