Assistant Professor (Forskarassistent) in clinical epidemiology

The Department is organized in 10 divisions: Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology, Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric Neurology, Pediatric Oncology, Neonatology, Reproductive Endocrinology, Neuropsychiatry (KIND), Reproductive and Perinatal Health. The divisions have separate scientific profiles and vary in size and have several research groups, dealing with both basic and clinical science.



Division
The Childhood Cancer Research Unit is a twenty-year-old research unit that consists of several research groups, all studying different aspects of childhood cancer.

The aim of Childhood Cancer Epidemiology Group (CCEG) is to develop infrastructure for clinical epidemiology (registration), provide support for and conduct research such as clinical studies, translational research as well as registry research within the field of childhood cancer. The overarching goal for the group and the unit is to improve the care and treatment results for children with cancer.


Duties
The research area consists of epidemiological studies in childhood cancer, with special focus on the use of the National Quality Registry for Childhood Cancer (“Svenska Barncancerregistret”) and the registries that are a part of the Nordic Society for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (NOPHO). The successful applicant is expected to conduct independent research in the field, but also to take part in collaborative projects involving several research groups as well as the group leader, Mats Heyman. Writing applications for independent funding is a part of the work description.

The research will include epidemiological evaluation of existing outcome- and process measures in the Childhood Cancer Registry in relation to riskfactors, translational experimental research or other types of exposure, for instance administered therapy. Other important tasks consist of developing new measures of performance in cooperation with the steering committee of the registry and technicians, ensure the data-capture of these measures from the medical records systems, other public health registries or manual registration and the analysis of such measures in relation to already recorded outcomes. There will be a certain focus on “generic” quality (parameters valid for all types of childhood cancer patients) and also on patients belonging to the hitherto underused parts of the registry (solid tumours and CNS-tumours in children).   The applicant is also expected to take part in the annual reporting from the registry to the clinics reporting, in the administration of the registry and the supportgroup for the infrastructure.


Entry requirements
A person is eligible to be appointed Research Assistant if he or she has been awarded a PhD or has achieved the corresponding scientific competence no more than seven years before the end of the application period. Applicants must have completed their degree no more than seven years before the last date for applications. Applicants who have completed their degree earlier than this should receive equal priority if special grounds exist. The applicant should not be employed as an assistant professor or hold a permanent academic employment at the time of application.

Qualifications
We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a MedDr/PhD (or a foreign qualification equivalent to a doctorate) with a focus on epidemiology, who has experience in designing, carrying out and analyzing clinical epidemiological studies, when needed, in collaboration with bio-statistical expertise. Experience in univariate and multivariate survival analysis and modelling is required and it is an advantage if the candidate has independent experience from carrying out correction for competing risks and modelling with time-dependent co-variates.

The successful candidate should have good organization skills and be able to work both independently and as a member of the research group and the collaborative networks within the paediatric oncology community. Good communication- and social skills are required for these networking aspects.

Good ability to read, write and speak English is a requirement and the candidate is aided by being able to communicate well also in Swedish.

Co-supervision as well as recruitment and independent supervision of PhD-students may be a part of the development of the group, and education/training-courses in research supervision is therefore an advantage.


Bases of assessment
We stress scientific expertise as well as communication- and social skills when assessing applicants.

Application process
An application must contain the following documents in English or Swedish: Curriculum vitae, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet’s qualifications portfolio (http://ki.se/qualificationsportfolio). 

The application is to be submitted through the MyNetwork recruitment system.

An Assistant professor position is a fixed-term position.

Karolinska Institutet is one of the world´s leading medical universities. Its mission is to contribute to the improvement of human health through research and education. Karolinska Institutet accounts for over 40 per cent of the medical academic research conducted in Sweden and offers the country´s broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences. Since 1901 the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has selected the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine.

Pursuant to the regulations of the Swedish National Archives, applications are kept on file for two years after the appointment has gained legal force. The regulations do not apply to attachments that have been printed or otherwise published.

Karolinska Institutet strives to provide a workplace that has approximately the same number of women and men, is free of discrimination and offers equal opportunity to everyone.

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