We are looking for a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to join our team to work on the project that aims for improved diagnosis and targeting methods for cancer-associated stem cells. The Pluripotency and Cancer Laboratory research team, https://narvalab.utu.fi/, is led by Adjunct Professor Elisa Närvä. We are a highly motivated young group with great possibilities. The laboratory is based at the Cancer Unit, Institute of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Finland. Our modern Institute together with BioCenter Finland (nationwide open-access resource and core facility provider) offers an excellent framework for medical research with top-quality facilities, research services, and infrastructure.

The selected candidate is wished to start on 1 February 2023 (or as agreed). The post can currently be filled until 31 May 2023. The extension of the post beyond this date will be decided separately during the spring of 2023, and it may continue until 30 September 2024 (with a possibility for extension).

Job description

Therapy resistance, metastasis, and relapse are the major obstacles to the cure of cancer. These properties are believed to be conducted by a heterogenous group of cancer-associated stem cells (CSCs), which utilize developmental pathways to drive self-renewal and plasticity. Human pluripotent stem cells, which are the main research focus of our team can self-renew forever and differentiate into every cell type of the human body. Interestingly, induction, regulation, and markers of pluripotency share striking similarities with tumorigenesis and cancer-associated stem cells. The project aims to improve significantly the diagnosis and targeting of CSCs. You will be using several state-of-art methodologies (proteogenomics, CRISPR, high-throughput drug screening, CyTOF, mouse experiments) combined with leading-edge stem cell science (pluripotent models, reprogramming, and patient-derived organoids).

What we are expecting from you

• A Ph.D. degree in a relevant field (e.g. biomedicine, molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry)
• Competence in independent scientific thinking and project management
• Good communication, collaboration, and organization skills
• Willingness to work with animal models
• Excellent spoken and written English
• Team-oriented attitude
• Ability to supervise students
• Highly motivated to expand your knowledge/skills
• Experience in applying for research funding

Desirable qualifications/skills are

• Flow cytometry/CyTOF/ Imaging mass cytometry
• High-resolution data mining
• Experience in immunology/vaccination research
• Histology/FFPE/TMA
• Experience in stem cell culturing (hPSC, organoids, reprogramming)
• Derivation of patient-specific cell lines
• Laboratory animal experiments (mouse)

The qualification requirements of the position are available in the University of Turku rules of procedure. There is a trial period of up to half the duration of the contract.

Salary offered is determined in accordance with the university salary system for teaching and research personnel and is approximately 3200-3500 €/month.

How to apply

Applications must be submitted no later than December 19^th, 2022 (23:59 Finnish time) via the University of Turku electronic application form at www.utu.fi/careers (“Apply for the job”).

Applications should contain a copy of PhD degree certificate, CV, list of publications, motivation letter and contact information (name, position, email) for two references.

For further information about the position, please contact Adjunct Professor Elisa Närvä, elisa.narva@utu.fi

In case you need help with the application process, please turn to HR specialist Kristiina Nuutila, kristiina.nuutila@utu.fi, +358 50 3135224.

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