Postdoctoral position in physical chemistry within SweDeliver - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Uppsala University is a strong and international research environment. The department has about 85 employees and here, doctoral students, teachers, researchers and administrators work closely together in a creative and open environment. More information about the department can be found at www.ilk.uu.se.

We are now seeking a creative and highly motivated researcher who would like to contribute to the development of a new in vitro method to model the fate of subcutaneously administered biopharmaceuticals. The researcher will be positioned in the pharmaceutical physical chemistry research group and will be involved in the work package for parenteral drug administration within SweDeliver, a VINNOVA funded drug delivery competence center.

The research group in pharmaceutical physical chemistry seeks to clarify the relationships between the molecular structure of drug molecules, their physicochemical properties and the possibilities to control how they are stored in and released from different types of particulate drug carriers and formulations. The purpose is to create new knowledge making it possible to develop new or improved systems for the administration of drugs and to develop in vitro methods to model the fate of administered drugs, including biopharmaceuticals such as peptides and proteins, and small and amphiphilic drug molecules including cancer drugs.

In our investigations we use a combination of experimental and theoretical methods. The experimental techniques include small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), neutron reflectometry, static and dynamic light scattering (SLS/DLS), microfluidics, micropipette-assisted microscopy, confocal microscopy, fluorescence recovery after photo-bleaching (FRAP), static and time-resolved fluorescence methods, and rheology. More information about the research group can be found at the web page https://www.ilk.uu.se/research-groups/pharmaceutical-physical-chemistry/

As part of SweDeliver we conduct research related to parenteral administration of drugs with special focus on subcutaneous (SC) administration. The goal is to develop methods to predict the release from SC injected drug formulations, and the absorption and bioavailability of SC delivered substances, with special focus on drug products containing bio-macromolecular therapeutics. The purpose is to facilitate innovation and development of drug products with high bioavailability of the active substance and small variation between patients. More information about the parenteral work package and SweDeliver can be found at the web page https://www.uu.se/forskning/swedeliver/research-and-activities

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Duties
You will develop and apply experimental methods to study the transport of peptide drugs in a synthetic model of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of subcutaneous tissue. The purpose is to identify key molecular properties of peptide drugs governing their diffusion and mass-transport in the ECM. This involves their interaction with basic constituents of the ECM such as collagen and hyaluronic acid, their interaction with solutes such as fatty acids and albumin. The goal is to establish an in vitro method providing reliable data that can improve our capacity to predict the absorption of drugs after subcutaneous administration in vivo.

As member of Pharmaceutical Physical Chemistry research group and SweDeliver, you are expected to document all experimental work, being able to efficiently plan research experiments and analyse their results, as well as contribute to the writing of research manuscripts. You are also expected to be able to present your results on group meetings and various department seminars, meetings and seminars within SweDeliver, and to carry out administrative tasks in connection with reporting of research.

Requirements
The candidate should have a PhD degree in either physical chemistry, physical pharmacy, pharmaceutics, biomedical engineering, or corresponding disciplines. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Primarily, those who have completed their degree no more than three years from application deadline should be considered. If there are special reasons, such a degree may have been completed earlier. Special reasons refer to leave due to illness, parental leave, positions of trust within trade unions, etc.  The candidate should have extensive research experience from the areas described in the project description. As the main languages in our working environment are Swedish and English, the candidate must be fluent in either one of these two languages.

Additional qualifications
Furthermore, as this project involves hydrogels based on collagen and hyaluronic acid, it is considered highly valuable if the candidate has practical experience of synthesis of such materials and characterization of their physical and chemical properties with rheological methods, scattering techniques and NMR spectroscopy, but also the application of theoretical models of diffusion and mass transport in complex materials. It is also advantageous to have experience of working with methodologies suitable for experimental studies of mass transport in hydrogels, including microfluidics.

Application process

The application should be written in English and should contain the following:

• Cover letter with summary of your previous research experiences (1-2 pages)
• CV with contact information
• Contact information to at least two references

Ranking of the candidates will be done by the project leader. We will seek to recruit the candidate that is deemed the most qualified for the position and who will be able to contribute to the development of the SweDeliver parenteral work package and our department. Special importance will be given to experience of experimental investigations of diffusion and mass transport.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position of two years according to central collective agreement. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date as soon as possible. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position, please contact: Professor Per Hansson (project leader), per.hansson@ilk.uu.se and Head of Dept. Anders Karlén, anders.karlen@ilk.uu.se 

Please submit your application by 4 September 2023, UFV-PA 2023/3008.

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