Institutionen för medicin, Solna, Avdelningen för reumatologi

The Department of Medicine, Solna, is one of the largest departments at Karolinska Institutet. The department consists of several divisions that are separated into different research groups. The core activities of the department are research, doctoral education and undergraduate education for medical and biomedical students. The research has three main profiles: allergy, cardiovascular medicine and inflammatory diseases.

Division
The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) is a not-for-profit organization with the aim to promote open-access drug discovery research, by determining structures of medically relevant proteins and place them, along with related reagents, in the public domain without restriction. The SGC has funding from EU (Innovative Medicines Initiative), Canada, the UK and the pharmaceutical industry and operates out of the Universities of Oxford and Toronto, ETH Zürich, LN-Bio (Campinas, Brazil), Goethe Universität and Karolinska Institutet. The target list comprises proteins that have relevance to human health and disease, such as proteins associated with inflammation, cancer and neurodegenerative disease.
The current SGC lab at Karolinska Institutet was established at the Department of Medicine Solna, Division of Rheumatology in 2015, with financial support from Innovative Medicines Initiative (EU). The main project is named ULTRA-DD and the work packages that are represented at SGC Karolinska are WP2 – Protein Expression and Purification and WP6 - Cell and tissue phenotypic assays linked to inflammatory mechanisms of disease. The WP2 group collaborates closely with the Drug Discovery and Development Platform at Science for Life Laboratory in Stockholm. ULTRA-DD is now being extended into the area of neurodegenerative disease in general and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in particular with funding from three ALS patient organizations, in the UK, USA and Canada.

Duties
The work package 2 group within the ULTRA-DD project works with high-throughput parallel cloning, bacterial expression, protein purification, phage-display selections of antibody fragments and antibody validation. We seek a Research Engineer to join the WP2 group to work 50/50 on the ULTRA-DD and ALS projects. The main focus of the position will be to generate recombinant antibodies to be used as research tools, with a focus on inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Primary responsibilities consist of design and execution of antibody library selection and screening strategies. More specifically the work will include techniques such as antibody isolation by phage display, ELISA-based screening assays, DNA sequence analysis, molecular cloning of isolated antibody genes, small-scale antibody production, purification, and biochemical characterization. The individual will work as a part of a team to deliver antibodies within defined time limits. The position requires a certain level of independent work including troubleshooting and resolving complex problems, optimization of established processes and protocols, as well as, making detailed observations, compiling and summarizing large data sets, preparing reports, and presenting conclusions at group and departmental meetings. This project is also part of the SGC open-access program and the position holder will also be obliged to contribute texts to an open blog about the project and its scientific advances with monthly updates.

Entry requirements
The successful candidate should have strong expertise in molecular biology and protein chemistry and should have excellent organizational and communication skills. Experience with phage display technology, antibody screening methods and affinity determination using surface plasmon resonance is strongly desired. Familiarity with laboratory automation, management software and high-throughput parallel methodology, are valuable merits.
Oral and written proficiency in English is required. MSc or equivalent experience is compulsory. 

Application process
The application is to be submitted on the Varbi recruitment system.
A list of at least two reference persons should be included.

Type of employment Temporary position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment 2018-09-01
Salary Månadslön
City Solna
County Stockholms län
Country Sweden
Reference number 2-2568/2018
Contact
  • Dr Susanne Gräslund, susanne.graslund@ki.se
Union representative
  • Lars Ährlund-Richter, SACO, 08 - 5177 34 50, lars.ahrlund@ki.se
  • Niklas Andersson, OFR, niklas.andersson@ki.se
Published 14.May.2018
Last application date 06.Jun.2018 11:59 PM CEST

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