Postdoc: Immune development in infants

Would you like to apply cutting-edge single-cell RNA sequencing to uncover why some infants respond better to vaccines or are more susceptible to infections? As a postdoctoral researcher at RIVM, you will research how the infant immune system develops and why responses to vaccines vary in early life. Working at the intersection of laboratory science, computational biology, and clinical research, you will build a broad repertoire across both wet lab techniques and data science. Your research will inform national public health strategies and help protect newborns during their most critical developmental window.

Your responsibilities
In their first year of life, infants build the foundation for lifelong immunity, while transitioning away from the temporary protection of maternal antibodies. As this passive immunity wanes, infants encounter environmental microbes and receive their routine childhood vaccinations. You will address a key gap in this field: despite the critical importance of this early developmental window, surprisingly little is known about how immune cells evolve over time in healthy, term-born infants, or how clinical and demographic factors shape these trajectories. During this crucial phase, you will study how their immune system learns to fight off harmful pathogens while safely establishing a healthy microbiome and maintaining tolerance to beneficial microbes.

As a postdoctoral researcher in this project, you will be involved in the full experimental and analytical workflow. You will:

• Coordinate and oversee the processing of blood samples for single-cell RNA sequencing.
• Perform wet lab single-cell sequencing experiments (FLEX scRNA-seq) together with the laboratory technicians.
• Carry out data analysis of the generated single-cell datasets, including quality control and downstream analyses.
• Interpret the results in close collaboration with immunology and bioinformatics experts and translate findings into biological and public health insights.
• Connect with both technicians and different project leaders, ensuring smooth communication and integration of laboratory work and data analysis.

In this position, you will work with cutting-edge single-cell RNA sequencing technologies in a highly relevant public health setting at RIVM. You will be part of a multidisciplinary team where experimental immunology, advanced omics data analysis and clinical research come together, offering an excellent environment to develop both your wet lab and data science skills.

About the department
You will be based in the Immune Mechanisms – Correlates of Protection (IMC) department of the Centre for Immunology of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines (IIV) at RIVM. The department aims to understand immune mechanisms that protect against disease caused by human pathogens, with a focus on detailed characterization of both innate and adaptive cellular immune responses and the identification of biomarkers and immune profiles that correlate with protection.

Within IMC, you will be embedded in a research group consisting of a principal investigator, PhD students, technicians, a data scientist, and a master student. For this project you will work closely with a second principal investigator, an additional technician and a bioinformatician. You will also have frequent interaction with the clinical study team and the laboratory technicians who process the samples, creating a dynamic environment where laboratory research, data analysis and public health come together.

With us, you’ll find yourself in a friendly, open, and easily approachable work environment. Colleagues connect with each other easily and readily offer support. The atmosphere is informal, with plenty of room for asking questions and sharing ideas. On Mondays, our center is together at the office. That is our fixed day for our team, department-wide and center-wide meetings. This way, you stay well connected to what’s going on in the organization. We often have lunch together and take time for a coffee break. On the other days, you work flexibly in consultation, for example partly from home. We consider a healthy work–life balance important and are happy to think along with you about what works for you. Hybrid working is normal for us, as long as we can find each other on the fixed office day. Choosing us means choosing an engaged team, short lines of communication, and a culture in which you quickly feel at home and are given the space to grow.

How to apply and more information
Are you excited to join our team and contribute to essential public health research? Apply now and send your application to Dr. Jelle de Wit, head of the IMC department.

For more information, visit the RIVM website and feel free to contact Jolanda Brummelman (+31 88 689 5897) for any questions you might have about the position. We'd love to hear from you!

The interviews for this position will be held on Wednesday November 11th and Friday November 13th.

Job requirements
To be successful in this position, the following knowledge and experience is required:

• A PhD in Biomedical Sciences, Immunology, Systems Biology or a related field.
• Hands-on laboratory experience with primary cell isolation, flow cytometry, cell culture, and molecular techniques such as RNA sequencing.
• Experience in omics data analysis, preferably single-cell RNA sequencing, combined with proficiency in R or Python (or the willingness to learn) to extract biological insights from complex datasets.
• Conceptual thinking to methodically break down complex scientific questions and resolve analytical challenges.
• Planning and organization skills to take full ownership of your research projects and carry them through to completion.
• Collaborative ability to communicate clearly across different disciplines, foster a supportive atmosphere, and build lasting scientific partnerships.

Bij het RIVM hebben we één van de beste cao's van Nederland, namelijk die van de Rijksoverheid. Naast een goed salaris hebben we aantrekkelijke arbeidsvoorwaarden zoals een Individueel Keuzebudget van 16.5 % van je bruto jaarsalaris waarover je zelf de regie hebt. Je kunt iedere maand een deel laten uitbetalen of extra vrije dagen kopen of verkopen. Daarnaast bieden we fiscale voordelen om bijvoorbeeld je studieschuld af te lossen. Ook zijn we een mantelzorgvriendelijke organisatie. Meer weten? Lees er meer over onder de kop ‘overige arbeidsvoorwaarden’.

For this position, vaccinations are mandatory as you will be working in laboratories where experiments with pathogens are being performed.

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