Senior Research Specialist in experimental and translational studies on the small vessel disease CADASIL and neurodegeneration Full-time

Senior Research Specialist in Experimental and Translational Studies on the Small Vessel Disease CADASIL and Neurodegeneration

Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

A senior research specialist position is available in the lab of Helena Karlström at the Division of Neurogeriatrics, Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Karolinska Institutet. The Karlström lab is located in BioClinicum, Solna campus where all of the experiments will be conducted.

The Karlström laboratory is aimed at elucidating mechanisms of the vascular function of small vessel disease/CADASIL and the relationship of impaired vascular function and neurodegeneration with the goal of identifying new molecular targets for diagnosis and treatment of small vessel diseases, with emphasis on CADASIL. Research projects in the Karlström lab are supported by several funding bodies such as e.g., The European Joint program-Rare diseases, Swedish Research Council, The Dutch Brain Foundation, and Private donations within and outside Sweden.

Description of the Subject Area

The senior research specialist will drive a research line on the molecular mechanisms that drive vascular pathology in Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) and the link to neurodegeneration. More specifically the research will be based on mouse models, mouse and human cell models (primary and immortalized) using immunostaining of brains and microvasculature in combination with transcriptomic and proteomic analysis with biostatistics and bioinformatic tools.

Your Mission

The candidate will lead, plan, and coordinate a preclinical research line focused on the molecular mechanisms that lead to the early degeneration of vascular smooth muscle cells in CADASIL and the link to neurodegeneration. The candidate will use molecular and cell biology methods to study mechanism of action using for instance qPCR, western blotting, transcriptomics (sc/sn/bulk RNA seq) and proteomics (masspectometry techniques), ELISA and Olink analysis. The successful candidate will be part of a highly interactive multinational and multidisciplinary team covering expertise in vascular biology and neurodegenerative diseases as well as molecular and cell biology.

The candidate will be involved in teaching, supervision of PhD students, research grant applications, disseminate research results in peer review publications and at conferences and promote national and international collaborations.

Your Profile

The applicant needs to have good communicative and cooperation capabilities, since it involves supervision of PhD and master students and national and international scientific collaborations. Excellent ability to speak and write in English is a requirement and to have published as an independent scientist with high quality publications as first author and at least one as last author.

The applicant should have deep knowledge, extensive experience in the field of Notch biology, transcription, translation and metabolic regulation, small vessel diseases (preferably CADASIL) and vasculature and practical skills in molecular biology, cell biology techniques, proteomics, transcriptomics and deep technical expertise in confocal and electron microscopy.

Eligibility Requirements

For employment as Senior Research Specialist at Karolinska Institutet, the eligibility requirements and assessment criteria stated in the Guidelines for non-teaching positions at Karolinska Institutet are applied in relation to the established profile of employment.

To be eligible for employment as a Senior Research Specialist, in addition to holding a PhD, or having a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a Swedish doctoral degree, the applicant must have demonstrated good level of research expertise with significant scientific output. The applicant must also have demonstrated a good scientific independence to which their own contribution has been significant and a research plan of high quality with clear future potential.

The applicant should have authored 15 original publications, the majority of which must be based on his/her postdoctoral research. Of these, at least two must be as first or last author, of which at least one as last author, conducted after PhD graduation and without any of his/her doctoral supervisors as co-authors.

Assessment Criteria

It is particularly meritorious that the applicant has shown:

• Original scientific publications, their quality and quantity, with special consideration paid to publications after doctoral education.
• Scientific independence demonstrated through leading and senior authorships.
• Presentations and scientific assignments at international congresses.
• Research grants obtained in regional, national and international competition.
• National and international research collaborations.
• Research responsibility as supervisor for master's, doctoral and postdoctoral degree projects
• Research experience from a research group other than that in which doctoral studies were pursued.
• Development of a personal research profile within the relevant subject area.
• A plan for future research based on current science.

It is meritorious that the applicant has shown:

• Documented experience in forms of scientific original publications from previous research from other fields but still with focus on the vasculature, Notch biology is a merit.
• Reviewer and assessor of other researchers' scientific output.
• Review articles and other scientific publications.

After an overall assessment of the expertise and merits of the applicants in relation to the subject area, Karolinska Institutet will determine which of them has the best potential to contribute to a positive development of the activities at KI.

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 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: BioClinicum, Solna

Your career continues here

Application

We prefer that your application is written in English, but you can also apply in Swedish. An application must contain the following documents: PhD certificate, resumé, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet's qualifications portfolio.

The applications will be reviewed by external reviewers.

The application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

Permanent position is initiated by a six months trial period.

Want to Make a Difference? Join Us and Contribute to Better Health for All!

The Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS) conducts world leading research in aging, dementia, epidemiology and care sciences. This research extends from basic molecular and cell levels to clinical research and societal studies. NVS educates almost a third of KI students at basic and advanced levels. The Department has approximately 540 employees and a revenue 2025 of 580 million SEK. It comprises seven divisions, located at Campus Flemingsberg and Campus Solna.

The Division of Neurogeriatrics consists of about 65 employees. The division conducts experimental and translational research related primarily to Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, but also more general molecular mechanisms with biomedical relevance are studied. The division is mainly located in BioClinicum, KI Campus Solna, and partially in Neo, KI Campus Flemingsberg.

Type of employment – Permanent position

Contract type – Full time

First day of employment – According to agreement

Salary – Monthly salary

Number of positions – 1

Full-time equivalent – 100 %

City – Solna

County – Stockholms län

Country – Sweden

Reference number – STÖD 2-1574/2026

Contact – Helena Karlström, Senior lecturer, 08-52483548, helena.karlstrom@ki.seJohanna Hillgren, HR-partner, 08-52486835, johanna.hillgren@ki.se

Union representative – Taher Darreh-Shori, SACO, taher.darreh-shori@ki.seMarie Beckeman, ST-OFR, 08-52488710, marie.beckeman.2@ki.seElisabeth Valenzuela, SEKO, 08