Postdoctoral studies in translational immunology focusing on lymphoma in the skin(scholarship) - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

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Division

The Department of Medicine, Solna, is one of the largest departments at Karolinska Institutet. The department consists of several units that are separated into different research groups. The core activities of the department are research, doctoral education and undergraduate education for medical and biomedical students. The research has three main profiles: allergy, cardiovascular medicine and inflammatory diseases.

The laboratory of Hanna Brauner is located in an excellent immunological research environment at the Centre for Molecular Medicine, CMM. The close proximity of the laboratory to the clinic at the Karolinska University Hospital facilitates collaborations with clinicians of different fields and enables the analysis of fresh patient samples.

Duties

We seek a highly motivated postdoctoral fellow to join the team of associate professor Hanna Brauner in focusing on finding novel pathogenic mechanisms and biomarkers for patients with cutaneous lymphoma.

We have access to unique clinical material, including fresh patient material from the Dermatology clinic where Hanna Brauner is specialist in dermatology and responsible for patients with cutaneous lymphoma, which we will assess in a truly translational approach, applying cutting edge methods to understand key clinical questions. The team of Hanna Brauner has a net-work of national and international collaborators among both basic science researcher and clinical researchers and is associated to the research group of professor Marie Wahren Herlenius.

Our main research interest is cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL), which is a rare and less studied type of lymphoma primarily engaging the skin. We recently published the first description of skin infiltration natural killer (NK) cells in patients with CTCL and found that they are increased in numbers and have an activity-impaired phenotype, partially driven by interactions with the tumor (Scheffschick et al, Front Immunol, 2023). The unique accessibility of CTCL allows for easy access to the tumor and the possibility to follow the development of the lymphoma and anti-lymphoma immune responses over time. Most of the patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma get an indolent disease, but for largely unknown reasons around 10-15% percent develop aggressive disease with high fatality. In these efforts our ultimate aims are to increase fundamental knowledge on the pathogenesis of cutaneous lymphoma and aid earlier identification of patients at risk of aggressive disease. We hope that findings from our studies will also be applicable for patients with other types of less accessible lymphoma subtypes.

To reach our goal have set up a strong collaborative team of researchers and clinicians in dermatology, hematology, oncology, pathology, immunology and epidemiology to take a broad approach. Our research originates in clinical questions and patient material paired with high level basic science experimental investigations.

The position includes experimental work, primarily with clinical material and cell lines but possibly also animal experiments. Key techniques include in vitro assessments of immune cell phenotype and function, advanced flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, spatial proteomics and transcriptomics, single cell RNA sequencing and confocal microscopy.

Entry requirements

Applicants are required to have a PhD in immunology, cell biology or another relevant field. A strong publication record and ability to draft manuscripts is also desired. The successful applicant further has strong interpersonal skills, motivation and organizational and executive capacity.

Scholarships for postdoctoral qualification can be established for foreign researchers who place their qualifications in Sweden. The purpose of scholarships for postdoctoral qualification is to promote internationalization and contribute to research qualification after a doctorate or equivalent.
A scholarship for carrying out postdoctoral research can be granted for a maximum of two years within a four year period following the receipt of a doctoral degree or equivalent.
To be eligible for a postdoctoral scholarship, 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 post doctoral education.

Persons who are resident in Sweden and/or have carried out all or part of their academic education at KI or some other educational institution in Sweden cannot be considered for scholarships from KI.

The head of the department determines whether their previous training and scholarly qualifications correspond to a Swedish doctorate or higher.

Location

The position is located within the Department of Medicine, Solna. The department consists of eleven divisions and each division consists of several research groups. The position is located within the research group of Marie Wahren-Herlenius, research team Hanna Brauner. Please see our websites for more information: https://staff.ki.se/people/hanna-brauner, https://centermolecularmed.wixsite.com/my-site/hanna-brauner-team

Type of scholarship

The amount is tax free and it is set for twelve months at a time, paid out on a six months basis. In exceptional cases, shorter periods may be acceptable.

Application process

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

• A complete curriculum vitae, 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)

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

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