Undergraduate and graduate level education in vascular biology (scholarship) - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

You are welcomed to join a young, dynamic research group working translationally to understand how endothelial cells impact tissue functions beyond their delivery of oxygen in the context of metabolic disease. As a part of a well-established larger network of researchers in metabolism and cardiovascular disease we focus on identifying early disease mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets, taking discoveries from human cell systems to in vivo work in rodent disease models.

Division

The Cardiovascular Medicine division at the Department of Medicine Solna comprises around 55 persons active both in basic and translational research. The Hagberg lab is located in BioClinicum at the Solna campus, with close proximity to both the clinics at the Karolinska Hospital and the research resources of Karolinska Institutet. We are also affiliated to the Centre for Molecular Medicine (CMM) that offer an excellent variety of core facilities and researcher support.

Duties

The undergraduate education position focuses on the vascular endothelium as gate keeper for fatty acid uptake to metabolically active tissues. Studies are performed using primary endothelial cells from different organs with the use of state-of-the-art culture models. The work is focused on cell culture experiments, and involves independent planning, setup and maintenance of human primary endothelial cell cultures. Furthermore, it comprises functional and phenotypic analyses of the cultures using a combination of immunocytochemistry, plate reader measurements and/or ImageJ as well as collecting and plotting the data.

Entry requirements

The undergraduate student should already have solid and demonstratable experience in culturing human primary endothelial cells from several organs, both on plastic and on transwell membranes, as well as knowledge how to measure trans-endothelial resistance. Previous experience in pulse-chase experiments and immunocytochemistry is a big plus. The student should be able to work quite independently in the lab and be confident in using ImageJ for image analyses and Prism for statistics and data plotting. Previous participation in academic research in this area is a must, as is strong communication skills in English as well as a social, positive and proactive attitude.

Location

The position is located within the Department of Medicine, Solna. The department consists of eleven divisions and each division consists of several research groups. The position is located within the research group of Associate Professor Carolina Hagberg.

Type of scholarship
The scholarships may be granted only to:

• Persons who have been admitted (and registered in Ladok) to KI to study at the undergraduate or graduate level,
• Persons who are admitted (and registered) to undergraduate or graduate level programs at a university with which KI collaborates.

The scholarships can be granted either for studies in an existing course or for a shorter period of practical research experience (documented in an individual study plan/research plan) for admitted students at the undergraduate or graduate level. The scholarships may be awarded for up to 12 months (divided into a maximum of four courses/periods) during the study period. Decisions on scholarships may be made for a maximum of six months at a time.

The scholarships may not be disbursed to any person who received a salary or remuneration from KI during the two-year period immediately preceding the potential disbursement. This provision may be waived if the income received during the preceding two-year period relates to:

• Income of less than 1,000 SEK per year
• Compensation paid to research subjects
• Compensation paid to student representatives on KI boards/committees
• Compensation for work performed that was of an entirely different nature than education and research

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

• A complete curriculum vitae
• 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.