Postdoctoral Researcher

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

The Signal Transduction research group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery explores the molecular mechanisms by which pancreatic islet cells regulate signaling under physiological and diabetic conditions. In recent years, the group has established an innovative platform for in vivo imaging and functional analysis of pancreatic islets through their transplantation into the anterior chamber of the eye. This pioneering approach provides a powerful model for studying islet cell signaling, intercellular communication, and disease progression in real time, offering unique opportunities for mechanistic and translational discoveries.

Your mission

You will explore how exercise communicates its metabolic benefits through extracellular vesicles (EVs) that connect the brain, muscle, and pancreas. Building on recent discoveries that exercise-induced EVs deliver protective microRNAs such as miR-124-5p to pancreatic β-cells, your goal is to define their molecular cargo, map their tissue origins, and engineer EV-based delivery systems using DNA nanotechnology. Your work will advance understanding of brain-to-islet signaling and pioneer EV-based therapeutics that enhance β-cell survival and combat diabetes.

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.

In addition, applicants should demonstrate:

• A doctoral degree in molecular medicine, physiology, biochemistry, or a closely related biomedical field.
• Proven expertise in extracellular vesicle biology, including isolation, characterization, and molecular cargo profiling (proteomics, miRNA sequencing).
• Documented experience in metabolic and diabetes research, with a focus on β-cell biology, insulin regulation, or inter-organ communication.
• Extensive experience in pancreatic islet isolation and transplantation in the anterior chamber for microscopy-based imaging in vivo studies.
• Hands-on experience with cell and animal models of metabolic disease, including in vivo assays such as glucose and insulin tolerance tests. 
•  Skills in molecular and cellular biology techniques, such as gene expression analysis, imaging, and nanotechnology-based delivery systems.
• Competence in bioinformatics and multi-omics data integration for mechanistic or translational studies.
• Strong scientific writing ability, analytical thinking, and motivation to work independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary research environment. 

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: Solna

Signal Transduction – Ismael Valladolid Acebes' research group | Karolinska Institutet

Choose to work at KI – Ten reasons why

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 2025-11-17

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

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