The Van der Henst’ Lab is seeking for a motivated postdoc in mobility situation, with a strong background in Structural Biology & Drug Screening techniques. Expertise in Bioinformatics, Microbiology and Molecular Biology is a significant advantage.

Context: Acinetobacter baumannii are Gram-negative bacteria ranked as first critical priority by WHO (“for which research and development of new antibiotics is critically needed”) and by CDC as “an urgent threat to public health”. On top of that, increasing antibiotic resistances worldwide earned this pathogen a place amongst the most problematic nosocomial ESKAPE bacterial pathogens.

Project: The polysaccharidic capsule of A. baumannii is involved in antibiotic and non-antibiotic resistances, representing a major layer of defense. Hence, any new fundamental knowledge and/or strategies impairing capsule deposition will help generating alternative approaches to combat this problematic pathogen. The aims reside in developing new inhibitory strategies against key actors involved in capsule production while having a better knowledge of surface exposed targets.

Object: Postdoc position / VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology

Starting date: January 2023 (flexible)

Duration: 2 years funded contract (flexible)