Postdoctoral researcher in sex-differences in social health, cognition and resilience (scholarship)

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Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

The successful candidate will join and work closely with Assistant Professor Anna Marseglia's team within the Westman neuroimaging group a multidisciplinary, internationally recognized, collaborative research environment that focuses on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cognitive disorders.

You will work within a team spanning geriatrics, epidemiology, neuroscience, psychology, engineering, and statistics, where independent work is balanced with strong collaboration both within and beyond the research group, and own innovative ideas are strongly encouraged.

Division

The Division of Clinical Geriatrics at the NVS Department conducts clinically oriented research on Alzheimer's disease related disorders (ADRD) and other aging-related conditions in close cooperation with worldwide leading institutions and with the Theme Aging at Karolinska University Hospital.

Dr Marseglia's team conducts research on sex disparity in the vascular contributions to cognitive disorders and resilience by integrating a novel framework of social health with brain MRI, cognitive measures, biomarkers, and rich life‑course data. This project contributes to a broader effort seeking to better understand the biological and sociocultural pathways underlying sex differences in cognitive resilience, including interactions between hormone-related factors and social determinants in later life.

Your mission

As part of this FORTE-funded project you will initiate and lead independent studies aimed at identify socio‑cultural determinants through which men and women may engage differently in social health, shaping their late-life trajectories, with potential consequences for cognitive functioning and resilience . You will work with multi-modal longitudinal datasets, including data from the UK Biobank and Swedish population-based aging cohorts within the NEAR infrastructure (i.e., Betula, SNAC-K, and H70-1944 Birth Cohort). You will collaborate with national and international experts in social health and resilience in aging.

Duties

In this position, you will take on a broad and responsible role covering the full research process, from idea generation to publication. This includes data management and curation, data extraction, study design, statistical analyses, interpretation, and dissemination. You will play a key role in developing and leading independent, innovative projects on sex differences in social health trajectories and their impact on cognitive functioning and resilience in later life. Your responsibilities will include:

• Develop and refine research questions, conduct literature reviews, and manage and process non-imaging data.
• Perform advanced longitudinal statistical models (e.g., mixed-effects models, splines, growth models) to estimate social health and cognitive trajectories, including interaction analyses to assess synergistic or additive effects.
• Interpret results and prepare manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals; writing lay summaries for broader audiences is optional but encouraged.
• Present research findings at seminars, conferences, and other professional forums.
• Participate in regular meetings and engage in collaborations.

You are expected to gradually initiate and lead your own research projects, potentially aligned with your own research interests. Coordinating projects within the research group, supervising students, participating in teaching activities, and writing and contributing to funding applications are also part of the role.

This postdoctoral scholarship is a full-time (100%) position for one year initially with the high possibility of extension for a further year, considering all the criteria are fulfilled.

Entry requirements

Postdoctoral scholarships may be established for foreign researchers who pursue their merit in Sweden. A foreign researcher is a person living in another country who comes to Sweden with the intention of only staying in Sweden for all or part of their postdoctoral education at KI. Persons who are resident in Sweden and/or have carried out all or part of their academic education at KI or some other educational institution in Sweden cannot be considered for scholarships. The purpose of scholarships for postdoctoral qualification is to promote internationalization and contribute to research qualification after a doctorate or equivalent. A scholarship for carrying out postdoctoral research can be granted for a maximum of two years within a four-year period following the receipt of a doctoral degree or equivalent. To be eligible for a postdoctoral scholarship, the person must have obtained a doctorate, or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctorate. Applicants who have not completed a doctorate at the end of the application period may also apply, provided that all requirements for a completed degree are met before the (intended) start date of the post-doctoral education.

Your Profile

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following criteria:

• PhD in epidemiology, biostatistics, public health, psychology, neuroscience, sociology, or related field with a focus on aging.
• Strong practical experience in modeling longitudinal data using advanced statistical methods, for example mixed-effect models, spline-based models, fixed/random change-point models, latent class analysis, growth mixture models.
• Previous research in one or more: social determinants of health and/or sex differences in aging.
• Training in epidemiology-related research methods, particularly within aging or dementia research.
• Proficiency in R programming or other relevant software.
• Practical experience handling large-scale, multimodal datasets.
• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills.
• Ability to work well both independently and as part of a team in an international environment.

• You are ambitious, enthusiast, curious to learn new methods/skills/concepts, self-driven, detailed and goal-oriented, committed to high-quality work, with strong social and collaborative skills, as the role involves working in a team.

It is also considered an merit if you have one or more of the following:

• Practical hand-on experiences working with UK Biobank data and the Research Analysis Platform.
• Records of published high-quality scientific articles.
• A strong interest in data-driven research and interdisciplinary science, including AI/machine learning and medical sociology, with a focus on practical applications and problem-solving.

We are looking for a social person who enjoys collaborating. This is very important as the applicant will be working in a group. Emphasis will be placed on personal suitability.

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. Here, we conduct innovative medical research and provide the largest range of biomedical 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. Students and employees have free access to our modern gym facilities with trained staff on site.

The successful candidate will have excellent opportunities for professional development through mentorship, networking, and scientific output.

Choose to work at KI – Ten reasons why

Location: Neo (Blickagången 16), KI Campus Flemingsberg

Type of scholarship

The amount is tax free and it is set for twelve months at a time, paid out on a six months basis. In exceptional cases, shorter periods may be acceptable.

Application process

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

• A complete curriculum vitae, 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)

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

Selection process

Applications will be evaluated in July. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews in August. The expected start date is fall 2026.

Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all

First day of employment – According to agreement

Reference number – STÖD 2-2234/2026

Contact – Andrea Hansson, HR, 0852480000, andrea.hansson@ki.seAnna Marseglia, Recruiting manager, anna.marseglia@ki.se

Union representative – Taher Darreh-Shori, SACO, taher.darreh-shori@ki.seElizabeth Valenzuela, SEKO, 08-52486363, elizabeth.valenzuela@ki.seMarie Beckeman, ST-OFR, marie.beckeman.2@ki.se

Published – 26.May.2026

Last application date – 08.Jul.2026

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