Position of Research assistant in cancer immunology

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Right now there are 1 to 2 research assistant positions available in the intersection of immunology, cancer, and spatial transcriptomics, with the ultimate goal to understand tumor-associated B cell responses and harness these for therapy. The group led by Camilla Engblom  recently developed a method to study B cells and B cell receptors within their tissue microenvironment using spatial transcriptomics. The candidate will contribute to cutting-edge research in spatially resolving immune responses during tumor progression and anti-cancer therapy.

Your mission

We are seeking 1-2 research assistants in cancer immunology.

The main duties include:

• Interrogate tumor-associated B cell responses in cancer
• Perform immunofluorescence, flowcytometry, spatial transcriptomics, cell culture and/or spatial VDJ
• Perform analysis of spatial B cell repertoires using R
• Help with lab management

The applicant will work in close collaboration with PhD students, postdocs, and researchers. The applicant is expected to actively perform experimental research, using animal models and human samples, and present results to general and specialized audiences. The applicant is expected to be highly engaged, independent, curious, and a team player

Your profile

Our group has an opening for one to two highly creative and motivated research assistants. We are looking for a candidate with proficiency and documented research experience particularly in B cell cancer immunology. The candidate should have at least a bachelor’s degree in the relevant field. The following are considered strong merits: documented experience with spatial transcriptomics (Visium), flowcytometry, cell culture, tissue sectioning, antibody-based studies, immunofluorescence, and/or analysis of B cell repertoire (including Spatial VDJ), and spatial data using R. The candidate is expected to work with pre-clinical and clinical samples.

The position will require independent work as well as extensive collaboration with other experimental groups. Fluency in both oral and written English is necessary. Documented ability to analyze and present results orally and written is important. High organization skills and scientific integrity are a must. The research requires interdisciplinary work involving teams of contributors; therefore, team players that are motivated to help each other are highly encouraged to apply.

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 also a state university, which entitles you to several good benefits through our collective agreement. And you get to practice freely in our modern wellness facilities, where trained staff are on site.

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 a group led by Dr. Camilla Engblom (SciLifeLab Fellow), hosted by Dr. Eduardo Villablanca within the division of Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, and physically located at CMM and SciLifeLab. The overall goal is to understand fundamental mechanisms of B cell-related immune responses in cancer (and beyond) to identify new avenues for B-cell mediated therapy. To do this, we interrogate the spatial relationships between B cell clones and their immediate niches within tissues using our in-house developed spatial transcriptomics-based technology (Spatial VDJ). Using established and newly developed algorithms, we map B cell evolution within tissues, including class switching and somatic hypermutation, and identify putative candidate tumor-regulatory antibody sequences for functional testing. In addition to the groups focus area, our research group has national and international collaborative projects within host-microbe interactions, vaccine research, technological development, and mucosal immunology. We want to foster a creative, diverse, and inclusive work environment with the goal for all group members to answer ambitious and exciting scientific questions. The research group is located within a vibrant immunology community with expertise in inflammation, infection, allergy and autoimmune diseases.

Application

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system. In this recruitment, you will apply with your CV without a personal letter. Instead, you will answer some questions about why you are applying for the job in the application form.  Please motivate clearly why you are specifically interested in this group.

Permanent position is initiated by a six months trial period.