Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Translational Lung Cancer Research (scholarship)

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The Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet conducts basic, translational and clinical research and educational activities related to cancer. The position is placed in the research laboratory of Associate Professor Simon Ekman. The group of Associate Professor Simon Ekman focuses on the development of novel treatments for lung cancer. The overall aim is to develop new oncological treatments through the approach of personalized cancer medicine.

Duties

The candidate is expected to play a major role in molecular analysis, scientific hypothesis generation, presentation of results and manuscript preparation. The candidate will work on several projects regarding coding and non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs, and their role in acquired resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immunotherapy. The duties involve working with mouse xenograft tumor models, patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), routine cell biology work and establishment of molecular methods, as well as computational and biostatistical analyses of expression array data. The candidate will be working closely together with a senior wet lab molecular biologist, to ensure high quality output from all steps.

The work covers the following main tasks:

Handling mouse xenograft tumor models and patient-derived xenograft tumor models including implantation of cancer cells and administration of tyrosine kinase inhibitors as well as synthetic microRNA drugs
Handling and extracting material from clinical lung cancer specimens
Taking responsibility for cell culture duties to generate and maintain non-small cell lung cancer cell lines resistant to various tyrosine kinase inhibitors
Taking responsibility for performing reproducible and robust wet lab experiments, including RT-qPCR, Western blotting and viability assays
Performing bioinformatics analyses of RNA/DNA profiles from large expression array and sequencing data

Entry requirements

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.

Other requirements

We are looking for an experienced postdoc-scholar candidate that recently completed his/her PhD. The candidate should be a careful and detail-oriented person who likes to take responsibility. The candidate should be capable of close internal cooperation, as well as interacting with external collaborators that are experts in a wide variety of fields connected to our research. For this, excellent communication skills are required. The candidate should have a strong desire to deliver high quality work, on time, and have experience in working independently.

In addition, applicants must have:

Extensive experience in working with mouse xenograft models, including subcutaneous implantation of tumor cells as well as administration of drugs through intraperitoneal, oral gavage and intravenous tail-vein injections
Extensive experience with various cell culture techniques, including troubleshooting
Experience with RNA extraction, RT-qPCR, protein extraction, Western blotting, and

viability assays, including troubleshooting

Excellent oral and written communication skills
Fluency in English

Furthermore, it is beneficial if applicants have:

Experience in working with patient-derived xenograft models, including subcutaneous implantation of primary tumor material into flanks of mice
Experience in other molecular biology methods, not mentioned above
Experience with bioinformatics tools for sequencing and large expression-based array analysis, including NanoString and RT-qPCR arrays

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.

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