1-2 Postdoctoral Researcher in Cancer Genomics

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

The Cancer Genomics group at MEB is responsible for prospective genomic profiling in large randomized clinical trials encompassing >50 sites in 6 European countries. The two largest trials are the ProBio trial (www.probiotrial.org) in metastatic prostate cancer and the ALASCCA trial in localized colorectal cancer (https://ki.se/mmk/alascca-studien). The team is led by Senior Researcher Johan Lindberg and is part of a larger research environment (~25 persons) headed by Professor Henrik Grönberg. The ALASCCA study is a collaboration between Anna Martling’s research group (Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery (MMK), KI) and Henrik Grönberg’s research group (MEB, KI)

Your mission

One candidate postdoc will work within the Cancer Genomic team at MEB with genomic data generated for the ALASCCA trial. Although prospective profiling is being applied in ALASCCA, the data have not been investigated beyond alterations in the PI3K signaling pathway. The postdoc will investigate auxiliary research questions, such as to compare genomic subtypes with response to adjuvant chemotherapy.

In addition, the postdoc with be essential for the establishment of additional projects in the context of the ALASCCA infrastructure and cohort. A pilot is currently planned to establish circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) profiling in localized colorectal cancer. The goal is to apply ctDNA profiling in a follow-up trial to ALASCCA to investigate if ctDNA-guided disease monitoring can be used to escalate or de- escalate adjuvant therapy in localized colorectal cancer.

The second candidate postdoc will work with the biomaterial collected in the ProBio trial to address planned retrospective auxiliary research questions such as the prognostic value of ctDNA fraction dynamics, that is, if variable levels of apoptotic tumor DNA in plasma can be applied to predict which patients that are responding to which treatment. This has the potential to revolutionize response evaluation for advanced cancer patients.

Although the postdoc candidates initially will focus on a set of pre-defined research questions, initiatives are encouraged to explore new avenues. The postdoc candidates are also expected to author scientific articles. One of the positions is for six months and the other for 1,5 year.

Questions regarding the role, please contact Johan Lindberg. Contact information can be found below.

Your profile

Qualified to be employed as a postdoctor is one who has obtained a doctorate or has equivalent scientific competence. 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) date of employment. This must be substantiated by the applicant's main supervisor, director or equivalent.

Qualified to be employed as a postdoctor is one who has obtained a doctorate in a relevant subject area.
We are looking for postdoc candidates with a mixture of experience from both labwork and data analysis, and are likely to select one candidate with more experience from the lab and one with more experience from data analysis. However, an understanding of both labwork and data analysis is required.
Hands-on experience from working with cancer genomics is an advantage.
Experience from working with statistical analysis software (e.g. R) and programming in a Linux/ Unix environment (e.g. Perl/Python) is required.

To be successful, the postdoc has to have the ability to work independently, to cooperate, to be ambitions and to take initiatives.

What do we offer?

Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. Our vision is to pursue the development of knowledge about life and to promote better health for all. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct innovative medical research and provide the largest range of biomedical education in Sweden. Karolinska Institutet is a state university, which entitles employees to several benefits such as extended holiday and a generous occupational pension. Employees also have free access to our modern gym and receive reimbursements for medical care.

Location: Solna

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!

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

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