Post doc in diabetic complications at LUDC - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Description of the workplace

Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC; www.ludc.med.lu.se) is one of the largest diabetes research centres in the world with approximately 300 researchers and administrative and technical staff members working towards improved diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diabetes. The centre combines expertise in genetics, epidemiology, statistics, bioinformatics, molecular and cellular biology, physiology and clinical diabetes, and endocrinology to achieve these goals. LUDC has large unique biobanks and databases with genome-wide data linked to national registries providing information on disease etiology, progression as well as outcome and treatment. The centre has in-house platforms for most molecular genetic methods and metabolomics. Omics information combined with extensive phenotyping allows a systems medicine approach to dissect the complexity of diabetes. A central theme at LUDC is to develop precision medicine to improve health and the quality of life of patients with diabetes.

Research area

The research will be carried out within the framework of the ongoing EU project BEAt-DKD (https://www.beat-dkd.eu/) and subsequent recently approved PRIME-CKD (https://umcgresearch.org/w/umcg-lead-collaborations-to-advance-precision-medicine-in-chronic-kidney-disease). Today, 537 million adults (20–79 years) are living with diabetes, i.e., 1 in 10, and this number is predicted to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045. This will inevitably result in increased number of patients suffering from DKD, since approximately 20–50% of patients with diabetes will ultimately develop DKD. Worldwide, DKD remains the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), accounting also for high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and decreased health-related quality of life for patients.

The overarching aim of this project is to identify and validate new prognostic and predictive biomarkers that can help us identify which patients will experience a more rapid aggressive disease progression, and which patients are more likely to respond or not to a specific treatment. The purpose of the project is also to identify mechanisms and signalling pathways that are responsible for the initiation and progression of CKD and that could be potential targets for new drugs. The research is carried out within the Diabetic Complications unit which is headed by Professor Maria F. Gomez, who is coordinator for LUDC and BEAt-DKD.

Work duties and areas or responsibilities

We are now looking for an enthusiastic and talented person to strengthen the Unit’s expertise in data mining, artificial intelligence, epidemiology, public health, and systems medicine within the framework of precision medicine. We expect the successful applicant to have experience of programming, data analysis, and data mining to identify trends and produce meaningful data visualisations, as well as experience of working with different bioinformatics tools and statistical methods. The applicant is expected to have excellent communications skills and to want to interact with other researchers.

Eligibility

 Appointment to a post-doctoral position requires that the applicant has a PhD, or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within the subject of the position. This eligibility requirement needs to be met no later than the time when the employment decision is made. We will mainly consider candidates who have completed their PhD degree no more than three (3) years before the last date for applications. Under special circumstances, the doctoral degree can have been completed earlier. These circumstances refer to leave due to illness, parental leave, clinical work, positions of trust within trade union organizations or other similar circumstances.

Basis for assessment

At Lund University, employment as a postdoctoral researcher provides opportunities for scientific and pedagogical merit. There is mainly room for merit in research, but also for certain higher education pedagogical training. Teaching may be included in the tasks. For the employment as a postdoctoral research, scientific ability will primarily be taken into account.

Qualifications

Evaluation criteria for the position:

• PhD in a field relevant to the position (i.e., epidemiology, public health, or other closely related disciplines), with a proven track-record of applying quantitative methods for data analysis, as well as programming experience.
• Experience of handling, analysing, and annotating very large datasets, both in exploratory and pipelined fashions.
• Experience of data analysis and data mining to identify trends and produce meaningful data visualisations, with knowledge in building and deploying interactive dashboards using frameworks such as R Shiny.
• Experience of working with different bioinformatics tools and statistical methods.
• Proficiency in R and knowledge and experience of at least one other relevant programming language (e.g. Python, Perl, Java).
• Knowledge of machine-learning algorithms and frameworks, deep learning methods for image analyses.
• Experience in developing custom programming tools and functions, as well as working with APIs to access and integrate data from various sources.
• Experience working with unstructured data (such as text) using data mining and/or natural language processing (NLP) techniques.
• Experience of web-based bioinformatics tools and public domain databases containing biological and health data.
• Strong understanding of predictive modelling techniques and the ability to apply them in real-world situations.
• High capacity of collaborating with an interdisciplinary team, which may include laboratory scientists, physicians, epidemiologists, bioinformaticians, statisticians, and data analysts.
• We will also pay attention to personal attributes, favouring individuals that are self-motivated, flexible, and that can work independently in a well-documented way, to manage multiple projects in parallel and to prioritize and comply with deadlines.
• Documented oral and written proficiency in English.

Other preferred skills:

• Relevant research background for the project research area and tasks, as well as experience of diabetes research.
• Outstanding communication skills (verbal and written) including public speaking and poster presentation.
• Experience of working in an international environment.

Terms of employment

This is is a full-time employment limited to 3 years with preliminary start date on 3rd of March 2023, or according to agreement. The period of employment is determined in accordance with the agreement “Avtal om tidsbegränsad anställning som postdoktor” (“Agreement on fixed-term employment as a post-doctoral researcher”) between SACO-S, OFR/S and SEKO, dated November 19, 2021. 

Application

Applications must include a personal motivation letter, a CV, contact information of three references, a diploma and other documents you wish to be considered (e.g. letters of recommendation).