Senior Research Specialist in innate-like unconventional T cell biology and contribution to anti-tumour responses - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

The Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) belongs to the Department of Medicine, Huddinge. Founded in 2002, CIM now represents an acknowledged center leading research on human immune system at international level. The research topics at CIM are particularly focused how different immune components participate to the response against infectious diseases and during chronic inflammatory conditions. Our ambition is to become one of the leading translational research centers within immunity, infectious diseases and immuno-oncology in Europe. The successful applicant will have a unique opportunity to work closely together with clinicians and experienced researchers in the fields of immunology, cancer and infection and contribute to high quality research in a supportive and creative environment

Description of the subject area

We have a long-standing interest in basic and clinically relevant aspects of unconventional T cells (UTC), such as mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells or ɣẟ T cells. The successful applicant shall elucidate the shared and distinct features characterizing the members of the unconventional T cell family, in relation to their phenotype, their functions and their role in different cancer types. Specifically, a primary task of the Senior Research Specialist is to focus and expand the current knowledge on a novel subset of UTC known as CD4- CD8- ⍺β T (DNT⍺β) cells in humans.

Your mission

The main task of the Senior Research specialist will be to expand the knowledge on human UTC by monitoring their alterations in homeostasis and during inflammatory states. The successful applicant shall be driven by a strong ambition to develop and lead an independent research line within the defined scientific area. The project shall rely on solid theoretical bases on UTC immunology and on cutting edge technologies, such as high-dimensional flow cytometry, single cell transcriptomics and advanced imaging approaches. The Senior Research specialist is expected to have the capacity of securing stable and independent financial support, as well as to establish key collaborations with scientists and clinicians actively involved in related areas.

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for employment as a Senior Research Specialist, in addition to holding a Degree of Doctor, PhD, or having equivalent scientific expertise, the applicant must have demonstrated excellent level of research expertise with significant scientific production. The successful applicant shall have at least one original publication as first or last author in a high impact international journal, on a subject related to the project. The applicant must also have demonstrated sufficient scientific independence and a research plan of high quality with clear potential for the future.

The applicant is expected to have proven mentoring and managerial skills, and a previous academic experience as scientific leader is considered a plus. The Senior Research specialist shall have a strong background on innate lymphocyte biology (e.g. development, trafficking and maturation) and innate mechanisms of anti-tumour immunity. In addition to a documented experience with human sample collection, processing and analysis, the knowledge of chemically-induced or genetically-engineered preclinical models of carcinogenesis will be considered relevant in the application.

Assessment criteria

For employment as Senior Research Specialist at Karolinska Institutet, the eligibility requirements and assessment criteria stated in the Rules regarding other positions than teaching positions are applied in relation to the established profile of employment.

Scientific original publications, their quality and quantity, with special consideration on publications after the doctoral education. Scientific independent ability demonstrated through leading and senior authorships. Review articles and other scientific publications. Presentations and scientific assignments at international congresses. Research grants received in regional, national and international competition. National and international research collaborations. Research responsibility as supervisor for degree project on advanced level, doctoral student and postdoc. Reviewer and evaluator of the scientific work of others. Research experience from a research group other than where the doctoral education was conducted. Development of one's own research profile within the subject area. Plan for future research based on current science.

It is required from the applicant to possess:

• Extensive knowledge of the tumor immunology field, and particularly in relation to innate and innate-like immune cells
• Documented skills (e.g. publications, lectures, courses) in high dimensional flow cytometry data generation and advanced analysis (e.g. normalization, dimensionality reduction, clustering)
• Experience in fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)
• Experience in bulk and single cell genomics pipelines (e.g. 10x)
• Documented research experience with human clinical material
• Mentoring experience for undergraduate, Master and/or PhD students.
• Certified experience in animal handling (e.g. FELASA certificate) and in use of orthotopic and primary carcinogenesis mouse models
• Experience in grant writing and proven capacity to obtain external funding
• Excellent skills in written and spoken English

It is particularly meritorious that the applicant has shown

• National and international acknowledgement in the project field (e.g. as invited speaker, selected oral presentation at international conferences, etc)
• Broad competence in the role of innate immune cells in anti-tumour immunity
• Scientific independence from the PhD mentor, documented also by the publications as lead/last author without the PhD supervisor
• International mobility
• Training in leadership and management skills within the academic environment

After an overall assessment of the expertise and merits of the applicants in relation to the subject area, Karolinska Institutet will determine which of them has the best potential to contribute to a positive development of the activities at KI.

What do we offer?

A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. 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

Read more about the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH)

Read more about the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM)

Application

We prefer that Your application is written in English, but You can also apply in Swedish. An application must contain the following documents: Resumé, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet's qualifications portfolio.

The applications will be reviewed by external reviewers.

Welcome to apply at the latest 2021-10-29.

The application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

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