Postdoctoral Fellow in brain tumor evolution and treatment resistance

Postdoctoral Fellow in Brain Tumor Evolution and Treatment Resistance

A Postdoctoral Fellow position is available in the research group of Veronica Rendo at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with an interest in diffuse midline glioma (DMG), a malignant pediatric brain tumor, to lead projects that elucidate the mechanisms of response and resistance to standard-of-care treatment and clinically relevant targeted therapies in this disease.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will join and lead an arm of the ERC-funded project RESET-DMG, which aims to map how DMG cells evolve resistance to radiation and eight targeted therapies. To this end, the Postdoctoral Fellow will establish barcoded patient-derived models and track them with single-cell multiome technologies to determine the mechanisms of resistance and evolution, including the transcriptional and epigenetic features that define resistant cells. The position involves working in a highly collaborative environment and presenting the project's results at scientific meetings and conferences.

Duties:

• Barcode patient-derived DMG neurosphere models and establish resistance to radiation and clinically relevant small-molecule inhibitors
• Analyze barcode dynamics to distinguish innate from acquired resistance across therapies
• Generate, process and integrate single-cell RNA and ATAC data to identify transcriptional programs and chromatin features linked to resistance
• Take a leading role in study design, manuscript writing, conference presentations and student supervision

  Qualifications:

  • PhD degree in cancer biology, molecular biology, genetics, neuroscience or a related field or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in the same
  • Strong experimental expertise in the fields above as demonstrated through peer-reviewed original research publications
  • Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture, including lentiviral transduction and patient-derived or stem-like models
  • Documented experience analyzing single-cell and/or epigenomic data (scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, multiome) in R and/or Python, including quality control, integration and interpretation
  • Ability to design experiments, troubleshoot and critically interpret results
  • Documented dissemination of research (publications, conferences), good English communication skills and the ability to work in an interdisciplinary environment
  • Previous supervision experience, and evidence of collaborative skills

    Additional merits:

    • Experience with cellular barcoding, lineage tracing and/or NGS library preparation
    • Experience with CRISPR screens or functional genomics
    • Experience with brain tumor, pediatric cancer or glioma models, drug resistance or tumor evolution
    • Knowledge of chromatin biology and transcription factor regulation
    • Hands-on experience with animal work in the context of cancer, and particularly brain tumours
    • A multidisciplinary background (both wet lab and computational experience) is considered a strong merit for this position

      The application should include CV, cover letter, PhD diploma, publication list and contact information for three references.

      About the employment: The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to central collective agreement with the possibility of a 1 year extension. Full time position. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.