ETH - Roche Postdoc in optical liquid biopsy in Zürich

The highly competitive Bio-Engineering Systems for Therapeutics (BEST) postdoc program, part of the Next-gen Bioengineers initiative, is jointly run by the ETH Zurich and the Roche Pharma Research and Early Development. The program focuses on developing new tools and methods to resolve existing problems and coming up with solutions for future challenges in medical translation and therapeutics.

The Nanophotonic Systems Laboratory (Prof. Romain Quidant, ) at ETH Zurich is searching for a postdoctoral researcher to work on a collaborative project with the Division of ophthalmology at the Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (Roche pRED). The project aims to real-time molecular profile of an organ-on-chip model system for ophthalmologic pathologies by using a newly developed optofluidic platform.

The group

In the Nanophotonic Systems Laboratory (NSL) integrates the latest advances in Photonics with fundamental Physics, Biology, and Engineering to address scientific and technological challenges over a wide spectrum of fields.

Organ-on-chips (OOC) have become a promising approach to developing predictive human models outside the body. One of the unmet goals in OOC development is the lack of real-time monitoring of the model system to capture its maturation, as well as study its response dynamics to stimuli - a critical step for drug discovery, evaluation, and translatability.

The successful candidate will complement our interdisciplinary team,and, in close interaction with our Roche collaborators, apply a newly developed optofluidic platform to real-time molecular profile an OOC model for early diabetic retinopathy. In addition, the candidate will benefit from working at both sites, ETH Zurich, and Roche in Basel.

In close collaboration with multidisciplinary experts you will develop a high throughput molecular profiling assay against disease biomarkers. You will also design and fabricate microfluidic chips on which the molecular fingerprinting assay will run and integrate all these components into a dedicated optofluidic detection platform that enables continuous monitoring. You will then validate the platform against state-of-the-art technologies are essential parts of the project. Finally, you will take the first steps, in collaboration with Roche, to understand the development of disease pathologies from an OOC disease model system. Throughout the project, you will document all activities in an electronic laboratory notebook.

• PhD degree in Chemistry, Biology, Physics, or Biomedical/Electrical engineering
• Experience with microfluidics, single-molecule microscopy, immunoassays or label-free biosensing
• Experience in computer programming or computer vision is a plus
• Excited about interdisciplinary research in a highly multidisciplinary and international team
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Eager to learn new concepts and to closely collaborate with our Roche partners
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team with other researchers

• Exciting and highly innovative and collaborative research within the framework of Engineering Translational Medicine
• Co-supervision by ETH Zurich and Roche principal investigators
• Full access to the facilities and expertise at the campuses of Roche and ETH Zurich
• Support programme benefits (networking, career development)
• Regular seminars and joint symposia at ETH Zurich and Roche
• Fully funded fellowship for 2 years