Postdoctoral researcher in cell and gene therapy - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Laboratory Medicine consists of seven divisions and is active in many areas of Laboratory Medicine. The department is involved in advanced basic scientific, clinical and epidemiological research. The department is one of the largest departments of education at Karolinska Institutet - 350 people are employed at the department, half of which are PhD-students.

The Project

The position is located in Campus Flemingsberg and the Clinical Research Centre (CRC), where the project will be carried out. The Centre provides the facilities needed for cell- and molecular biology research and the possibility to perform research in vivo.

Our research efforts in Nordin´s lab focus on one of the greatest challenges facing modern therapeutics, delivery. 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 organ with the right dose. Such therapeutics include proteins for replacement therapy or antibodies for anti-inflammatory treatment as well as nucleic acids for gene therapy of diseases. The Nordin group develops innovative cell therapies for advanced applications. We have developed a promising technology based on a cell therapy in combination with engineered extracellular vesicles (EVs). We engineer cells with enhanced delivery and targeting capacities by utilizing engineered EVs. In this specific project we aim to treat pancreas cancer by utilizing our novel cell therapy approach to deliver anti-pancreas cancer macromolecules in the local cancer environment to be able to increase the effectiveness and decrease any unwanted side-effects. 

Your mission

We are seeking a highly motivated person to join the group of Assistant Professor Joel Nordin as a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on the development of bioengineered cell therapies for treatment of pancreas cancer (EVs).

Most of the research will be conducted utilizing cell lines and animal models. The first part of the work will involve engineering of immune cells to recognize pancreas cancer tumor cells. Next will be to combine the cell therapy with engineered EVs to achieve high treatment efficacy. This will be done by advanced cell engineering allowing us to control the secretion of engineered EVs from the immune cells, which will only occur when the engineered cell encounters a specific antigen. Thus, the cell can be engineered to only release therapeutically active EVs in a local microenvironment, such as the cancer stroma.

Your profile

The applicant should have a solid background in basic biology and/or drug delivery.
The position requires practical lab experience in the following areas: foremost experience with cell culture and engineering of cells for therapeutic applications. Extensive experience from cell culture work is preferred and previous skill regarding culturing and engineering of T- and/or NK-cells is a merit. The project will in later stages include animal work which requires a FelasaC certificate, hence previous experience with animal work is preferred but not required. The ideal candidate would furthermore have experience within the EV- or virus-field and experience with molecular cloning is a merit, but neither are required.

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. The position would include mentoring of PhD-students and thus previous mentoring experience would be an advantage.

Qualified to be employed as a postdoctor is one who has obtained a doctorate or has equivalent scientific competence. 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) date of employment. This must be substantiated by the applicant's main supervisor, director or equivalent.

What do we offer? 

A creative and inspiring environment full of expertise and curiosity. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. Our vision is to pursue the development of knowledge about life and to promote a better health for all. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. Karolinska Institutet is a state university, which entitles to several benefits such as extended holiday and generous occupational pension. Employees also have access to our modern gym for free and receive reimbursements for medical care.

Location: Flemingsberg

The Department of Laboratory medicine

The Research Group

Application

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

- 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)

Welcome to apply at the latest 1st of February, 2022

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

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