Cancer IO

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER

position open in Juha Klefström Lab, Medical Faculty, University of Helsinki.

Cancer IO is a large Business Finland Health program’s public-private partnership, which builds societal, research and healthcare ecosystem to facilitate capture and development of cancer immunotherapies in Finland. The network is comprised of 28 partners, including international pharma industries, Finnish small and midcap companies, Finnish hospitals and cancer centers, patient organizations and the universities of Turku and Helsinki. Cancer IO provides a broad interface between academia, hospitals and pharma businesses to boost research, innovation, cancer awareness, health care & regulatory development, and ultimately, to bring new transformative therapies faster, more efficiently and with more power to the cancer patient.

The project focuses on discovery of novel IO combination therapies and companion diagnostics via synthetic lethal and immunogenic cell death concepts, which are integrated with computational predictions. The indications include common solid tumors and employ novel methods to grow 3D cultures derived from intact fragments of patient-derived tumor tissue (Patient-Derived Explant Cultures; Haikala et al., Nature Comm. 2019). One of our team’s treatment inventions have already been forwarded to clinical testing in Finland and we have several new leads in preclinical stage testing. The advertised position will include both discovery and development type of laboratory research as part of international partnerships.

What do we offer:

• A vibrant working environment at the core of the ongoing transformation in the oncology field
• Opportunity to learn and conduct state-of-the-art immuno-oncology research
• Translational research project in the interfaces between academia, hospitals and industry
• Opportunity to develop your skills in number of technologies used in preclinical cancer drug discovery and development, such as focused drug screenings, 3D ex vivo culture technologies and animal work, gene editing, drug efficacy and tox testing as well as computational approaches in drug discovery.
• Opportunity to participate in the work of research consortia with high societal and scientific impact

Candidate requirements:

• PhD or MD, PhD degree in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics or in other relevant areas
• Highly motivated and ambitious person with strong interest in translational cancer research
• Previous scientific research output documented in peer-reviewed publications; previous experience in immuno-oncology or immunology would be bonus
• Excellent team player with independent approach to own projects
• Excellent communication and scientific writing skills
• Versed in English language

The initial contract will be for two years starting at your earliest convenience (with a 6 months trial period). Extension of contract is possible. The salary is in accordance with the University salary system (for teaching and research personnel).

The position is located in the laboratory of Cancer IO Director Juha Klefström, Research Programs Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki. The groups website: https://klefstromlab.com. You will also closely work with the other academic teams of Cancer IO and interact with our industry partners.

Applications must include a CV and an application letter that clearly describes how your profile matches with the candidate requirements and describe also your most relevant previous achievements in the field. Also include names and contact information of 2 references. The application, together with the required attachments, must be submitted through the University of Helsinki electronic recruitment system by clicking on Apply for the position link. Internal applicants (i.e., current employees of the University of Helsinki) must submit their applications through the SAP HR portal. Deadline for applications is October 10, 2020. For further inquiries regarding the position please contact cancerio-office@helsinki.fi.

See highlighted publications from the host laboratory at https://klefstromlab.com/home/publications/
Cancer Research 2000, Nat. Comms 2019, J. Med. Chem 2019, J. Med. Chem 2018, Cancer Discovery 2015, The EMBO J 2015.

Due date

10.10.2020 23:59 EEST