The Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) is an international research institute focusing on human genomics and personalised medicine at the University of Helsinki. In the beginning of 2017 FIMM joined the University of Helsinki’s new life science research centre, Helsinki Institute of Life Science HiLIFE, as an operational unit. FIMM integrates molecular medicine research, technology centre and biobanking infrastructures under one roof, promoting translational research in grand challenge projects, specifically, the impact of genome information from the Finnish population in personalised health and medicine, individualised cancer medicine, and digital molecular medicine. FIMM is part of the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, composed of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the centres for molecular medicine in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and the EU-LIFE Community.

The INTERVENE consortium (https://www.interveneproject.eu/) is a 5-year 10 million € EU funded project that aims to develop and test next generation tools for disease prevention, diagnosis and personalized treatment utilizing the first US-European pool of genomic and health data and integrating longitudinal and disease-relevant -omics data into genetic risk scores. The consortium includes 18 closely collaborating partners from 11 countries.

The coordinating center at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki is looking for two excellent and motivated postdoctoral researchers to join INTERVENE under the supervision of Prof. Samuli Ripatti and Dr. Andrea Ganna. Both positions are fully funded for 2-3 years with an additional possibility of extension. We offer stimulating work in a collegial and highly international environment with an unprecedented amount of health and genetic information from up to 1.7 million individuals.

About our research:

Professor Samuli Ripatti (https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/complex-disease-genetics) is the vice-director at FIMM, Professor of Biometry at Faculty of Medicine and a director of Academy of Finland’s Center of Excellence in Complex Disease Genetics. He is also affiliated with Broad institute of MIT and Harvard, MA, US. His research group has made seminal discoveries in understanding the link between genetic variation and risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases and common cancers. The Ripatti group also builds statistical and computational models for complex disease risk estimation and has played key roles in major Finnish sequencing and genotyping efforts, including FinnGen.

Dr. Andrea Ganna (https://www.dsgelab.org/) is an EMBL-group leader at FIMM and an instructor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. His research vision is to integrate genetic data and information from electronic health record/national health registries to enhance early detection of common diseases and public health interventions. Dr. Ganna has been recently awarded with an ERC starting grant to study the application of artificial intelligence methods for prediction of cardiovascular diseases.

Job description and qualifications:

The first INTERVENE postdoc will coordinate a multinational breast cancer clinical pilot study on translating genetic information to stratified treatment and screening. Preferably, candidates should have a background in clinical or medical genetics, or epidemiology/public health with statistics/data science/epidemiological skill set and an interest in developing tools to help clinicians make genetically informed decisions in their choices for treatment and cancer screening.

The second INTERVENE postdoc will work on the development and application of next generation risk prediction tools and pilot cutting edge approaches for disease prevention, diagnosis, and personalized treatment. We are primarily looking for candidates with a background in statistics, machine learning or related data science. The ideal candidate would also have experience in genetic prediction methods (e.g. polygenic risk scores) from genome-wide association studies and sequencing data.

The candidates should hold an M.D. degree and/or a Ph.D. or be about to finish the doctorate studies in the field of genetics, statistics, mathematics, computational sciences, (genetic) epidemiology or clinical medicine. We value scientific independence, publishing experience, and an aptitude towards developing and applying novel techniques. Together with the PI, candidates will be jointly responsible for coordinating projects and for supervising PhD students. Candidates will have the possibility to visit other INTERVENE partners for research purposes.

Contract & salary:

Both positions are for a fixed term of 2-3 years with a possibility of extension. The salary of the position is determined in accordance with the salary system of Finnish universities and depends on the candidate’s qualifications. The University of Helsinki offers comprehensive services to its employees, including occupational health care and health insurance, sports facilities, and opportunities for professional development. A trial period of 6 months will be applied.

How to apply:

The application should include cover letter, CV, list of publications, contact information for referees. Documents should be submitted as a single PDF file.

To apply, please submit the application through the University of Helsinki electronic recruitment system by clicking on the "Apply for job" link below. Internal applicants (i.e., current employees of the University of Helsinki) please submit your applications through the SAP HR portal. Please apply no later than May 16th, 2021.

For further information about the position, please contact the recruiting PIs: Prof. Samuli Ripatti samuli.ripatti@helsinki.fi); Dr. Andrea Ganna (aganna@broadinstitute.org)

If you need support with the recruitment system, please contact recruitment@helsinki.fi.

Helsinki Institute of Life Science

Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE) is a new institute established in 2017 that supports high quality life science research across the University campuses and faculties. HiLIFE builds on existing strengths and new recruits and partnerships to create an attractive international environment for researchers to solve grand challenges in health, food, and environment. HiLIFE coordinates research infrastructures in life sciences and provides research-based interdisciplinary training.

University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki (UH), founded in 1640, is a vibrant scientific community of 40,000 students and researchers. It is one of the leading multidisciplinary research universities and ranks among the top 100 international universities in the world. It is currently investing heavily in life sciences research. UH offers comprehensive services to its employees, including occupational health care and health insurance, sports facilities, and opportunities for professional development.

Due date

16.05.2021 23:59 EEST