Research Specialist in Computational and/or Cell Biology (permanent position)

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

The Department of Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB) is situated in the new Biomedicum building at Karolinska Institutet. Biomedicum is a cutting-edge research facility with a focus on advanced experimental research in various fields related to cell and molecular biology.

The Spalding lab is dedicated to exploring fundamental questions in human adipose tissue biology using innovative techniques such as single cell sequencing, radiocarbon dating, confocal microscopy, and flow cytometry. The lab’s emphasis on basic science, combined with its strong clinical collaborations and expertise in working with human samples, offers the successful applicant an opportunity to be a part of a translational research team, aiming to address real-world health challenges, especially in the fields of obesity and associated co-morbidities.

We are looking for a Research Specialist for a permanent employment.

Description of the subject area

Many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, strongly associate with obesity, making obesity one of the major health challenges facing the world today. Understanding how adipocytes respond to obesity and contribute to pathological processes is more relevant than ever, especially with juvenile and adult levels of obesity reaching epidemic proportions world-wide.

Your mission

The selected candidate will play an important role in the development and management of scientific projects. Projects within the group collectively focus on understanding the contribution of fat cells to promoting disease progression in obesity in humans. An ability to drive projects, experimentally and intellectually is required. The successful candidate will be expected to assist doctoral and postdoctoral researchers with their projects, providing seniority and expertise to the group, as well as pursue an independent line of research.

The responsibilities and duty of the applicant include:

• Keep updated of relevant scientific literature and contribute to the design and execution of experimental work.
• Analyse data and interpret results.
• Generate and assist in the writing of scientific texts, including research papers, reviews and grants.
• Train and mentor team members.
• Whilst all group members are expected to contribute to the running of the lab, the applicant is not expected to perform general lab management tasks (such as ordering, chemical inventory, lab safety etc..).

Eligibility requirements and assessment criteria

To be eligible for employment as a Research Specialist, in addition to holding a Degree of Doctor, PhD, or having equivalent scientific expertise, the applicant must have demonstrated research expertise as well as have documented research experience after defending their doctoral dissertation.

Competency in one of two main areas is sought. Competency in both is considered a merit.

Specialist area 1: Computational Biology

Specialist area 2: Cell biology

• General to both specialties is possessing excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and ability to communicate with laboratory members and collaborators is required.
• Specific competencies are listed as either required or meritous for each specialist area below

(i) Computational Biology
Required

• Expertise working with big data (generated by e.g. scRNAseq and miRNAseq).
• In-depth knowledge of statistical methods to analyze non-standard data, ideally with a background in metabolism.

Meritorious

• Knowledge of R and Python are meritorious.

Or

(ii) Cell Biology (required)
Required

• Proficiency in molecular biology methodologies (including RNA-extraction, RT-qPCR, Western blot, ELISA), cell culture (cell lines and primary cells), immunocytochemistry and imaging (including confocal microscopy).

Meritorious

• Flow cytometry (FACS) – hands on experience with analysis and sorting.
• Cancer (culturing of cancer cell lines and/or PDX models, migration, invasion and EMT assays).
• Epigenetic analyses (DNA methylation, histone modification, microRNAs, siRNA and ncRNA).
• Adipose biology (isolation of adipocytes and SVF fraction, culture and analyses of mature adipocytes).
• Cell signalling (e.g. insulin signalling pathway).
• Experience in method development.
• Experience writing research publications.

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. Here, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Stockholm

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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 application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

The applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and the interview process can start before the application deadline.

Permanent position is initiated by a six months trial period.

Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all