"Knowledge becomes health" - we are filling this motto with life every day, developing new ideas and improv-ing old-established knowledge. The University Hospital Frankfurt has existed since 1914. Our around 8,500 employees contribute with their skills and knowledge to the 33 specialist clinics, theoretical clinical institutes, and administrative departments. The close connection of health care with research and teaching, as well as a climate of collegiality, internationality, and cross-professional cooperation characterize the university hospital.

PhD position – Drug Development

(We are targeting applicants of all genders)
Part Time | limited up to 1 year | Announcement number: 969-2024


We are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join our teams at the Oellerich lab at the Department of Medicine 2, Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt and the Knapp lab at Goethe University, starting from the earliest possible date. The Department of Medicine 2, Hematology and Oncology at the Goethe University Hospital Frankfurt offers the entire spectrum of cancer diagnostics and therapy as well as a research program focusing on several cancer entities. The laboratory of Prof. Stefan Knapp is part of the Institute of Pharma-ceutical Chemistry of the Department of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main as well as the site head of the Structural Genomics consortium (SGC) in Frankfurt. The group is particularly interested in understanding structural mechanisms that regulate cellular signaling and in the development and rational design of selective inhibitors, so-called chemical probes, especially in the field of epigenetics, phosphoryla-tion-dependent signaling pathways, and the development of PROTAC. The two research laboratories are part of the Frankfurt Cancer Institute (https://fci.health), focusing on oncogenic signaling and therapy resistance mechanisms in lymphoma and acute myeloid leukemia (http://lymphoma-leukemia-research-frankfurt.de/) and development of  new therapeutic ap-proaches to advance them to the development of new drugs. (https://fci.health/en/research/research-areas/p4-drug-development/), respec-tively. The labs are also funded by the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), which was founded in 2012 as one of the six German Centers of Excellence for Health Research (DZG) to promote the clinical translation of medical inno-vations. The DKTK brings together more than 20 academic research institutions and university hospitals at seven partner sites cooperate with each other and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg as the core center (https://www.dkfz.de/de/dktk/). Translational projects are part of the German Cancer Aid (Krebshilfe) Network TACTIC that is coordinated by the Knapp Group allowing access to assay platforms for the development of pre-clinical small molecules.

Your role

  • The key goal of the research project is to develop novel drugs and degrader molecules to target survival pathways in aggressive lymphomas (DLBCL). The project is based on our previous work discovering new drug target candidates that are highly relevant for DLBCL biology. 
  • Your primary responsibility will involve optimizing and developing the lead drug candidates, as well as contributing to structure-activity relationship studies in Prof. Knapp's lab. You will work in close collaboration with the Oellerich lab for the validation of the compounds and to study drug resistance mechanisms. You will work in an interdisciplinary environment. This project will cover a plethora of cutting-edge techniques from both collaboration partners including CRISPR/Cas9 screens and quantitative proteomics, protein biochemistry, structural biology and novel biochemical and biophysical and cell based screening methods.

Who you are

  • University degree (master or Staatsexamen) in pharmacy, biochemistry or a related discipline
  • Enthusiasm and fascination for biomedical drug development in oncology
  • High motivation for experimental lab work, data analysis, and presentation of data
  • Experience in protein biochemistry, basic cell biological methods and assay development
  • As this is a highly collaborative research project, the ability to work in a team, a sense of responsibility and proactivity are essential
  • Fluent in English
  • Beneficial:
    • German, B1
    • Previous experience in drug development
    • Previous experience in cell culture or assay development
  • Due to legal regulations, valid proof of measles immunity / measles vaccination is required.

What we offer

  • Collective agreement: In addition to an attractive salary based on a collective agreement with an annual special payment, you benefit from long-term security through company pension schemes
  • Mobility: Free public transport in all Hessen (Free State Ticket Hessen)
  • Campus: Our attractive university hospital campus offers a modern cafeteria, various cafes, and opportunities to rest in numerous green spaces. A walk on the riverside of the Main offers relaxation during breaks
  • Work-Life-Balance: Part-time employment is possible, we offer childcare in our daycare center (if you have any questions, please contact UKF-Familienservice), child care during holidays
  • Health Promotion: Benefit from our attractive health offers. We offer regular online and face-to-face courses on nutrition, relaxation, sports and exercise.
  • Professional development: Internal and external training for your professional development
  • Any questions? Many answers can be found in our FAQs for new employees. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
  • Working environment: International and cosmopolitan working environment. Funding secured for at least 3 years with possible extension if needed. Full access to DKTK / FCI/GU and the Riedberg Campus facilities and education programs.
  • Collaboration: Based on the vibrant research environment in Frankfurt, the project will interact with numerous national and international collaboration partners e.g. the National Cancer Institute (Louis Staudt, Bethesda, USA) and consortia such as TACTIC, TheraNova, the Structural Genomics Consortium and the SFB1530.
  • Publications: Internationally competitive lab with publications in high-impact peer-review journals such as:
    • Mohr, Cancer Cell, 2017
    • Phelan, Nature, 2018
    • Li et al., Science. 2024 Feb 2;383(6682):498-503 (doi: 10.1126/science.adm8095)
    • Owens et al., Nat Chem Biol. 2024 Sep;20(9):1164-1175. (doi: 10.1038/s41589-024-01618-0)
    • Wilke et al. Blood 2022 (DOI: 10.1182/blood.2021012081)
    • Jayavelu et al. Cancer Cell 2022 (DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2022.02.006)
    • Scheich et al. Cancer Discovery 2023 (DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-22-1401)
    • Phelan et al. Cancer Cell 2024 (DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2023.12.019)
    • Schwalm et al. Nature Comm 2024 (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54409-5)
    • Dopfer et al. Nature Comm 2024 (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54409-5)
    • Wu et al Nature Comm, 2019 (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09672-2)
    • Picaud et al Cancer Res 2015 (DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-0236)

Women are underrepresented in these positions at the University Hospital Frankfurt. Applications from women are therefore particularly welcome. Disabled applicants are preferred if they have the same personal and professional qualifications.

Join our team

Use the time until December 30, 2024 to apply. Please submit your online application including a possible starting date and your salary expectations. For further information regarding the position and project, please contact Dr. Niklas Dienstbier (Dienstbier@med.uni-frankfurt.de).

Apply now

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