Research assistant in psychiatric genomics

The Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (MEB) is among the largest departments of epidemiology in Europe with special focus on increasing our knowledge of the aetiology of different diseases. Our department consists of researchers, doctoral students, biostatisticians, data collectors and database administrators as well as administrative personnel, in total some 250 staff. The department is situated at campus Solna. Further information can be found at ki.se/meb

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

We seek a new research assistant who will work in the KI-Psychiatric Genomics Institute (KI-PGI), led by Prof Patrick Sullivan and principal researcher Lu Yi. The KI-PGI is a research program within the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (MEB) with 10 year funding from the Swedish Research Council. The KI-PGI begins with fundamental genomic findings and then elucidates the implications for patients, clinicians, and neuroscientists. Prof. Sullivan leads the worldwide collaboration Psychiatric Genomics Consortium https://www.med.unc.edu/pgc/, which is one of the most innovative and productive research efforts in the history of psychiatry. We are deeply collaborative, and in addition to the 150+ institutions involved in the PGC, we actively work with at least 10 major genetic, psychiatric, neuroscience, and functional genomic groups. We have established, long term collaborations within the KI, Sweden, Europe, the US, and Australia. We have multiple large new datasets. These recent papers describe our efforts in psychiatric genomics (Nat. Genet 2020), functional genomics, identification of brain cell types for schizophrenia (initial study and replication)(Nat. Genet. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-018-0129-5, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-020-0610-9), the work of the PGC, and reviews for the field (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867419300480?via=ihub). These are only a subset of efforts now underway.

The overarching goals of the KI-PGI are: on a population scale, how do genes and environment act and interact to modify risk for severe psychiatric disorders (e.g. schizophrenia and severe major depressive disorder).

Your mission

We seek an outstanding and innovative person to join our team as a research assistant July-December. You will be a part of the KI-PGI team and work together with Dr. Lu Yi. You will conduct research on early onset depression and mental disorder and cardiovascular disease comorbidity by leveraging large-scale genomic and functional genomic data. This will be done within projects funded by NIH/NIMH and EU Horizon 2020.

Your profile

Applicants should have a MSc education in medical science, epidemiology, biostatistics, or genetics or equivalent experience.
Applicants should have substantial prior experience in professional analysis of multiple types of modern genomic and functional genomic datasets. These might include: GWAS, exome sequencing, whole genome sequencing, RNA-sequencing.
Applicant should have a good knowledge of R programming. Experience of modern methods in genomics such as ldscore regression and LAVA is an advantage.
Knowledge of complex trait genomics and psychiatric genomics is very important.
Knowledge of the genomics of mental disorder and cardiovascular disease comorbidity is an advantage.
Applicants should be highly collegial and experienced in working effectively in “team science” contexts as well as independently.
Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are required, along with ample experience with scientific writing.

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. Our vision is to pursue the development of knowledge about life and to promote a better health for all. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several good benefits through our collective agreement. And you get to practice freely in our modern wellness facilities, where trained staff are on site.

Location: Solna

Application

Welcome to apply!

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.In this recruitment, you will apply with your CV without a personal letter. Instead, you will answer some questions about why you are applying for the job in the application form.

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