Research technician position in engineered microglia cell therapy

The Rios group at the Princess Máxima Center is seeking a structured and highly motivated research technician to support the development, preclinical testing and long-term operation of an engineered microglia cell therapy platform for pediatric brain tumors.

This position spans the full route from bench to preclinical trial. You will play a key role in ensuring that iPSC derived cell products are generated, engineered, documented and maintained according to defined procedures, and you will be closely involved in the first in vivo preclinical efficacy studies in which these cell products are tested in mouse models.

Working closely with researchers and animal facility staff, you will help build and maintain a high quality cell engineering resource and a robust in vivo testing pipeline that together support multiple scientific projects within the group.

About The Job Diffuse midline glioma (DMG) is a highly aggressive brain tumor that mainly affects young children. There is currently no curative treatment and most children live less than a year after diagnosis, so new therapies are urgently needed. Immunotherapy offers hope: in this approach the body’s own immune system is put to work against cancer cells, and our group pursues this by engineering the immune cells that already live inside the brain.

Microglia are naturally present in the brain, they are long lived and they continuously survey their environment. Microglia play a dual role, since in some settings they support tumor growth while under the right conditions they can also clear tumor cells. We are engineering microglia so that they turn against the tumor, specifically recognizing and eliminating tumor cells without damaging healthy brain tissue. Because microglia are already perfectly adapted to the brain, we expect this to be an effective and well tolerated route to a new treatment for children with DMG.

As research technician, you will be primarily responsible for iPSC culture, controlled differentiation into microglia and the genetic engineering of these cells. You will then follow these cell products into the preclinical phase, contributing to in vivo efficacy studies in mouse models of DMG, as well as to the characterization and validation of the cells and to the organization of the platform as a whole.

Your Main Responsibilities Include

• Maintenance, expansion and quality control of human iPSC lines under standardized conditions
• Differentiation of iPSCs into microglia according to predefined workflows
• Production, titration and quality control of lentiviral vectors
• Transduction and selection of engineered cell lines, including generation of stable lines
• Molecular cloning and validation of synthetic receptor constructs
• Performing experiments to characterize microglial phenotype and function, including flow cytometry, imaging and co culture assays
• Contributing to in vivo preclinical studies in mouse models of DMG, including preparation and release of cell products, animal handling, monitoring and tissue collection
• Accurate and complete registration of cell lines, constructs, metadata and culture history within the laboratory database
• Contributing to SOP development, workflow optimization and long term scalability of the platform, including ordering, stock management and general lab organization

Your profile

We are looking for a proactive and highly organized research technician with strong hands on experience in stem cell culture and genetic engineering of primary or iPSC derived cells, while also having experience with animal studies.

Qualifications And Skills Include

• Demonstrated experience with iPSC culture and differentiation protocols
• Experience with lentiviral vector production and transduction
• Experience working within structured, SOP driven laboratory environments
• Experience performing cellular characterization assays such as flow cytometry, microscopy or functional assays
• Article 9 or 13f2 certification under the Dutch Experiments on Animals Act and affinity with in vivo work
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple cell lines and constructs in parallel
• Meticulous documentation practices and high awareness of traceability requirements
• Proactive and solution oriented mindset
• Team oriented working style

Our job offer

You will work within a multidisciplinary team at the forefront of advancing immune oncology strategies for cancer treatment, using the latest developments in cell engineering, multi spectral 3D imaging and multi omics data integration.

We offer a temporary, full time position (36 hours per week) for 1 year, with the possibility of extension. Your gross monthly salary will depend on experience and background, starting in scale 45 with a maximum of €4.346 gross per month based on a full time position (36 hours). You also receive 8.33% gross monthly salary holiday allowance and 8.33% end of year bonus. The Princess Máxima Center operates according to the collective labour agreement ‘cao algemene ziekenhuizen’. Starting date is December 2026.

The Princess Máxima Center

The Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology is an integrated hospital and research institute, which integrates healthcare, research and education on pediatric cancer, in a single location in Utrecht. Our institute aims to provide the highest level of care for all children with cancer, with optimal quality of life. The center brings together the best possible care and scientific research, creating a unique interdisciplinary institute for pediatric oncology in Europe.