Postdoctoral fellow in medical radiation physics: imaging prostate cancer microstructure by MRI and microscopy to enable novel diagnostic biomarkers, cofund AMBER - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Subject description
This post-doctoral position is part of the EU cofund research project AMBER, Advanced Multiscale Biological imaging using European Research infrastructures, will address scientific and sectoral gaps in biological imaging ranging from molecular, through cellular, to tissue, organ and organism levels of organisation, and is coordinated by LINXS Institute of advanced Neutron and X-ray Science.

AMBER is funded by the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) COFUND scheme.
Around 14 postdocs will be recruited in the first call, with each fellowship lasting 36 months.

AMBER has six core partners: Lund University/MAX IV, Sweden, the European Spallation Source (ESS), Sweden, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), France, the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines, (IMOL), Poland, and the Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, United Kingdom.

Your work will include clinical and biomedical projects. It will also include technique development work aimed at combining imaging techniques and data analysis to provide a more integrated picture of life processes in the context of health and disease. To be a postdoc fellow at the AMBER programme you will get unprecedented medical, biological, and methodological capabilities, with a profound potential impact for Europe’s next generation of research and researchers. When you have completed the AMBER programme you will be extraordinarily well equipped to further your career in academia, at infrastructures, in the health and MedTech sectors, and beyond.

For more information about the total announced post-doctoral positions within in the AMBER co-fund project please visit  https://www.euraxess.se/jobs/178170 

The interviews will start in April. For more information about AMBER, application and evaluation process etc please visit: https://www.ambercofund.eu

Description of the research environment
The research group in MR Physics (https://www.msf.lu.se/research/mr-physics-group) is active in the medical applications of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and has extensive experience in method development related to imaging of perfusion, diffusion, functional activation, and flow in both healthy and diseased tissue. Dr. Filip Szczepankiewicz (PI) leads a research group that focuses on the development of MRI-based biomarkers for the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of prostate cancer. The group boasts a wide range of experts, covering MR physics, medicine, oncology, radiotherapy, and medical physics. To establish an accurate interpretation of MR-based microstructure imaging parameters, they are related to the underlying microstructure as depicted by histology or micro-CT.

Description of the project
The goal of the project is to investigate the relationship between prostate cancer microstructure as measured by MRI vs. microscopy. By establishing what features of tissue can be captured non-invasively by MRI in vivo, we will propose and validate biomarkers for cancer detection, diagnostics, and monitoring. To do so, we must first understand what information can be captured by MRI and relate it to the underlying histology. Therefore, the project bridges the scales from histology (µm) to MRI (mm).

The main responsibilities will include data acquisition and analysis to support the correlation of histological and MRI-based parameters. This includes working with animal models of prostate cancer at pre-clinical MRI systems both in vivo and ex vivo. We will utilize advanced diffusion and relaxation MRI to investigate tissue microstructure and propose parameters that can serve as diagnostic biomarkers. Depending on the maturity of the project, we may translate the MRI methods to human subjects. To establish an accurate interpretation of the MRI parameters, we map their association to parameters derived from quantitative analysis of light microscopy (2D) and high-resolution phase-contrast X-ray microscopy (3D).

Emphasis is placed on the ability to work interdisciplinary (i.e., in collaboration with researchers, physicians, and international partners) and independently (i.e., through self-initiative, structuring, and planning innovative research.

Qualification requirements
Minimum requirements are:

• candidate needs to have a doctoral degree (PhD) no older than 8 years, as required by the Commission, in accordance with the Horizon-Europe MSCA cofund project Grant Agreement
• at least one original publication in a peer-reviewed journal,
• a background in the relevant methods,
• a complete application package submitted through the AMBER portal (including CV and detailed research plan), and finally,
• strict compliance with the MSCA mobility rule that the researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the host organisation's country for more than twelve months in the three years immediately prior to the call deadline.

Qualifications required for the project

The following are required:

• Expertise in experimental MRI using Bruker/other pre-clinical systems.
• Experience in theory and analysis of diffusion MRI.
• Experience in qualitative and/or quantitative analysis of tissue microstructure.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

The following are meriting:

• Experience in MR pulse sequence programming.
• Experience in small animal handling for pre-clinical experiments.
• Experience in light microscopy.
• Experience in phase-contrast micro-CT.
• Experience in oncology.
• Experience in image segmentation.
• Experience in radiotherapy of cancers (radionuclide and/or external beam).
• Track record of producing high-quality research.
• Documented pedagogical skills and pedagogical training.

Instructions on how to apply
For more information please visit www.ambercofund.eu. 

If you are interested in applying for more than one position (maximum 3) you must be prepared to make a full application for each individual position.

Applications shall be written in English and compiled into a PDF-file containing:

i) A Curriculum Vitae (europass format). This is created by registering and using the Europass portal here: https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv. Your CV can then be exported to a PDF file that you use in your application.

ii) A detailed research plan including any foreseen secondments (candidates can suggest more than the mandated one, they can also suggest their own secondments), schools and conferences as well as a templated budget plan. (as concise as possible, recommended about 3-5 pages, but at an absolute maximum 10 pages. The research plan should include a half page of summary/abstract. The template can be downloaded from the “For applicants” page, here: https://www.ambercofund.eu/for-applicants.

Additional texts to include in the PDF are:

iii) Letter of Commitment from any additional secondment partners the candidate wishes to bring
onboard.

iv) Evidence of English proficiency (minimum CEFR B22, also checked at interview).

v) A draft Individual Career Development Plan (ICDP).

vi) Two reference letters.

vii) Any additional documents to support the application.

viii) Ethical questionnaire (HE ethics checklist + research ethics commitment) link will be provided at the “For applicants” page, here: https://www.ambercofund.eu/for-applicants.

In addition, the application will require:

ix) Any candidate can apply for maximum of 3 positions. You must apply for each individual position. A list with order of preference of positions should be sent to the AMBER management. amber@linxs.se The template can be downloaded from the “For applicants” page, here: https://www.ambercofund.eu/for-applicants.

x) A pre-recorded video presentation (questionnaire-guided, via online video tool, about 10min). Upon successful completion of the rest of the application procedure eligible candidates will be sent a link.