Postdoctoral Researcher in Metabolic Regulation of Inflammation Full-time NEW

Postdoctoral Researcher in Metabolic Regulation of Inflammation

The Rydén and Mejhert laboratory is a multidisciplinary research group of 15-20 members, including postdoctoral fellows, PhD and master's students, and technical staff. We investigate how alterations in human white adipocyte function contribute to cardiometabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis. Our work combines experimental research in a well-equipped preclinical laboratory at Biomedicum with clinical studies at a dedicated research unit at Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge.

Your Mission

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to investigate the molecular mechanisms linking cellular metabolism to inflammatory signaling in human white adipocytes. The project builds on our recent findings showing that inflammatory activation induces extensive metabolic reprogramming in adipocytes and that glutamine metabolism contributes to the regulation of inflammatory gene expression.

The overarching aim is to define how metabolic pathways communicate with intracellular signaling and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms to control the inflammatory response. A particular focus will be placed on understanding how changes in cellular metabolism influence protein signaling, subcellular localization, protein interactions, and chromatin regulation. The successful candidate will use mechanistic perturbation experiments to establish causal relationships between metabolic pathways and inflammatory gene expression.

The work will combine human adipocyte cell culture with molecular and cell biological approaches, including genetic and pharmacological perturbations, immunoblotting, protein interaction studies, subcellular fractionation, fluorescence microscopy, and chromatin-based methods. Cellular metabolic phenotyping, including high-resolution respirometry, will be used to connect molecular mechanisms to changes in cellular metabolism.

The successful candidate will take a leading role in experimental design, method development, data generation, and interpretation. The position offers the opportunity to develop an independent research profile at the interface between cell biology, metabolism, and inflammation within an interdisciplinary environment with strong expertise in human adipose tissue biology and cardiometabolic disease.

Your Profile

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in experimental cell biology, molecular biology, or a related field, with a particular interest in understanding molecular mechanisms of cellular regulation. Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture and molecular techniques is essential. Experience in cellular signaling and protein biochemistry is particularly relevant, including immunoblotting and approaches to study protein-protein interactions, such as co-immunoprecipitation. Experience with genetic manipulation, including CRISPR-based approaches or related techniques, is highly desirable. Expertise in chromatin biology, including ChIP-based methods, as well as fluorescence microscopy and subcellular localization studies, is also valuable. Experience with cellular metabolic phenotyping, particularly using Seahorse or similar platforms, would be an additional asset. Applicants should bring substantial expertise in several of these areas and a willingness to develop complementary skills.

The candidate should be able to independently design, perform, and troubleshoot experiments and use mechanistic approaches to establish causal relationships between molecular pathways and cellular phenotypes. The ability to critically evaluate results, formulate new hypotheses, and develop appropriate experimental strategies will be particularly important. Intellectual curiosity, scientific rigor, independence, and effective collaboration are essential.

Previous experience in adipocyte biology, metabolism, or inflammatory signaling is welcome but not required. Proficiency in written and spoken English is required for effective communication, manuscript preparation, and collaboration within an international research environment.

What Do We Offer?

A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Solna Choose to work at KI – Ten reasons why

Mikael Rydén & Niklas Mejhert lab | Karolinska Institutet

Application

An employment application must contain the following documents in English or Swedish:

• PhD certificate
• A complete resumé, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
• A complete list of publications
• A summary of current work (no more than one page)

KI applies individual and differentiated salary setting in accordance with our collective agreements RALS and RALS-T

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.