Two PhD Candidates for Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Radboud University

Antibacterial drug resistance is a pressing medical problem with potentially enormous societal implications. It is generally believed that resistance emerges due to the use or misuse of large quantities of antimicrobials in human healthcare and animal husbandry, leading to the build-up of enormous amounts of antibiotics in the environment. However, the exact underlying molecular mechanisms that drive resistance remain elusive and there is no solution to stop bacteria adopting resistant phenotypes. Applying a chemical biology approach to the resistance problem will help to investigate the biochemical processes involved, and can ultimately lead to the identification of new pathways for drug interference. As a PhD candidate, you will work on the development of new chemical probes to study drug resistance and RNA biology. Small molecule probes will be designed and synthesised that will help to interrogate the biochemical processes involved in drug resistance with a focus on the role of RNA. Applying the probes to live cells will assist to unravel the molecular mechanisms that cause bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics. The ultimate goal is to translate these findings to new strategies for combatting drug resistance. This research combines organic synthesis; analytical methods such as fluorescence spectroscopy, MALDI-TOF and HPLC; and biochemical techniques including gel electrophoresis, PCR, cell culture and enzyme kinetics. You will communicate your findings via publications in peer-reviewed journals and at international conferences. You will also be involved in training and teaching BSc and MSc students.

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Two PhD Candidates for Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Radboud University