Research Specialist in Translational Microbiome Research - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Do you want to contribute to better health for all?

The Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC) at Karolinska Institutet conducts research and teaching within immunology, infection biology, cell biology and cancer. MTC have about 40 research groups and our key words are multidisciplinary, bridging, national and international collaborations.

The Lars Engstrand group aims at creating a scientific translational environment with a broad interdisciplinary approach to the interface between clinical epidemiology and the microbiological, immunological and genetic aspects of the human microbiome and its association to health and disease. Within the group, the culturomics team focuses now in moving forward with our knowledge and expertise in clinical microbiome studies and aims to optimize the culturomics techniques and technological process development for microbiome-based therapeutics.

Your mission

In the Engstrand group, we have collected a large amount of culture samples from our clinical studies and performed isolation of hundreds of strains. For this work, we are looking for an independent and self-sustaining research specialist who can run and continuously develop our bioreactor models and plan accordingly for high-throughput phenotyping, analysis, and selection of therapeutic cocktails and strains of interest. The aim is to create a comprehensive cultivation biobank by growing and characterizing bacterial strains and consortia from our clinical research samples and performing molecular biological techniques and assays where necessary. The tasks include planning, optimization of methods, implementation and growth and evaluation of important factors for growth and strain utilization as therapy.

The research specialist is expected to perform development and routine work for bacterial phenotyping and assays. Cultivation work is planned and prioritized in collaboration with the head of unit. The work also includes implementation of risk analysis and design of protocols (SOP). The successful candidate is required to document their results in an organized manner, in accordance with early pre-GMP standards. To correlate clinical metadata and information to these isolated strains, information surrounding these are handled in different databases, internal strain databases, Excel sheets, ELN and Clarity LIMS, which is a large and important part of the work.

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for employment as a Research Specialist, in addition to holding a Degree of Doctor, PhD, or having equivalent scientific expertise, the applicant must have demonstrated research expertise as well as have documented research experience after defending their doctoral dissertation.

Assessment criteria

• Ph.D. degree in microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, or a relevant field
• Long-term relevant work experience
• At least a five-year wet lab experience in clinical or industrial microbiological work with knowledge of BSL2 lab safety handling or handling of human clinical samples
• Solid understanding of bacterial culturing techniques and bacterial metabolism
• Experience with high-throughput assays and platforms in microbiological evaluation
• Experience with multiple-well minibioreactors or lab bench bioreactors
• Ability to work in pre-GMP standards with attention to experimental planning, details, deviation notes and trails, validation and standardization for reproducibility of work and quality control
• Be independent, take initiatives, flexible but structured, resourceful, and thorough.
• Be able to document, critically check, and validate your work in English and in a traceable way.
• Easily collaborate with others and communicate clearly with colleagues and supervisors
• Being analytical and being able to troubleshoot in the lab is essential for the position
• We will place great emphasis on personal suitability

It is particularly meritorious that the applicant has shown

• Extensive experience with handling fastidious bacteria, inclusive of strict anaerobes in an anaerobic chamber
• Solid understanding of standard molecular biology techniques, inclusive of bacterial cloning, DNA/RNA extraction and sequencing, and protein analytical techniques such as western blotting, peptide isolation and sample preparation for mass spectrometry identification
• Experience with bacterial microscopy, inclusive of confocal and electron microscopy

It is meritorious that the applicant has shown

• Handling and development of gut, vaginal and skin cell models
• Bioinformatics analysis of bacterial genomes and/or metagenomes

After an overall assessment of the expertise and merits of the applicants in relation to the subject area, Karolinska Institutet will determine which of them has the best potential to contribute to a positive development of the activities at KI.

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. Here, 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: Solna

Choose to work at KI - Ten reasons why

Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC)
https://ki.se/en/mtc/department-of-microbiology-tumor-and-cell-biology

Centre for Translational Microbiome Research (CTMR)
https://ki.se/en/research/centre-for-translational-microbiome-research-ctmr

Application

We prefer that Your application is written in English, but You can also apply in Swedish. An application must contain the following documents: Resumé, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet's qualifications portfolio.

Welcome to apply at the latest 15 July 2024.

The application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

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