Postdoctoral researcher in anti-viral CD8 T cell responses - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

As a postdoc in this project, you will be part of KIRI, the Karolinska Institutet Research Incubator, a unique initiative at KI to build a community for interdisciplinary research and breakthrough discoveries. You will have access to two PI:s that you can meet and interact with to facilitate the research process and increase the synergetic effects. As part of KIRI, you will also have the opportunity to meet other KIRI postdocs conducting state-of-the-art research, present your work at scientific events, and take part in KIRI activities. Read more about KIRI here

https://ki.se/en/research/ki-research-incubator-kiri 

Your mission

We are recruiting a postodoc who is passionate about anti-viral CD8 T cell immunity and about working on a truly translational project, linking fundamental and clinical immunology. The long-term goal is to improve immunomonitoring after vaccination or infection by determining the quality of the anti-viral CD8 T cell response using advanced flow cytometry. The project builds on fundamental knowledge generated in the Gerlach lab that the postdoc now will translate and test in clinical samples collected in the environment of the Gredmark Russ lab.

The postdoc will interact and collaborate with basic and clinical scientists, process clinical samples including from virally infected individuals and carry out and develop approaches for advanced flow cytometry. The postdoc is expected to plan, perform, analyze and document experiments in a transparent manner, and to communicate the results within, between and outside of the research groups.  The duties furthermore include actively taking part in research meetings and journal clubs, and contributing to the well-functioning of the local research environment. Given the collaborative nature of the project and complementary expertises of the two labs, the postdoc will regularly travel between the Solna and Flemingsberg campuses of Karolinska Institutet and perform experimental work and participate in activities in both labs

Your profile

We are looking for a highly motivated, initiative-taking, technically skilled person that is passionate about pursuing translational research in T cell immunology. The successful candidate must have a critical mind, a collaborative, team-oriented and collegial attitude, and the inter-personal skills to effectively communicate and collaborate with colleagues of different backgrouds. Perseverance in working towards goals, excellent planning skills that allow for a high degree of flexibility when clinical samples arrive and a proactive and problem-solving attitude is required. The position furthermore requires dedication to the project, accuracy and attention to detail. The postdoc is required to be able to work both independently and as a collaborative and helpful team member. The position requires maintenance of accurate and detailed experimental records. The applicant should be scientifically curious, have a personality that fits in the groups, and an internal drive to promote a collaborative atmosphere within the group.  

Required qualifications:

• Doctoral degree in Immunology or a related field
• a solid theoretical and experiemental background in cellular immunology
• excellent skills in flow cytometry
• Experience in primary immune cell handling
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with a diverse group of people
• Excellent communication skills and proficiency in written and spoken English
• A strong motivation to work on the described project
•  Knowing your own limits of knowledge and energy and being able to communicate these to the group leaders and your peers
•  Comfortable with mouse research being done in the research group

 Desired qualifications:

• experience in high-dimensional data analysis
• experience in handling infectious samples
• experience in CD8 T cell immunology

Provide concrete examples of your experience with the listed techniques/how you meet the 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.

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, https://ki.se/en/meds/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 Carmen Gerlach. While the postoc will be employed in the Department of Medicine, Solna in the research group of Carmen Gerlach, the postdoc project is – as stated above – a collaboration between the Gerlach and Gredmark Russ groups, and the postdoc will therefore carry out work in both groups.

Research in the Gerlach group is directed at understanding basic cellular and molecular principles governing CD8 T cell responses to acute infections and cancer. Using a combination of several state-of-the-art single-cell technologies the Gerlach group strives to understand mechanisms underlying the generation, maintenance and consequences of the heterogeneity within the T cell immune response. The long-term goal is that this fundamental knowledge will contribute to improved vaccines and immunotherapies. The Gerlach group is located at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM) (https://www.cmm.ki.se/) and is part of the Department of Medicine Solna (https://ki.se/en/meds/department-of-medicine-solna).

Sara Gredmark Russ runs a research group in parallel to 50% clinical work with a focus on viral CNS infections and acute infections. She has vast experience in viral infections from a clinical perspective, as well as from a basic viral and immunological perspective. Over the last decade the Gredmark Russ group has studied the immune response during acute Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) infection and is leading in this field. In addition to TBEV she has studied SAR-CoV-2 infection. The research group has an outstanding position in accessing valuable clinical material, including blood samples from patients with Sara Gredmark Russ´s active clinical connection. The Gredmark Russ research group is located at the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) (https://ki.se/en/medh/center-for-infectious-medicine-cim) and is part of the Department of Medicine Huddinge (https://ki.se/en/medh/department-of-medicine-huddinge).

The Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) and the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM) of Karolinska Institutet are both research environments with close collaborations within the different independent research groups, making it possible to perform cutting edge immunological research. Both CMM and CIM have access to modern laboratory facilities including advanced flow cytometry facilities (with regular and spectral multicolor flow cytometers, and cell sorters at BSL2 and BSL3 level) and BSL2/BSL3-laboratories for work with samples from patients infected with pathogens in these categoroes and for in vitro infections.

 Lab websites: https://gerlachlab.com & https://ki.se/en/research/groups/diversity-within-the-t-cell-response-t-cell-memory-research-group-carmen-gerlach & https://ki.se/en/research/groups/viruses-and-their-interactions-with-the-immune-system-sara-gredmark-russ-group

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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)

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

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