Postdoctoral Researcher position in lupus and autoimmunity

Do you want to contribute to top-quality medical research?

The research team Clinical and Translational Research in Lupus and Autoimmunity at Karolinska Institutet conducts clinical, translational and molecular research with a focus on systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmunity and precision medicine. The research aims to improve the understanding of disease mechanisms, identify biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment response, and enable more personalized treatment in lupus and other immune-mediated diseases.

The advertised postdoctoral position offers the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary project on seroactivity in lupus and autoimmunity and how immune mechanisms respond to targeted treatments. The project focuses on cell-based immunological analyses, multiparametric flow cytometry and immunophenotyping combined with proteomic profiles, disease and condition-specific autoantibodies, protein antigens and antigen structure. We study these molecular profiles in relation to clinical phenomena, disease course and treatment response. The work will also integrate serological data with genetic information, gene expression, methylation patterns, glycosylation and other molecular data stores. You will be part of an internationally oriented research environment with close links to clinical practice, biomedical research, patient-centered issues and national and international collaborations.

Your role

As a postdoctoral fellow, you will work in a project that aims to characterize how immune mechanisms respond to targeted therapy in systemic lupus and other autoimmune or immune-mediated diseases and how these treatment responses relate to molecular patterns and seroactivity. The project will combine cell-based immunological analyses, multiparametric flow cytometry and immunophenotyping, as well as data from proteomics, autoantibody profiling and integrative multiomics analyses to identify molecular signatures that could explain disease progression and how a patient can be expected to respond to treatment with different mechanisms of action.

The duties include, among other things:

• responsible for cell-based immunological analyses, multiparametric flow cytometry and immunophenotyping
• analyze molecular profiles in systemic lupus erythematosus and other immune-mediated diseases
• integrate cellular data with serological data, data from proteomics and genetic information, gene expression, methylation patterns, glycosylation and other molecular data layers
• analyze the relationship between molecular signatures, clinical manifestations, disease activity, organ involvement and treatment response
• contribute to the development of biomarkers for diagnostics, prognostics and precision medicine applications
• coordinate and run national and international collaborative projects within lupus, autoimmunity and immune-mediated diseases
• contribute to study design, data analysis, manuscripts, conference contributions, applications and scientific reporting
• contribute to sample management and biobanking of clinical samples that constitute study material
• contribute to the coordination of projects and supervision of students

Who are you?

We are looking for someone with a strong interest in autoimmunity, immunology, molecular medicine and translational research. You should be independent, analytical, structured and motivated to work in an interdisciplinary and international research environment. Since the work involves coordinating collaborative projects, scientific communication and close dialogue with researchers from different disciplines, very good collaboration and communication skills are of great importance.

Requirements and qualifications:

• PhD in immunology, molecular biology, biomedicine, rheumatology, bioinformatics, molecular medicine or other relevant field
• documented experience in experimental, translational or molecular research in immunology, autoimmunity or related fields
• experience in cell-based immunological analyses, multiparametric flow cytometry and immunophenotyping, and analysis of molecular data
• good understanding of immunological mechanisms and biomarker research
• good ability to independently plan, implement, analyze and interpret research work
• ability to coordinate projects, manage collaborations and contribute to scientific reporting
• ability to administer projects and supervise junior researchers and students
• very good ability to express oneself verbally and in writing in Swedish and English
• good collaboration skills and willingness to work in close dialogue with researchers, clinicians, bioinformaticians and other partners

It is advantageous to have experience in:

• research in systemic lupus erythematosus and/or other immune-mediated diseases
• previous postdoctoral research or other qualified work experience in a relevant research field
• cell-based immunological analyses, multiparametric flow cytometry and immunophenotyping
• integrative multiomics analyses, bioinformatics or quantitative analysis of complex biological data
• coordination of national or international research collaborations, work with clinical cohorts, biobank material or translational research projects

To be employed as a postdoctoral researcher, you must have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree that is considered equivalent to a Swedish doctoral degree. This eligibility requirement must be met no later than the time the employment decision is made. It is an advantage if you have completed your doctoral degree within the last three years; if there are special reasons, your degree may have been completed earlier.

What do we offer?

A creative, international, inspiring environment filled with expertise and curiosity. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world’s leading medical universities. Here we conduct successful medical research and have the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI you will meet researchers with different research areas working together. It is this cross-border collaboration that contributes to KI’s world-leading position in research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the healthcare sector is important for creating education and research of the highest quality. As a university, Karolinska Institutet is also a government agency. This means that as an employee you receive good benefits through our collective agreement.

Investment

The position is located within the Department of Medicine, Solna . The department consists of ten departments and each department consists of several research groups. The current position is located within the research team Clinical and Translational Research in Lupus and Autoimmunity led by Associate Professor Ioannis Parodis at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM) and the Department of Rheumatology. The team conducts research on systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis and precision medicine, with a particular focus on biomarkers, disease mechanisms and integration of clinical data with advanced molecular analyses. The team’s work spans clinical cohorts, experimental models and translational applications.

Application

The application must consist of the following documents, written in English or Swedish:

• Proof of doctoral degree
• A complete CV including date of public defense, title of thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic awards and committee work
• A complete list of publications
• A summary of current work (maximum one page)

KI applies individual and differentiated salary setting according to our collective agreements RALS and RALS-T.

Applications must be made via the Varbi recruitment system.