Postdoctoral researcher in pharmacoepidemiology of antidiabetic medication and socioeconomic factors - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

The current postdoctoral fellowship is funded by the Strategic Research Programme in Diabetes (SRP Diabetes) at Karolinska Institutet. The postdoctoral project is within the field of pharmacoepidemiology with a special focus on the impact of socioeconomic factors on antidiabetic (ADM) medications use. Main focus will be on pharmacoepidemiological research and causal inference methods using data from national health registers. The aim is to investigate the impact of socioeconomic factors on ADM use, discontinuation and type 2 diabetes (T2D) consequences such as cardiovascular diseases, kidney failure and retinopathy.

The postdoctoral fellow will be supervised by the principal investigator Dr. Laura Pazzagli and supported by other members of the research team (including international collaborators). The pharmacoepidemiology Research Team at the Clinical Epidemiology Division, Department of Medicine Solna, will host the fellow. Based at Karolinska Institutet, the fellow will undertake a cutting-edge research project and be part of the SRP Diabetes Postdoctoral Fellowship programme, for which several events and networking opportunities will be held throughout the year such as high-profile international lectures, symposia, internal retreats, etc. which the fellow will attend. It is our intention that the position will start in the spring of 2023, though some flexibility with the start date might be possible. The fellowship is fully funded and the position is for 2 years, with the possibility of extension.

Your mission

The postdoctoral fellow will work closely with the research team contributing to all phases of the project.

• In particular, the fellow is expected to contribute to data order applications, protocol development, statistical data analyses using large national health registers, results interpretation, manuscripts preparation, and results dissemination.
• The fellow is encouraged to contribute original ideas for new research projects and funding applications, and coordinate multiple aspects of the work with the aim to deliver novel research in accordance with established timelines set together with the Principal Investigator.
• Finally, the fellow is also expected to formally present research results and represent the research group at internal, national and international conferences and meetings, as well as informally present to the research group at established meetings.

Your profile

Description of requirements and qualifications

• 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.
• A PhD in pharmacoepidemiology, epidemiology, biostatistics, public health or another research subject relevant for conducting large-scale pharmacoepidemiological register studies is a requirement.
• Good knowledge of causal inference theory and methods (merit) and epidemiological research (requirement).
• Strong skills in performing data analyses on large-scale health data using statistical software, such as R, SAS, or STATA is a requirement.
• An enthusiastic interest in diabetes epidemiology research, pharmacoepidemiology, and socioeconomic determinants of health is a merit.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English are requirements.
• Evidence of excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate research ideas and to interact with colleagues and the broader research community is a merit.
• Prior experience in causal inference methods for confounding adjustment such as propensity score methods or other methods such as mendelian randomization and mediation analysis is a merit.

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

The position is located within the Department of Medicine, Solna. The department consists of twelve divisions and each division consists of several research groups. The position is located within the research group Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Team Björn Pasternak: Pharmaco-epidemiology. Thriving on substantial expertise in large-scale pharmacoepidemiological register studies, the team has the overall objective of using high-quality epidemiology to help inform evidence-based decisions in clinical practice https://staff.ki.se/people/bjorn-pasternak

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)
• A personal letter (no longer than one A4 page, font size 11 or larger), explaining the applicant’s reasons for wanting to pursue postdoctoral research; her/his particular interest in the fields of pharmacoepidemiology, socioeconomic factors, and diabetes; specification of skills and personal qualities that may contribute to the successful execution of the project; and a note on when the applicant could start the position.

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

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