Our laboratory work focuses on molecularly targeted treatment strategies for solid tumours, exploiting DNA repair alterations as therapeutic vulnerabilities to advance precision oncology. In previous work, using a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen and a high-throughput drug screen, we recently identified Aurora kinase A (AURKA) as a synthetic lethal target in cancers deficient in FANCA, the most frequently altered gene of the Fanconi anaemia DNA repair pathway. The proposed PhD project, will advance the preclinical validation of this newly uncovered vulnerability in clinically relevant patient-derived cancer models and in vivo, identify synergistic targets for combination therapies through functional genomic screening, and characterise the tumour immune microenvironment of Fanconi anaemia pathway-deficient cancers in order to nominate synergistic immunotherapy targets. The position is embedded in an interdisciplinary and multicentric team of medical oncologists, pathologists and basic and translational researchers. The PhD candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Bern.

• Establish, characterise and maintain patient-derived cancer cell lines and 3D organoids, including models derived prospectively from fresh tumour biopsies
• Perform in vitro efficacy studies and mechanistic validation experiments, using drug response, clonogenic growth and live-cell imaging assays
• Design and carry out genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 synthetic lethality screens and validate the resulting druggable hits
• Analyse screening and sequencing data using established bioinformatics pipelines (MAGeCK RRA/MLE, R)
• Perform confocal and multiplexed immunofluorescence microscopy
• Contribute to in vivo xenograft experiments and to the histological and computational pathology characterisation of explanted tumours
• Present results at national and international conferences and prepare first-author manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals
• Participate in the doctoral programme of the Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences

• Master’s degree (MSc) in Molecular Life Sciences (Cell and Molecular Biology or Biochemistry/Chemical Biology), Biomedical Sciences, molecular biology, biochemistry, biotechnology or a related field, completed by the starting date, ideally with at least one full year lab experience.
• Solid practical experience in mammalian cell culture (experience with 3D organoids is an advantage)
• Experience in standard molecular biology and imaging techniques (western blotting, immunofluorescence, qPCR, optical microscopy). Experience with confocal microscopy is an advantage
• Basic skills in data analysis and statistics; familiarity with GraphPad or R is an advantage
• Strong motivation for translational cancer research and genuine interest in bridging laboratory work and clinical questions
• Ability to work collaboratively within an interdisciplinary and multicentric team
• Excellent command of English, written and spoken