Register for Postdocs & Researchers - Vacara AB - Internship Project VT24

Vacara AB

- VACcination Against Rheumatoid Arthritis - 

Target group 

Internship project for PostDocs and researchers for 2 months 

About the company 

Vacara is a Swedish company dedicated for developing novel diagnostic kits as well as innovative preventive and therapeutic treatments for autoimmune diseases, with focus on rheumatoid arthritis.  

Vacara develops a tolerizing vaccine (AID001), together with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. AID001 is developed for treatment and prevention of rheumatoid arthritis. The effect of the vaccine is to downregulate the autoimmune attack on the joints which is achieved by inducing the activity of regulatory T cells.  

The project 

Vacara has developed humanized mouse models with physiologic expression of chimeric MHC class II alleles which are useful for mimicking rheumatoid arthritis and are ideal for testing the AID001 vaccine in vivo. The aim of the internship project is to design and develop an assay to characterize the immune response to detect and follow-up the vaccination effect during preclinical studies of the vaccine candidate. Samples from the humanized mouse arthritis model treated with the vaccine or vehicle are available, and these will be tested with the developed assays to identify and quantify the effects of vaccination in relation to e.g. dosing and timing and disease severity. 

Location: Campus Solna, Innomedicum, Nanna Svartz väg 4, 171 65, Solna, Sweden. 

Time period: 2 months, either May–June or between September and November 2024, preferably full time. 

The candidate 

The candidate should have deep scientific knowledge in immunology and immunological research. Background in different autoimmune studies is an asset, and especially knowledge on the field of rheumatoid arthritis is appreciated. The candidate should have a professional knowledge and several years’ hands-on experience in performing different types of immunoassays including cell-based and biomarker assays including development of assays in-house and method troubleshooting. Good co-operation and social skills are a pre-requisite to successfully conduct the project in the project team. The ideal candidate would have a proactive attitude and capability to work independently. Fluent English is a must. 

Contact information 

Name: Outi Sareila 

Email: outi.sareila@vacara.se 

Telephone:  +358 40 5482476 
Company website: www.vacara.se