Postdoc Fellow: Pro-resolving lipid mediators in the human lung

Location: AstraZeneca Gothenburg, Sweden & Karolinska Intitutet, Stockholm, Sweden



About the Postdoc Programme:

Bring your expertise, apply your knowledge, follow the science, and make a difference. AstraZeneca's Postdoc Programme is for self-motivated individuals looking to deliver exciting, high-impact projects in a collaborative, engaging and innovative environment. You'll work with multidisciplinary scientific teams from a diverse set of backgrounds and a world-class academic mentor specifically aligned to your project. Our postdocs are respected as specialists, encouraged to speak up, and supported to share their research at conferences, publish papers, achieve their goals, and make a difference to our patients.

This is a 3-year programme, with an initial 2-year period and 1-year, merit-based extension.



About the Opportunity:

In Early Respiratory & Immunology (R&I) we are rewriting the future of these patients, evolving from pure symptom control to clinical disease modification, remission and, one day, cure! To achieve this, we tackle core disease mechanisms to slow down or stop disease, and we focus on earlier and more intelligent interventions where we implement precision medicine from the start to ensure we target patients that will respond to and benefit from treatment.

We now have a Postdoctoral Fellow Opportunity, which involves testing the hypothesis that Specialised Pro-resolving lipid Mediators (SPMs), a recently described class of lipid mediators, have the potential to resolve airway inflammation in asthma and additional respiratory diseases. SPMs have been proposed to actively resolve acute inflammatory responses and promote healing and restitution, but our understanding of SPM biosynthesis and function in the human lung remains rudimentary. The key objectives for the Postdoc will be to (1) identify the key SPMs produced in human lung tissue in response to physiologically relevant stimuli and (2) establish their biological actions in human and guinea pig lung tissue explants, airways, and cell models.



What is involved in the role?

The Postdoc will apply advanced LC/MS methodology to identify SPMs generated in human lung tissue explants and cell cultures challenged with disease-relevant stimuli. The expression of lung enzymes involved in SPM synthesis and receptors mediating their actions will be studied using targeted PCR panels as well as RNA sequencing. Gene expression data will be complemented with protein analysis by Western Blot and other immune assays. Data obtained in the human lung explants will be compared with data from similar experiments in guinea pig lung tissue, which may enable studies addressing SPM production in response to allergy challenges and pharmacological intervention in vivo. Finally, you will use lung tissue explants, isolated small airways, and cells (e.g. mast cells and macrophages) to determine if SPMs can actively arrest ongoing inflammatory responses. Functional endpoints to be studied include airway contraction, cell migration and activation, and mediator production. Single or multiplexed immunoassays will be used to detect cytokines, alarmins, and growth factors. There may also be an opportunity to study the effect of selected SPMs in a novel high-resolution guinea pig airway inflammation in vivo model.

At AstraZeneca Gothenburg, you will be mentored by Dr Henric Olsson, Head of Target Science in Translational Science and Experimental Medicine (TSEM) within the Early R&I organisation. You will join a team of dedicated Target Scientists on a mission to understand disease mechanisms at the molecular level closing the gap between bench science and bedside clinical practice.

You will also have the opportunity to work at Karolinska Institutet, where you will have the support of a leading academic advisor, Prof Sven-Erik Dahlén, a world-leading expert with more than 40 years of active translational research on lipid mediators in the context of respiratory diseases. You will have access to an impressive network of supporting academic experts at Karolinska, and there will be ample opportunity to tap into the Karolinska research community with lab meetings, scientific seminars, and participation in post doc training programmes.

This is a unique opportunity where you as a Postdoc will divide your time spent between AstraZeneca´s vibrant Gothenburg site and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.



Qualification, Skills & Experience:

Essential Requirements

* PhD in biochemistry, cell biology, biomedicine, pharmacology, or a related field.
* Good understanding of inflammation or respiratory disease biology, including cell types, molecular pathways, and mechanisms.
* Solid understanding of and experience with standard laboratory techniques and methodologies, such as mRNA analysis (PCR) and Western Blot.
* Good bioinformatics and data science skills, and a strong ability to analyse and present generated data.
* Strong ability to disseminate results and findings to the wider research community (scientific papers and oral presentations).



Desirable Requirements

* Experience with mediator analysis by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS).
* The ability to articulate scientific hypotheses and address them experimentally.
* Strong communication and networking skills.
* Flexibility and the ability to adapt to and work efficiently in different research environments (AstraZeneca and Karolinska).
* Experience with pharmacologic in vitro bioassays and/or in vivo models.



Advert Opens: 27th of September 2022

Advert Closes: 15th of November 2022