Postdoctoral Fellow: 3D imaging unravelling secrets of cell therapy

Do you have a passion for or experience in tissue clearing and high-resolution 3D imaging? Would you like to apply your expertise to impact the development of advanced stem cell therapies in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life-changing medicines? Then this postdoc opportunity at AstraZeneca might be the one for you!
About AstraZeneca:
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-centred biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering, developing, and commercialising prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than a global leading pharmaceutical company. At AstraZeneca, we‘re dedicated to being a Great Place to Work and empowering employees to push the boundaries of science and fuel their entrepreneurial spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference in medicine, patients, and society.
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:
We are looking for a Postdoctoral Fellow to fulfil our primary objective of determining the 3D morphological phenotype of tissues with cell transplants and study how the microenvironment affects maturation and integration of grafted cells. Specifically, you will study the local response to various phenotypes of progenitor cells and how this influences safety and efficacy endpoints. Multiplex labeling will be optimized to enable inclusion of markers specific for graft maturation as well as host inflammation and neovascularization. You will deploy AI-based algorithms to spatially determine and quantitate cell types to allow comprehensive investigation of how different cell preparations, transplantation techniques and immune suppression strategies affect graft properties and cell therapeutic outcomes.
As our post doc you will lead the develop of staining and clearing protocols for multiple organs. Find solutions to process tissues with and without cell transplants for 3D optical high-resolution imaging best suited to capture potential structural differences between cell graft and host. You will support in the development of AI-based algorithms to quantify volume of graft, vascularization and, from a safety perspective, possible pathological lesions.
Cell therapy is an evolving field with various different cell types being explored for possible disease treatments. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in local tissue response to cell therapy grafts is fundamental for our ability to deliver new safe and efficacious drugs. Newly developed advanced imaging methodologies provide tools to study the interaction between cell therapy products and their target tissues in ways previously not possible. High-resolution 3D imaging of whole organs enables us to spatially study how cell graft and host tissue interact short term and develop over time, under different types of immunomodulatory therapies. This knowledge is pivotal to ensure short- and long-term survival of grafts while avoiding adverse events such as aberrant graft differentiation and systemic side effects of excessive immune suppression.
The primary scientific hypothesis is that local tissue microphysiology and cell response have a pivotal effect on graft survival and subsequent development into functional tissue.
Qualification, Skills & Experience:
Essential Requirements
PhD in molecular biology, biomedical sciences, biophysics or related disciplines, preferably with a focus on molecular imaging.
Extensive technical knowledge of multiplex immunostaining and imaging techniques
In-depth understanding of histology/morphology and the physiology involved
Proven experience in optical clearing techniques



Desirable Requirements
Experience in high resolution imaging e.g., optical projection tomography, light-sheet fluorescence microscope
Experience working with AI based image analyses and using imaging software e.g., Imaris and Arivis
Curious, problem solving team player



Why Should You Apply?
This role is a great opportunity if you are interested in imaging techniques, scientific challenges, and networking. In Imaging and Data Analytics we have multimodal imaging capabilities and are either imaging, informatic or data scientists and are involved in many different projects in different disease areas. We are constantly working with new imaging approaches where you will take the lead in developing high resolution 3D imaging suitable for development of future medicines.
You will be working with imaging and data experts in the Imaging and Data Analytics team, supervised by Dr Elin Sand, Associate Director and team lead of Tissue Imaging Sciences at AstraZeneca. You will also work with our academic scientific partners, Professor Ulf Ahlgren and Tomas Alanentalo from Umeå university, to achieve high resolution 3D imaging of cell grafts in host organs. Professor Ahlgren’s research group has pioneered the development of optical 3D imaging for studies of large tissues.
Ready for an exciting, rewarding challenge? Good, because we can´t wait to hear from you!
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.