Postdoctoral Researcher in HIV research related to antiretroviral therapy and cure - Extended application time - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Huddinge
The Division of Infectious Diseases, at the Department of Medicine Huddinge is involved in basic scientific, translational and clinical research with focus on infectious diseases. The department is one of the largest departments at Karolinska Institutet.

The division conducts preclinical and translational research is perform at laboratories located within the newly build facilities at Alfred Nobels Allé 8 (ANA8), Campus Flemingsberg. ANA Futura is a leading translational integrated research environment equipped for cutting-edge research, where the boundaries between research departments and clinics are torn down and researchers collaborate on the basis of common research profiles. The announced position will be placed in Professor Anders Sönnerborgs research group, which has a strong focus on pathogenesis, antiretroviral treatment and cure of HIV infection. The experimental research is focused on the interaction between HIV and antiretroviral drugs as well as mechanisms of viral latency. Prof Sönnerborgs group is working very closely with research groups at Division of Clinical Microbiology and the day-to-day activities are often integrated. Also the translational research is a strong component with close ties to the HIV Unit at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital which is the largest HIV clinic in Sweden, harbouring for around 3000 patients. Prof Sönnerborg is involved in several international collaborations with focus on HIV and Covid-19. We publish 10-15 well cited (current h-index 560), articles per year in renowened journals.

Your mission

The applicant will be joining the research group of professor Sönnerborg and mainly work on latency and drug resistance in patients with human immunodeficiency infection as well as studying regulation of HIV latency using state of the art molecular biological tools, immunological tools and cultivation of HIV. The main project the coming year will be to study the impact of HIV subtype variability on resistance development including the importance of off-target mutations. Also depending on the progress further development and evaluation of quantification of the latent HIV reservoir in different patient-categories, including HIV cure studies is planned. Also the applicant is expected to be involved in parallel projects on the molecular epidemiology of HIV.

Your profile

A person is eligible to be appointed postdoc if he or she has been awarded a Degree of Doctor or has achieved the corresponding scientific competence. The persons appointed should primarily be the ones who have been granted a Degree of Doctor or have reached the corresponding competence.

Excellent knowledge in English, written and spoken, is a requirement.

We are looking for a person with profound knowledge in medical biology with a focus on microbiology, especially virology, and in biotechnological techniques. Experience of studies on antiviral therapy of chronic viral infections as well as on viruses which cause latent infection is required with focus on pathogenesis, viral replication, resistance development, latency reactivation and on immunology, especially host antiviral immune responses.

The applicant should be able to work with various cell culture systems in order to assess phenotypes and functionality of cells. He/she should have experience in setting up viral assays to evaluate antiviral efficacy, viral fitness and host immune responses and in various cellular and molecular techniques that allow genetic modification of cells ranging from cloning, to transduction experiments.

Skills in the following techniques are mandatory: i) cell culture systems; both cell lines, primary cells and co-cultures, immune cell isolation from peripheral blood, cellular functionality assays, transfections; ii) flow cytometry analysis; discriminating immune cell subsets, cell surface and intracellular protein stainings, cell death assays; iii) viral assays; lentiviral transductions, virus propagation, viral infectivity experiments; iv) assays of antiviral efficiency; v) other techniques; DNA/RNA isolation from tissues or cells, ELISA, immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter assays, PCR, protein purifications, quantitative PCR, reverse transcriptase, SDS PAGE, western blotting vi) RNA Scope. vii) next generation sequencing and sequence analysis is an extra assett.

He/she shall also be responsible for certain laboratory duties common for several projects, including handling of patientmaterial such as PBMC isolation.

Personal qualities

The person should be well organized, service-oriented and flexible. A positive and collaborative attitude is a pre-requisite for working in the Sönnerborg group and a great emphasize is put on the collaborative attitude of the applicant. Thus, of importance is that the candidate is well aquainted with collaborative work in a dynamic environment which includes strong social skills.

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: Flemingsberg

The department of Medicine, Huddinge

Your career continues here

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 2021-05-11.

A postdoctoral position is a fixed-term position. The first employment is for one year, with a possible extension of up to three years after evaluation.

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

Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all