Postdoc in Bioinformatics – Clinical proteomics at Karolinska Institutet

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Karolinska Institutet, Department of Oncology-Pathology, Lehtiö research group

At the Department of Oncology-Pathology basic, translational and clinical research and educational activities related to cancer is carried out. Approximately 300 people from over 40 nations are currently working at the department. About 30 research groups with various cancer research profiles are involved and we have around 110 PhD students. The Department of Oncology-Pathology is responsible for undergraduate courses in Pathology, Oncology and Forensic Medicine for medical students, as well as for Tumor biology courses for biomedicine students and Pathology courses for opticians.

Do you want to contribute by connecting the latest cancer proteome research to patient benefits?

Precision medicine refers to the tailoring of medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient. We are looking for a passionate postdoc interested in the concept of precision medicine using mass spectrometry based proteomics. The work will span from generation to analysis of clinical mass spectrometry based proteomics data, with the aim to define and understand the biology behind different breast tumor subgroups, how they relate to clinical outcome, and how this information can be used to guide therapy decisions.

The position will be placed in the Cancer proteomics Mass spectrometry research group headed by Professor Janne Lehtiö at Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab). The Lehtiö group is a translational group aiming to improve cancer treatment using multi-omics tumor data analysis. The group members are from various disciplines working as a team to study genes and proteins in the context of biological networks, understand how tumor molecular changes impact the proteome and discover new disease biomarkers to be exploited therapeutically. Scientists and engineers in our group work closely together using a variety of technologies to generate novel knowledge about the biology of the disease and implement tools to support the clinical-decision making in the oncology setting.

SciLifeLab is a national infrastructure and research center in technology driven life sciences and Karolinska Institutet is one of the four founding universities for SciLifeLab. We offer a very stimulating and diverse work in a team of very motivated co-workers with expertise in cutting-edge technology.

Your mission

We seek a highly motivated postdoc in bioinformatics, interested in clinical cancer omics data analysis with an emphasis on mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics. The postdoc position requires solid expertise in genomics, transcriptomics and/or proteomics data analysis, communication skills and the willingness to work in a team environment. The postdoctoral research offers great possibility for innovative research combining proteomics, genomics and clinical data, together with a dedicated group of scientists.

The postdoc education will include integrative and translational analysis of multiple levels of omics data derived from different cancer cohorts. The focus will be on applying and developing bioinformatics methods to answer biologically and clinically relevant research questions and as well as to validate and expand on the findings using public domain data. This includes both applying established data analysis approaches (dimensionality reduction, clustering, differential expression etc.) as well as investigating new strategies and solutions for the analysis of quantitative biological data of different molecular layers (e.g. DNA, RNA and proteins). Further, the work involves the use of machine learning-based methods for the development of molecular classifiers for stratification of cancer into different treatment groups to support clinical decision-making in the oncology setting.

Entry requirement and qualifications

To be eligible for the postdoctoral position, the person must have obtained a doctorate or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctorate. Applicants who have not completed a doctorate at the end of the application period may also apply, provided that all requirements for a completed degree are met before the (intended) start date of the postdoctoral education. The head of the department determines whether their previous training and scholarly qualifications correspond to a Swedish doctorate or higher.

Qualifications

PhD in bioinformatics, biology, chemistry, medicine, or another relevant field.
Documented experience in bioinformatics applied to high-dimensional and/or high-throughput data, for instance WGS, NGS, MS-based proteomics.
Working experience in large-scale omics data analysis, integration and visualization.
Programming experience in R and/or Python.
Knowledge and work experience in statistical methods, machine learning, network analysis, and classification methods.
Experience in proteogenomics data analysis.
Understanding of cell- and molecular wet-lab experimental methods.
Ability to interpret omics data in a biological context.
Thorough understanding of medical/translational research
Excellent communications skills.
Fluent in English language.

Additional merits

Knowledge and working experience of lung cancer, breast cancer and/or leukemia biology.
Knowledge of cancer biology and current translational cancer research.
Experience in bioinformatics analysis of clinical data.

Since the position involves close interaction with several researchers, emphasis is placed on personal skills such as:

Ability to work independently.
Very good collaborative skills.
Excellent communication skills and analytical skills.
Curious and eager to solve biological questions.

Your profile

To be eligible for employment as a postdoctor a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctoral degree is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled at the latest at the time of the employment decision. It is considered as an advantage if you have completed your doctoral degree within the last three years, if there are special reasons, your degree may have been completed earlier.

What do we offer?

A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Science for Life Laboratory in Solna

Lethiö Lab

Application

An employment application must contain the following documents in English or Swedish:

A complete resumé, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
A complete list of publications
A summary of current work (no more than one page)

Welcome to apply at the latest 12^thMay.

The employment is 2 years with possibility to extension.

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

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