Biobank Manager position at the national research infrastructure SIMPLER - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Surgical Sciences (IKV) is part of the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy. IKV has about 120 employees and 200 registered doctoral (third cycle) students, the majority of which are clinically active doctors and nurses. Research is conducted at the department, as well as teaching in the first, second and third cycles. Teaching is, among other areas, conducted within the education programmes for doctors, nurses and specialty nurses. Research is conducted in research groups organised according to surgical specialties and closely aligned subject areas, such as anaesthesia and intensive care and radiology. The EpiHub is a part of IKV. It is a network for epidemiological research within the the Disciplinary domain of Medicine and Pharmacy at Uppsala University. The EpiHub facilitates fruitful interaction with different research groups aiming to jointly build a long term foundation for advanced epidemioloigcal research. It enables collaboration with external epidemiological, nutritional, genetic, cardiovascular, injury, osteoporosis and bone density expertise.

The EpiHub is now seeking to recruit a Biobank Manager for the national research infrastructure SIMPLER. This is a fulltime and permanent employment (probationary period may be applied), starting January 2022.

Project description
SIMPLER stands for Swedish Infrastructure for Medical Population-Based Life-Course and Environmental Research. The infrastructure's mission is to provide national and international researchers with data for studies on how dietary and lifestyle factors and genetics affect our health, especially during the latter part of life. The knowledge can for example be used to develop recommendations on diet and lifestyle, develop new markers fore easier and more accurate diagnosis of chronic diseases and their precursors and to develop new individualized treatments.

Since the end of 2018 the infrastructure is managed by a consortium consisting of Uppsala University, Karolinska Institutet, Chalmers University of Technology and Örebro University in collaboration with the County Councils in Uppsala, Västmanland and Örebro County. What started as a project on diet and health among women has over the years developed to include also a male cohort, repeated assessments on diet and lifestyle factors, repeated matching with national, regional and local registries in addition to sampling of clinical variables and biological samples. As of today, more than 500 scientific papers have been produced based on data from the cohorts. Being classified as a national infrastructure in 2014 by the Swedish Research Council and financed as a consortium since 2018, SIMPLER [LB1] has enabled refinement of the cohorts on a larger scale including molecular methods to study the importance of genes, proteins and metabolites for contraction of a disease, disease development and treatment[LB2] .

The SIMPLER biobank today holds over 500,000 samples from blood, urine, faeces, and fat tissue and additionally holds DNA from saliva and blood samples. New samples continuously enter the biobank.

Duties:
As Biobank Manager your job is to, in the first instance, help us plan the establishment of a new biobank structure, and in the next phase manage it and continuously keep up with modern technologies to facilitate best sample quality along with required IT infrastructure. The role includes the following duties/responsbilities:

• coordination of the technical setup of the biobank infrastructure
• help design the structure of the biobank together with the technical and general planning team
• contribute to the development and maintenance of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), protocols, technical notes, guidelines and flow charts
• responsibility for procurement of required devices and interaction with relevant suppliers
• identify and evaluate suitable IT solutions for biobanking in close cooperation with IT experts of the general planning team
• data management of genetic data and other types of omics data
• monitor, track and develop the logistics and handling of clinical samples in close cooperation with the clinical study management team
• material quality assurance, audits pertaining to sample accessioning and archiving
• preparation and delivery of samples to researchers and collaborating scientists, based on the demand
• investigation, reporting and documentation of deviations in daily practical operations
• coordinate and ensure the privacy of data and samples, as well as be in charge of data security maintenance
• train and guide the research nurses in sample handling and storage and be responsible to ensure the highest sample quality

Requirements: The candidate will have a relevant degree in biomedical sciences and expertise in processing human materials for large-scale molecular analyses, experience in genetic analyses and data management, and a PhD in biology, biochemistry or related life sciences. The candidate is familiar with all regulatory and governance processes associated with collection, storage, retrieval and analysis of human samples in research. Experience of working with DNA samples, working with large cohorts and data processing in software such as R, Stata, SAS or Plink/genetic analyses is required. To be eligible for employment, the applicant should have good computer skills, be thorough, have a very good organizational ability and master English fluently in both speech and writing. The candidate should also be able to communicate effectively and interact in a professional manner with leadership, management, coworkers, clinical researchers, regulatory agencies and other stakeholders. The candidate should have high project management skills, is able to prioritize work efficiently, and is exceptional in analytical and problem-solving capabilities. Very good co-operation skills and the ability to take own initiatives are also prerequisites for employment.

Additional qualifications: Prior experience of working with various types of samples, such as DNA, faeces, blood/plasma and urine, is considered as an advantage.

Salary: Individual salary.

Starting date: 2022-01-07 or as otherwise agreed.

Type of employment: Permanent position, probationary period may be applied. 

Scope of employment: 100 %.

For further information about the position please contact: HR-generalist Higran Saghir, higran.saghir@surgsci.uu.se and personnel coordinator Karin Johansson, karin.johansson@surgsci.uu.se.

Please submit your application by September 30, 2021, UFV-PA 2021/3382.

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