Postdoctoral Researcher in Extracellular Vesicle Engineering and RNA Therapeutics Delivery

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

The Department of Laboratory Medicine at Karolinska Institutet consists of seven divisions engaged in both research and teaching, with strong collaboration with clinicians at the Karolinska University Hospital. The Division of Biomolecular and Cellular Medicine (BCM) focuses on using modified biomolecules, cells, and cell products as novel therapeutic agents, as well as identifying and studying biomolecular and cellular targets for therapy and diagnostics. The division is also connected to the Karolinska ATMP Center.

The El Andaloussi Lab focuses on one of the central challenges in modern therapeutics: how to deliver macromolecules efficiently and safely to target cells in vivo. Despite major advances in disease biology, many promising therapies remain clinically unavailable due to the absence of effective delivery technologies.

Our research program develops cutting-edge systems for the delivery of proteins, RNAs, and gene therapies with high precision. A central platform in our work is extracellular vesicles (EVs). By applying advanced genetic engineering strategies, we design EVs with improved targeting capacity, enabling applications such as precise delivery of gene editors.

To ensure translational impact, we benchmark our engineered EVs against state-of-the-art lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Beyond therapeutic delivery, we are expanding into regenerative medicine, creating bioengineered EVs for tissue repair and regeneration. By integrating regenerative cargos and tissue-targeting motifs, our goal is to enhance therapeutic retention, efficacy, and clinical potential.

Your duties

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you will drive the development of bioengineered extracellular vesicles (EVs) and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to advance RNA therapeutics and regenerative medicine. Your work will focus on creating delivery platforms that not only achieve efficient nucleic acid transfer but also open new avenues for tissue repair and regeneration.

You will:

Engineer stable producer cell lines for scalable EV production and therapeutic RNA loading.
Test EV uptake and functional RNA delivery in validated reporter systems, followed by in vivo evaluation in rodent models
Design EVs carrying regenerative cargos and targeting motifs to enhance retention and repair capacity
Benchmark engineered EVs against cutting-edge LNPs for oligonucleotide and mRNA delivery
Integrate molecular biology, cell engineering, and nanoparticle formulation to build next-generation delivery technologies with translational potential

This role bridges mechanistic delivery science with regenerative applications, positioning you at the forefront of therapeutic innovation.

Your profile

To be eligible for employment as a postdoctor, a PhD or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a Swedish PhD is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled at the latest at the time of the employment decision. Completion of your doctoral degree within the last three years is considered an advantage. If there are special reasons, your degree may have been completed earlier.

The applicant should have a solid background in basic biology, molecular engineering, and drug delivery. The position requires hands-on experience with the isolation, purification, and characterization of extracellular vesicles (EVs), as well as the formulation and application of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and other nanocarriers for RNA delivery. Applicants should demonstrate strong skills in plasmid construction and molecular engineering techniques, alongside expertise in characterization methods such as nanoparticle tracking analysis, dynamic light scattering, and western blotting. Extensive experience with mammalian cell culture and rodent in vivo models is required, and candidates must hold a FELASA level animal license.

In addition, excellent proficiency in both spoken and written English is important. We are looking for an energetic and passionate person who fits in and actively contributes to our team.

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: Flemingsberg

Application

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

PhD certificate
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)

Welcome to apply at the latest 24th October.

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

Permanent position is initiated by a six months trial period.

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