Postdoctoral Researcher: Microbial Metabolite Biomarkers for Immunotherapy Outcome - Nijmegen, Nederland - Radboud University

Beschrijving

Immunotherapy has become the treatment of choice for many cancers but the treatment is expensive and the outcome variable. Biomarkers that predict treatment outcome are thus highly desired.

Several studies have shown that our gut microbiome affects the response to and toxicity of cancer immunotherapy. The mechanism underlying this correlation can be mediated by direct or indirect interactions between gut microbes and the immune system, but microbial metabolites are thought to be key mediators.

Among the microbial metabolites found in humans, small chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate have emerged as potential mediators affecting response, but validation studies in large cohorts are lacking. In this project, you will validate the predictive value of plasma SCFAs for cancer immunotherapy response in a large cohort of non-small cell lung cancer patients and provide a solid basis for clinical implementation of these promising biomarkers.

Even though SCFAs have consistently emerged as predictive metabolites, the spectrum of microbiome-derived metabolites in humans is much wider and remains largely unexplored. In this project, you will use untargeted metabolomics to discover other microbial metabolites that could serve as predictive biomarkers and entry point into new immunomodulatory mechanisms.
In this project, you will develop and validate quantitative LC-MS methods for microbial metabolites with suspected immunomodulatory activity (eg. SCFAs). You will apply these methods to plasma samples collected in the ongoing multicentre DEDICATION (NVALT 30) study coordinated by the Radboud university medical center. You will also analyse these samples using untargeted metabolomics to search for new predictive microbial metabolites.

You will communicate your results at interdisciplinary DEDICATION meetings and at international meetings and in scientific journals. To help our postdoctoral researchers receive training, develop their personal and professional skills and prepare for the future, they are organised through an institutional Postdoc Platform.