Postdoctoral fellow in public health science with a specialisation in bioinformatics

Description

Public health science belongs to the Department of Health Sciences at the Faculty of Health, Nature and Engineering Sciences at Karlstad University. Within the subject, research and education are conducted with a focus on children's lives and health within three medical tracks; An environmental impact on environmental factors early in life and their importance for health and development in children, a community drug track that focuses on vulnerable children, violence in close relationships and health-promoting environments, and a trail in medical science that includes anatomy,

Of importance for the current employment is the SELMA study, a pregnancy cohort that follows more than 2 000 Mother-child pairs from early pregnancy, over childbirth and up school age with a focus on environmental factors, genetics / epigenetics and children's health Our research in Selma takes place in close cooperation with world-leading institutions in Sweden, Europe and the US, where we connect our epidemiological studies with experimental studies in cell and animal models for increased molecular understanding and better risk assessment systems for dangerous chemicals The research is financed by research councils Nationally (Swedish Research Council, Formas) and within the EU and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States.

Tasks

The employment is central to two projects within the framework of the Selma study. The first project is a large EU project, Re-Mend, where we together with 15 international partners investigate protective and resilient factors that affect the mental health of endocrine-sensitive lifestriates. In the second project, EPI-Clock, we investigate whether the prenatal environment can affect epigenetic watches in children and further examine whether such changes in the epigenetic clock are associated with children's neuroutrogment.

Karlstad University's role in the projects is to analyze and interpret data obtained from the Selma cohort based on issues of biology. In the employment as postdoctoral, you will have a key role in the establishment of analytical pipelines based on relevant Selma data, conducting close cooperation with doctors and other experts required to interpret the results and establishing new research projects based on Selma

Eligibility requirements

Authorized to be employed are you who have a doctoral degree in bioinformatics or other related topic. You can also have a foreign degree that is considered to correspond to a Swedish doctoral degree. Doctoral degree must be issued before deciding on employment is made andmaximum Three years before the end of the application time. Elderly exam can be considered when special reasons exist, for example, by illness, parental leave, clinical service, trust assignments in trade unions, service within the total defense or other similar circumstances or for the subject area relevant service / assignment.

You have practical experience of calculation biology with a focus on statistical analysis of large clinical data sets and solid experience of several OMICs technologies and their analysis and integration. You have experience with DNA methylation with both array and sequencing techniques and DNA sequence analysis.

Good knowledge of English, in speech and writing, is required because the work is conducted in an international research environment.

Criteria

The applicant's scientific and technical skill is assessed on the basis of scientific publications, documented experience from research projects and contributions to Open Source projects, such as Github portfolio.

Of particular importance

• Good ability to independently plan, implement and develop bioinformatic analyzes of large clinical data sets including DNA methylation with a focus on predictive modeling, programming, development of reproducible bioinformatics flows, as well as knowledge of molecular
• Experience and skills in at least one programming language (preferable R or Python), good knowledge of datarningsning, visualization (eg Pandas, food plotlib, ggplot, plotly) and scripting language in Linux environment (Bash).
• Good practical skills in statistical analysis (dimensional reduction, clustering, hypothesis test, correction of batch effects, FDR control) and previous practical experience of predictive modeling and machine learning.
• Since data from the SELMA study will be compared with data within the RE-Mend project, experience of work with data generated by Oxford Nanopore sequencing is also required.
• Experience of methods and tools that contribute to reproducible research and high code quality, such as version management, workflow systems, containerization and structured documentation.

Of great importance

• Good ability to communicate research results and complex issues in a clear and educational way to different target groups.
• Good cooperation and ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary research environments.
• Ability to independently plan, prioritize and operate tasks forward with good judgment, responsibility and commitment to the business.
• A positive and professional approach to colleagues, students and partners.
• Good analytical ability and a structured and careful working method.

A merit

• Basic understanding of human physiology and molecular biology.
• Experience of interdisciplinary collaborations with clinically active professions, such as doctors.
• Experience of national or international research networks and collaborations.

Terms and conditions

The employment is a time-limited employment on full-time as Postdoctoral under 2 Year with any opportunity for extension 1 Year starting in November 2026 or by agreement.

Application

The application is made in the university's web-based recruitment tool. Read full ad here: https://www.kau.se/jobba-hos-oss/jobb/lediga-anstallningar