Research Specialist in Translational Microbiome Research

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 has about 40 research groups and our key words are multidisciplinary, bridging, national and international collaborations.

Description of the subject area

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 research with in vitro and in vivo 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, assays and animal models 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 a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a Swedish doctoral degree, the applicant must have demonstrated research expertise as well as have documented research experience after defending their doctoral dissertation.

• A Ph.D. degree in microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, or a relevant field
• Long-term relevant work experience
• At least five years of wet-lab experience in clinical or industrial microbiological work with knowledge of BSL2 lab safety management or handling of human clinical samples
• Well-documented research work in the clinical microbiome field
• Deep understanding of bacterial metabolism and human physiology
• Experience with high-throughput analyses and platforms in microbiological evaluation
• Experience working with mouse models in microbiome research and/or cancer research
• Ability to work with pre-GMP standards, focusing on detailed experimental planning, deviation management and tracking, validation, and standardization for work reproducibility and quality control
• Independent, take initiatives, flexible but structured
• Resourceful, and thorough
• Able to document, critically check, and validate your work should in English and in a traceable way
• Easy to collaborate with others and communicate clearly with colleagues and supervisors
• Analytical and troubleshooting in the lab

We will place great emphasis on personal suitability

Assessment criteria

It is particularly meritorious that the applicant has shown

• Extensive experience working with difficult-to-culture bacteria, including strict anaerobes in anaerobic environments
• Solid understanding of standard techniques in molecular biology, including bacterial cloning, DNA/RNA extraction and sequencing, and protein analytical techniques such as western blot, peptide isolation, and sample preparation for mass spectrometry
• Extensive work in in vivo tissue research and analysis related to microbiome research
• Experience in bacterial microscopy, including confocal and electron microscopy

It is meritorious that the applicant has shown

• Handling and development of gut, vaginal, infection models (i.e. necrotizing enterocolitis), and immune/cancer cell models
• Bioinformatic 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

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:  PhD certificate, resumé, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet's qualifications portfolio.

Welcome to apply at the latest 8 January 2025.

The application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

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