Post doc: Immunopathology in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

The scientific focus for the current position is set on identifying novel cellular and molecular mechanisms in the immunopathology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), one of the main causes of mortality at the global level. The long-term goal of the ongoing research is to identify targets for diagnosis, monitoring and specific therapy against COPD including pulmonary comorbidities.

Your mission

The successful applicant will be a part of the Lindén research group, in the Division for Lung and Airway Research, with laboratories at the Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, and at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet - all facilities in Solna. The position is intended for a young career researcher with a strong track record of high-quality publications. Once settled in the research group, the main task will be practical responsibility for laboratory analyses of unique human study materials, using standard and state-of-the-art techniques in cellular and molecular biology. The position also requires work with cultures of human blood and lung cells ex vivo. With few exceptions, the work will unclude biological materials from humans.

More specifically, the work includes standard methods for protein analyses, including Western blot and ELISA. There will also be work using more advanced methods including LUMINEX, PEA or immuno-q-PCR. Moreover, the work includes cellular analysis of leukocyte populations and their cytokine content using flow cytometry and this requires in-depth methodological understanding. The coming research will also require use of spectral flow cytometry. The work also requires experience in cell culture and standard methods for immune staining, respectively. In addition, the work involves analyses of gene transcripts using RT-PCR, Q-PCR and/or NGS RNA sequencing. Finally, the coming research may require analyses of single cell RNA and spatial immunomorphology as well.

The position is temporary for two years with the possibility of extension.

Your profile

To be eligible for employment as a post-doctoral researcher, a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled, at the latest at the time of the employment decision.

To qualify for the position, the applicant must be able to operate at the highest professional level and be proficient in the English language including writing. In addition to holding an academic doctoral degree in a relevant subject area, the applicant should preferrable have experience from a preceding post-doctoral training period in a well-renowned laboratory. The applicant’s previous experience can include cell biology, molecular biology or other relevant fields of research. A thorough experience from human immunology is a must and experience from research in the respiratory or cardiovascular area will be considered a strong merit.

Given the importance of the position for research in the Linden group, the applicant must demonstrate personal commitment, flexibility, and ability to work as a team member for the benefit of the entire research group. Previous experience from the database software REDCAP is a merit, as is interest in practical supervision of PhD and Master students. After an overall assessment of the expertise and merits of the applicants in relation to the subject area, Karolinska Institutet will determine who has the best potential to contribute to the development of the Lindén research group in the Division of Lung and Airway Research.

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

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)

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

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