Postdoc position at Karolinska Institutet – Developing new single-cell multiomics techniques applied to outstanding questions in T cell biology

Björn Reinius’ lab at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB) at Biomedicum has an open postdoctoral researcher position. The postdoc will furthermore work closely together with Marcus Buggert’s lab at the Department of Medicine Huddinge, Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM). Your project will be divided into two main objectives: (1) Development of new single-cell multiomics techniques (Reinius lab), and (2) Investigating human T cell clonality by single-cell transcriptome and chromatin profiling on samples from unique organ donor cohorts (Buggert lab).

We seek a person with deep interest and skills in molecular biology or biochemistry who is eager to push the frontiers of state-of-the-art methodology in life science, with the ultimate goal of improving human health. The position is financed by the Karolinska Institutet Research Incubator (KIRI), which provides a multidisciplinary network of postdoctoral researchers and PIs and a great opportunity for personal and professional development.

Integration of multimodal single-cell datasets is an emerging field with enormous potential to accelerate our understanding of cellular states in health and disease. Recently, new experimental methods have combined single-cell transcriptomics and chromatin accessibility readouts of the very same cells (combined RNA/ATAC-seq), proving a direct link between epigenetic status and gene expression output. However, due to complex and demanding RNA/DNA-sequencing library preparation procedures, such techniques are still largely inaccessible to the broader research community. In this project, you will develop new techniques for combined single-cell RNA/ATAC-seq in a single reaction chamber, which will simplify single-cell multiomics and make the technology broadly available for researchers. This will be possible because of recent key breakthroughs in library-preparation chemistry exclusively available in the host laboratory in combination with your own skills and determination. Furthermore, you will deploy single-cell multiomics techniques to characterize clonal and tissue features of promoter and enhancer structures in human T cells. The postdoctoral project provides the combined opportunity to perform research in both biotechnology and molecular medicine.

You will be employed in Reinius’ lab at the Department of Medical Biochemistry (MBB) & Biophysics; Division of Medical Systems Bioengineering, Biomedicum, Karolinska Institutet (KI) Sola. The employment is 100% dedicated to research. Methods development will be done at MBB and work on human cells and tissues will be performed in Buggert’s lab at the Department of Medicine Huddinge, Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM). A direct bus line between the two campuses makes this practical arrangement convenient (bus dedicated to KI staff). Reinius’ and Buggert’s labs are furnished will all state-of-the-art equipment needed for the project, including high-throughput RNA/DNA sequencers, advanced robotics for automated library preparation, CPU server, cell sorters, high-end microscopes, tissue-culturing facilities, etc. In-house access to the full range of additional modern life-science equipment and facilities is available at Biomedicum and CIM. The two aims of the project will be supervised by two senior researchers (Reinius and Buggert) with proven productivity and complementary scientific profiles in the relevant parts of the project, thus providing a solid scientific setting and a great learning opportunity. Please visit a few of their recent publications to get insight into some of their work:

Larsson 2019, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41594-019-0306-y

Sekine 2020, Cell: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.08.017

Smyrlaki 2020, Nature Communications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18611-5

Niessl 2021, Science Immunology: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.abk0894

Lentini 2022, Nature Communications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29414-1

Gao 2022, Nature Medicine: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01700-x

Do not hesitate to contact Björn Reinius ([email protected] ) if you have questions.

To be eligible for employment as a postdoctor a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctoral degree is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled at the latest at the time of the employment decision. It is considered as 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.

Experience in sequencing techniques, DNAR/RNA-seq library preparation, and computational analysis of sequencing data will be considered as merits. Applicants should have first-author publications in recognized peer-reviewed journals, and fluency in English is a requirement.

It is particularly meritorious that the applicant has:

Been trained in biotechnology, biomedicine, or biochemistry during her/his PhD studies

First-author publications in the field(s)

Extensive knowledge and experience in molecular biology methods such as PCR, sequencing library preparation, cloning

Experienced in RNA work

Statistical knowledge

Fluency in English

It is meritorious that the applicant has:

Laboratory molecular and cell biology skill sets (e.g. preparation of DNA/RNA-seq libraries)

Been trained in biotechnology, biomedicine, or biochemistry during her/his Bachelor, Master, or Engineering studies

A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. At Karolinska Institutet, 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: Biomedicum Solna and Karolinska Institutet

www.reiniuslab.com

https://ki.se/en/medh/marcus-buggert-group-t-cell-immunity-to-viral-infections-and-cancer

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

• A complete resumé, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
• A complete list of publications
• A summary of current work (no more than one page)
• Contact information to 1-3 reference persons (previous supervisor or colleague). 

Welcome to apply at the latest May 15, 2023

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.