Post-doctoral position

To study the Bone Marrow Neuro Niche in paediatric Acute Lympoblastic Leukemia.

The work will take place in the context of a collaborative project between 3 labs: Pr Josef Vormoor, Utrecht, NL, Dr Francoise Pflumio, Fontenay-aux-Roses, FR, and Dr Simon Renders, Heidelberg, GE

A post-doctoral position is available and supported by a grant from EU CAN KIDS. The position is shared by 3 teams and will be mainly localized in France in Niche, Cancer and Radiations in Hematopoiesis lab in the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Radiobiology, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, supervised by Dr F Pflumio. The employer will be the French NIH, named INSERM, and the contract can start before end of 2026 or beginning of 2027. The post-doc will travel from Fontenay-aux-Roses (F Pflumio) to Heidelberg (S Renders) and Utrecht (J Vormoor) at different times of the project evolution, to learn and apply specific technologies (Trace-n-Seq and scRNAseq) to the project.

We are looking for a highly motivated young scientist, interested to join a research program devoted to study the crosstalk between the nervous system and ALL from patients who present with bone pain. Understanding such interactions and involved mechanisms will be important for leukemic development and progression and/or for better management of the pain in ALL children. The project will necessitate to work with human normal and leukemic cells from patients and mouse preclinical models, including humanized BM ossicles.

The candidate will show solid expertise in cellular and molecular biology and have a PhD diploma, in the field of Onco/Haematology. Strong knowledge of the human normal and pathologic hematopoietic development is mandatory to understand, design and perform the experiments necessary in the project. Technical skills in cell culture, multiparameter flow cytometry (analyses and cell sorting) and molecular biology are important. The candidate will have skills in animal experimentation, in particular in mouse transplantation and some bioinformatic ground knowledge. He/she needs to be autonomous in his/her research work, and be able to adapt and work in different team location/countries, because of the context of traveling between labs. Fluent english language is mandatory.

The lab of Dr Pflumio is located nearby Paris, easily accessible using public transportation and is part of Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et Energies Alternatives. The candidate will have access to all the necessary technical platforms to successfully develop this project (flow cytometry, preclinical models, irradiation facilities, confocal microscopy, molecular biology platform, …). Travelling and housing during lab exchanges will be covered.

Interested candidates should send a CV, with a motivation lettre and two references (email addresses) to:

• Pr Josef Vormoor; email : h.vormoor@prinsesmaximacentrum.nl
• Dr Françoise Pflumio; email : francoise.pflumio@cea.fr