Postdoctoral position in medical Epidemiology

Postdoctoral position in medical epidemiology
The Department of Surgical Sciences (IKV) is part of the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy. IKV has about 160 employees and 230 registered doctoral (third cycle) students, the majority of which are clinically active doctors and nurses. The yearly turnover is SEK 152 million. 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. A great deal of research is conducted in cooperation between separate research groups within IKV and other departments at Uppsala University, as well as other universities in Sweden and the rest of the world. Many of the department's employees have combined positions at the University Hospital.

The EpiHub, which is part of IKV, is a department-wide research center in epidemiology within the Disciplinary domain of Medicine and Pharmacy at Uppsala University. The aim is to jointly lay a long-term foundation for developed epidemiological research, by facilitating the development and exchange of epidemiological knowledge, expertise and ideas. The Epihub is now looking for a postdoctoral fellow who will be active in the research group in medical epidemiology (read more about the group here).

Project description
As a postdoctoral fellow, you will get the opportunity to choose between three different research projects. The projects are described below. Please specify in your cover letter which project you are interested in applying for. To note, there is no laboratory work planned within any of the projects.

Choose one of the following projects:

Project 1: The underlying mechanisms linking physical inactivity to preclinical dementia.
The aim of this project is to (1) examine the metabolites and proteins associated with preclinical dementia; (2) determine causality using Mendelian Randomization; and (3) to identify causal pathways linking physical activity. This project will employ data from EpiHealth (https://www.epihealth.lu.se/en/cohort) and SIMPLER (https://www.simpler4health.se/), linked with registers.

Project 2: The underlying mechanisms linking physical inactivity, obesity, and type 2 diabetes in cancer development. The main aims are to (1) explore the association of metabolites and proteins with physical inactivity, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cancer; (2) determine causality using Mendelian Randomization; (3) identify causal pathways linking the physical inactivity, obesity, and type 2 diabetes with cancer; and (4) evaluate the relative contribution of the metabolites and proteins to the causal pathway. This project will utilize several different cohorts (SIMPLER, UK Biobank, Finngen https://www.finngen.fi/sv) linked with the registers.

Project 3: Register-based studies on physical activity and cancer.
The main aims are to (1) Examine longitudinal trajectories of physical activity, and interconnected risk factors, in relation to cancer incidence in individuals with type 2 diabetes and (2) To assess the patterns, determinants and consequences of change in physical activity after a cancer diagnosis. This project will utilize data linkage between a number of Swedish national registers which are available in our group.

Duties
In this position you will work with an interdisciplinary approach to a broad project area. You are expected to work well both independently and as part of a team. The position includes the following work areas and tasks:

Data management and statistical analysis:

• Perform efficient and proficient data-management of large-scale data, with strong attention to detail
• Draft and develop statistical analysis plans including cutting-edge methodologies in epidemiology
• Conduct statistical analyses in accordance with a statistical analysis plan

Presentation of results:

• Place new results in the context of the existing knowledge base
• Communicate clearly and professionally in oral and written English in different situations, for example, within interdisciplinary meetings and collaborations, when drafting and revising articles to be published in peer-reviewed journals, and when presenting new insights at (inter)national conferences.

Requirements
We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a PhD i a relevant subject such as Epidemiology, Biostatistics or Bioinformatics. The position as postdoctor has the following requirements:

• A highly motivated candidate with a PhD degree in a relevant subject (eg epidemiology, biostatistics, bioinformatics).
  
• The PhD degree must be obtained in time of the decision of employment and should be awarded in the last 3 years. Those who have obtained a PhD degree 3 years prior to the application deadline are primarily considered for the employment. The starting point for the employment is the application deadline. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The 3-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labor unions, etc.
• Advanced understanding of observational epidemiology study designs
• Can independently conduct analysis in Stata or R

It is a requirement that you are stringent in your analysis and that you have high research ethics. You are well-motivated, proactive, flexible and you have a responsible attitude and a logical mind-set. It is important that you have a good ability to document your work proparly and that you can share your knowledge with colleagues, both verbally and in text. The daily interaction with colleagues requires that you have good cooperation and communication skills. Furthermore, you have strong organizational skills and a good ability to work independently and prioritize among your tasks. We consider it given that you are detail-oriented and have a professional approach. Excellent scientific writing skills in English and excellent oral and written communication in English is a requirement for the employment.

Additional qualifications

• Prior experience of research in the fields of cognitive neuroscience (Project 1) and/or cancer (Projects 2,3)
• Prior experience of working with –omics analysis including proteomics and metabolomics (Projects 1,2)
• Prior experience of working with causal inference approaches including Mendelian Randomization (Projects 1,2)
• Prior experience of working with GWAS (Projects 1,2)
• Prior experience of working with cohort data (Projects 1,2,3)
• Prior experience of working with longitudinal data and/or survival modelling (Projects 1,2,3)
• Prior experience working with Swedish national register data (Project 3)
• Prior experience of working mediation analysis (Projects 1,2,3)
• Previous outstanding academic achievements (Projects 1,2,3)

The application should include:

• A CV or resume (max 2 A4 pages in English)
• A cover letter in which you present your research interests and experience, and explain why you are interested in and suitable for this position, including what project you are interested in (max 1 A4 page in English)
• A list of publications
• A copy of your PhD certificate if available
• Contact details (name, email, and phone number) for two professional references

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position of 2 years, with a possible extension of 1 year according to the central collective agreement. Full time position, 100 %. Starting date as soon as possible or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Hannah Brooke, PhD, hannah.brooke@uu.se.

Please submit your application by the 2nd of May 2024, UFV-PA 2024/1065.

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