Postdoctoral studies in molecular sub-phenotyping of obstructive lung disease - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

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We have an opening for 1-2 postdoctoral researcher wishing to join a multidisciplinary systems medicine project investigating the role of premature birth in the development of obstructive lung disease. The successful candidate will be joining a large research team of clinicians, experimental scientists, statisticians and bioinformaticians to investigate the role of early life events in the development of early onset obstructive lung disease.

Your mission

The overall project involves molecular characterization at the mRNA, miRNA, proteome and metabolome level from multiple lung compartments to construct a model of disease. The work will be conducted on one of several unique clinical cohorts designed to investigate different aspects of chronic obstructive airways disease, including but not limited to our newly launched post-COVID cohort, as well as our the LUNAPRE cohort (www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02923648 ). The latter consisting of very prematurely born individuals with or without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in the neonatal period that have been followed since birth, as well as control groups of healthy and asthmatics born at term. The overall goals of these projects involve molecular sub-phenotyping and mechanistic investigations of the obstructive lung disease in this heterogeneous, relatively unknown, and rapidly growing patient group. The specific research projects will be adapted to the experience and interest of the successful candidates, and may include RNA-seq, miRNA-seq and proteome characterizations of various compartments including single cell- or bulk sorted immune cells and extracellular vesicles from the lung of the patient cohort, as well as cell culture lung organoid model systems. The studies are performed in close collaboration with clinicians at both the Karolinska University Hospital and Sach’s Children’s Hospital at the Southern Hospital in Stockholm, enabling the successful candidate to be directly involved in translational systems medicine efforts.

Entry requirements

We are looking for a talented and highly motivated researcher with a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline, preferably molecular biology, biochemistry, systems medicine or omics-related field, bioinformatics, or biostatistics. Practical experience within the respiratory field, with a combination of wet-lab and biostatistics/bioinformatics experience is desirable. Specific experience with lung organoid work, analysis of PExA samples, and/or CRISPR-mediated gene editing is a merit. The successful candidate must have good communication and collaborative skills, and excellent knowledge of written and spoken English is essential. Demonstrated excellent communication skills and an ability to interact socially and scientifically with other post docs and students in the laboratory and with collaborators in various networks are essential. Previous post doc experience and a strong publication record are strong merits.

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

The position is located within the Department of Medicine, Solna. The department consists of twelve divisions and each division consists of several research groups. The position is located within the Respiratory Medicine Unit.

Research environment

The post-doctoral researchers will be part of the Pulmonomics research group (www.pulmonomics.net ), led by Associate professor Åsa Wheelock at the Respiratory Medicine Unit, Center for Molecular Medicine and Department of Medicine, Solna. Our research interests can be broadly defined as developing a respiratory systems medicine framework for molecular sub-phenotyping of chronic inflammatory diseases of the lung. We focus equal efforts on translational studies of the response to environmental exposures in patient cohorts, and innovation & methodology development in the fields of proteomics, multivariate modeling and data integration. Our translational systems medicine studies encompass profiling at multiple molecular levels (mRNA, miRNA, proteomes, metabolomes and lipid mediators) from multiple lung compartments (airway epithelium, alveolar macrophages, exosomes, and bronchoalveolar exudates) using a range of omics platforms, in combination with extensive clinical phenotyping. The strength of our approaches is the ability to integrate information from multiple molecular levels and anatomical locations both to improve the statistical power of detecting and defining molecularly distinct sub-groups in small patient cohorts, and to improve our understanding of disease mechanisms on a systems level.

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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