Postdoc Fellow - Stem Cell Therapies for Cardiovascular Disease

About the Opportunity:

Interested in an Industrial Postdoc with a focus on Stem Cell research? Don't miss this opportunity!

The Post Doc will join the Bioscience Cardiovascular team, in Early CVRM, BioPharmaceutical R&D, working locally and globally with colleagues across AstraZeneca. The team focuses on identifying and validating new targets and therapies for patients with cardiovascular disease and delivers key data to projects from early target ideas to phase II. You'll be part of the established and growing stem cell Post Doc community in Gothenburg and will also work closely with a team of stem cells scientist in the Discovery Sciences Unit.



Myocardial infarction results in severe damage to the heart muscle tissue, development of scar formation and irreversible loss of cardiac function that can lead to the development of heart failure. The human heart has limited inherent regenerative capability and is not able to replace the functional heart muscle tissue once lost. Stem cells represent an exciting approach for repair and regeneration of the damaged heart after myocardial infarction and both adult stem cells and pluripotent stem cells are being explored in the preclinical and clinical setting by several investigators. We are now looking for a highly motivated individual to work with and explore stem cell therapies for cardiovascular disease.



The Post Doc will study the cardiac regenerative properties of different stem cells, both naive and engineered with CRISPR/Cas9 (to boost the secretion of specific paracrine factors). Adult stem cells and pluripotent derived cardiac cells will be included in this work, to identify the optimal cell source or combination of cells, able to induce angiogenesis and immunomodulation as well as remuscularization of the infarcted heart.



The post doc will work with stem cell cultures and differentiation of pluripotent cells to cardiac cells and with relevant in vitro assays to thoroughly characterize the generated cell types. The post doc will also perform in vivo work to study cell survival and functional integration after cell transplantation, and ultimately assess cardiac functional improvements in heart failure animal models. Latest transcriptomics and proteomics approaches will be applied to characterize the cardiac cells and grafts.



Additionally, you will be encouraged to attend and present at international scientific conferences and publish high-profile papers. We will also support development of leadership skills and deeper understanding of drug development process.



Key Responsibilities:

* Independently design, develop and execute in vitro and in vivo experiments
* Independently analyze and interpret generated data
* Maintain deep scientific understanding in the cardiovascular and stem cell research areas
* Drive innovation and test novel ideas
* Presentation of data at internal and external meetings
* Communications of scientific findings through publications in world class scientific journals
* Contribute proactively to a vibrant and innovative working environment



Essential Education and Experience:

* PhD in the area of cardiovascular disease, regenerative medicine or stem cell biology
* Strong expertise in cardiac biology and disease and with stem cells
* A strong scientific track record with published papers in high quality peer-reviewed journals.
* Hands on experience in culturing, handling and manipulating (for example CRISPR/Cas9) pluripotent and adult stem cells
* Experience in performing relevant in vitro assays within the cardiovascular area
* Expertise in cell and molecular biology and imaging
* Experience to work in vivo such as general animal handling and blood sampling, or an interest to learn in vivo work
* Strong oral and written communication skills
* Strong collaboration skills



Desirable Qualifications:

* Hands on experience in differentiating pluripotent cells towards cardiac progenitor cells and cardiomyocytes
* Experience with open chest surgeries and echocardiography
* Experience with transcriptomics and/or proteomics
* Experience in bioinformatics



This is a 3-year programme. 2 years will be a Fixed Term Contract, with a 1-year extension which will be merit based. The role will be based in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a competitive salary on offer



Advert opening date - March 20, 2020

Advert closing date - May 17, 2020



About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines for some of the world's most serious diseases. But we're more than one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. At AstraZeneca, we're proud to have a unique workplace culture that inspires innovation and collaboration.