Research specialist in structural and biophysical immunology

The candidate will work within the Achour research group, localized at the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab), a national resource of unique technologies and expertise, that brings scientists together across traditional boundaries and foster collaborations with industry, health care, public research organizations and international partners. The Achour group which belongs to the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases has established a wide array of collaborations with other research groups, clinical and non-clinical, both at the Karolinska Institute and elsewhere at national and international levels. Altogether, we believe that the offered position and working environment provide an excellent platform for acquiring all necessary knowledge in a large ensemble of different technologies and topics, with a focus on immunological responses towards cancer and viral models.

The candidate will be responsible for the cloning and production of full length or fragments of proteins and protein complexes, followed by isolation using state of the art chromatography. The candidate will make use of a very large array of biophysical technologies, including surface plasmon resonance (SPR), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), microscale thermophoresis (MST) and/or nano DSF to assess protein stability and protein/protein interactions. Finally, the candidate will determine the three dimensional structures of protein complexes using X-ray crystallography, but also nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Altogether, the main aims are to combine structural and dynamic information in order to possibly identify molecular signatures that underly adequate immunological responses. All these efforts are aimed at modulating adaptive immune responses towards cancer and viral models by increased stability, rigidity and identification as well as development of specific modulating compounds.

The candidate should have all necessary expertise in cloning proteins and protein fragments, designing mutated versions of proteins using molecular modeling as well as producing large quantities of protein complexes for X-ray crystallography, using mainly refolding procedures, as well as labeled proteins for NMR analyses. Deep expertise of protein production and isolation, and protein complex refolding is thus absolutely required. The candidate should have all necessary expertise in X-ray crystallography and excellent knowledge of other technologies such as NMR; cryo-EM and/or SAXS. The candidate should have strong knowledge for both running and analyzing SPR, ITC, MST and nano-DSF results. Finally the candidate must have strong experience of working with key immunological molecules including T cell receptors alone and in complex with MHC/peptide complexes. The candidate should also have strong experience of working with virus-associated proteins, cancer targets as well as drug identification and design.

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.

It is particularly meritorious that the applicant has shown:

 The candidate should have demonstrated full capacity and experience into production and isolation of proteins and protein complexes using a wide array of production systems and isolation technologies. The candidate must have proven expertise in protein complex refolding and isolation, as well as the production of labelled large proteins for NMR analyses. The candidate must have all required knowledge for performing all necessary steps in biophysical analyses of proteins and protein/protein interactions using a wide array of biophysical techniques. The candidate should have all necessary knowledge for the determination of the three-dimensional structures of proteins and protein complexes using X-ray crystallography. The candidate should have proven knowledge for his/her capacity to establish functional biochemical models that allow for the identification of inhibitory compounds.

It is meritorious that the applicant has shown:

The candidate should very well versed into the molecular bases underlying the initiation and modulation of B and T cell responses towards different protein targets, as well as MHC-I and MHC-II-restricted epitopes. The candidate should have adequate overall knowledge of main immunological concepts and of the molecular bases underlying design of vaccines and vaccination. Finally, the candidate should have experience of drug design and development.

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.

A creative and inspiring environment full of expertise and curiosity. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. Our vision is to drive the development of knowledge about life and to promote a better health for all. Here, we conduct successful medical research and have the largest range of medical education in Sweden. Karolinska Institutet is a state university. This means you get good benefits through our collective agreement, generous holiday and a good occupational pension. You get to practice freely in our modern gym and receive reimbursement for medical care.

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 the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab), Department of Medicine, Section for Infectious Diseases at the Karolinska Institute https://medarbetare.ki.se/people/adnane-achour https://www.scilifelab.se/researchers/adnane-achour/)

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.