scientific researcher (PhD candidate) (m/f/d) biomedical / bioinformatics in translational tumor immunology

scientific researcher (PhD candidate) (m/f/d) biomedical / bioinformatics in translational tumor immunology

Specialty

Hematology and oncology

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Work time

part-time

Start date

ab sofort

Employment period

limited

Application deadline

12.10.2026

Deployment location Charité

Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Wedding

Jobcode

7975

Salary group

E13

Working at Charité

The Penter Lab is a young and dynamic research group focused on understanding the complex interactions between leukemia and the immune system in the context of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Our research centers on a fundamental question: how do T cells recognize and eliminate leukemia, and how do leukemic cells evolve to escape immune surveillance? We investigate the biology, dynamics, and antigen specificities of leukemia-directed T cells, as well as mechanisms of immune resistance, including clonal evolution and adaptation under immune pressure.

Our long-term goal is to translate these insights into novel cellular therapies and innovative tools to monitor and understand immune responses and immune resistance in patients with hematologic malignancies.

We address these questions directly in primary patient-derived blood and bone marrow samples. Our research combines experimental immunology with state-of-the-art single-cell immunogenomics and deep, independent computational data analysis. This integrated approach allows us to track individual immune cell clones, characterize their T-cell receptors and antigen specificities, and investigate how leukemia–immune cell interactions evolve over the course of disease and treatment.

Overview of the position

Throughout the work on your PhD project you will utilize immunogenomics tools to identify minor histocompatibility antigens (miHAs) in recipients of allogeneic stem cell transplantation and identify donor T cells that recognize these miHAs. In particular, you will:

Analyze germline whole-exome sequencing data of donor and recipient to identify minor histocompatibility antigens

Expand T cells from post-transplant peripheral blood or stem cell grafts that recognize miHAs

Characterize and track miHA-specific T cells using tetramer stainings, bulk TCR sequencing and single cell TCR sequencing

Reexpress and test miHA-specific T cells

Identify candidate miHA-specific TCRs for future clinical studies

What we are looking for

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate with an interest in combining wet and dry lab immunogenomics methods to study dynamics, phenotypes and specificities of leukemia-directed T cells. Your profile:

Relevant background for the project (completed degree in biological sciences, biotechnology or bioinformatics) including experience in cell-based research and dry lab work

Independent programming skills in R, Python, shell, or similar languages in a UNIX environment

Strong interest in immunological and tumor genetic questions

High motivation to combine wet and dry lab approaches

Critical and independent working style with a desire to push current knowledge boundaries

Charité offers you

Work in a diverse and international research group with many national and international collaborations

Highly translational environment with direct access to patient samples

Enrollment at BSIO graduate school

Opportunities for active participation at international scientific conferences

Information regarding the position

Salary group E13 TVöD VKA-K. You can find all information on salary and the a