Postdoctoral studies in exosome-based cancer therapy and liquid biopsy development (scholarship) - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Our research efforts in the EL Andaloussi´s lab focus on one of the greatest challenges facing modern therapeutics; delivery of macromolecules to target cells in vivo. Despite the unprecedented knowledge of diseases and their mechanisms due to advances in biomedical sciences; many promising therapeutic approaches are still clinically unavailable. This is simply because there is no efficient means of delivering these therapeutics to the right tissue with the right dose. Our research performance involves developing novel and innovative drug delivery technologies that can carry therapies to the target tissues safely and efficiently. In this connection, we engineer exosomes with enhanced delivery and targeting capacities and screen our wide array of exosome designs in disease-relevant cellular and animal models. In parallel, exosomes can also be used for diagnostic purposes. Tumor derived exosomes can be found in all body fluids and can act as a fingerprint, carrying genomic and proteomic information of the cancer. Liquid biopsy is an expanding research field with the hope to improve cancer monitoring and improve implementation of personalized cancer therapies. Even though the field has been largely dominated by circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and DNA (ctDNA), exosomes may have the ability to further improve early cancer detection as exosomes are believed to be secreted at an earlier time point of the cancer development. Thus, our research platform offers a unique opportunity for discovering and developing advanced exosome-based therapeutics and diagnostic tools.  

We are now looking for a Postdoctoral Research fellow for a scholarship.

Your mission

As a Postdoctoral Research fellow, you will be involved in the development of bioengineered extracellular vesicles (EVs) as novel cancer therapies and development of improved strategies for enrichment of tumor derived EVs as an improved liquid biopsy platform in cancer.

Most of the research will initially be conducted utilizing cell lines and animal models before the methods are applied to patient material. The duties will involve developing stable cell lines for production of EVs engineered to harbor reporter proteins, with or without a therapeutic/targeting domain. The stable cells will be used both for screening of suitable cell source for therapeutic applications of EVs and for labeling of tumor derived EVs used for optimization of isolation techniques from complex media such as plasma. Next, the therapeutically engineered EVs will be loaded with anti-tumoral drugs and assessed in vitro and in vivo. Following successful isolation protocol, the labeled tumor derived EVs (and later patient derived EVs) will be sequenced and undergo proteomic analysis, which will be compared to ctDNA/CTCs. 

Your profile

The applicant should have a solid background in molecular and tumor biology or biotechnology. The position requires practical lab experience in the following areas; RNA-sequencing and experience with molecular cloning and extensive knowledge regarding cell culture work including generation of stable cell clones for protein expression proteomics. Secondly, experience with proteomics and flow cytometric analysis of protein expression are wanted. The ideal candidate would furthermore have experience within the EV or virus field. FELASA level animal license and experience from experimental work in rodents is meritorious.

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.

Entry requirements

The eligible candidate for the Postdoctoral Researcher scholarship should hold a PhD degree dated no more than 7 years before the last date of employment as postdoc. The term can be extended under special circumstances.

Scholarships for postdoctoral qualification can be established for foreign researchers who place their qualifications in Sweden. The purpose of scholarships for postdoctoral qualification is to promote internationalization and contribute to research qualification after a doctorate or equivalent.
A scholarship for carrying out postdoctoral research can be granted for a maximum of two years within a four year period following the receipt of a doctoral degree or equivalent.
To be eligible for a postdoctoral scholarship, the person must have obtained a doctorate or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctorate. Applicants who have not completed a doctorate at the end of the application period may also apply, provided that all requirements for a completed degree are met before the (intended) start date of the post doctoral education.

The head of the department determines whether their previous training and scholarly qualifications correspond to a Swedish doctorate or higher.

Location: Flemingsberg

Type of scholarship

The amount is tax free and it is set for twelve months at a time, paid out on a six months basis. In exceptional cases, shorter periods may be acceptable.

Application process

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

• A complete curriculum vitae, 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 on the Varbi recruitment system.

Welcome to apply at the latest 10 April. 

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