A Post-doctoral position on non-genetic therapy tolerance in breast cancer research at the Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Post-doctoral position is available in the laboratory of Professor Jukka Westermarck at the Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

Kinase inhibitors have become a mainstay in the cancer therapy, but their long-term efficacy is compromised by adaptive non-genetic drug-tolerance leading to drug resistance. We recently identified an oncogenic phosphatase DUSP6 as a central mediator of therapy tolerance development against HER2 targeted therapies in breast cancer (https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.06.14.544493). We also identified putative transcriptional regulators of therapy tolerance development, but what is the individual contribution of these transcription factors and can they be targeted in drug tolerant cancer cells is not yet understood. In order to address these biologically and clinically very relevant questions, we are looking for highly motivated post-doctoral fellow to join our dynamic research group broadly focused on phosphoproteome signalling in human cancers (https://bioscience.fi/research/cancer-cell-signaling/profile/). The project is carried out in a close collaboration with strong bioinformatics, drug development, and breast cancer clinical trial teams with a common goal to advance the acquired information to future clinical practice.

Turku Bioscience Centre (TBC), University of Turku, is a top-quality research center harbouring several research groups with distinguished publication profile (https://bioscience.fi). The centre harbours excellent core facilities facilitating use of world-class state-of-art technologies for all aspects of the project (https://bioscience.fi/services). Furthermore, BioCity Turku umbrella organization offers very high-quality research training including frequent seminars by world recognized speakers. Finally, Finland is a country with world´s happiest people and excellent quality of life. 

Candidate requirements:

• PhD (already obtained or very soon-to-be)
• First author publication in a respectable journal
• Competence in independent scientific thinking and project management
• Fluent spoken and written English

Preferrable technical competencies (mutually alternative)

• Advanced gene editing
• Single-cell RNA sequencing
• Mass spectrometry proteomics
• Bioinformatics

For further information or inquiries regarding this post, please contact Jukka Westermarck by e-mail: jukwes@utu.fi. The position will be filled upon identification of a suitable candidate and is available starting immediately thereafter. The selected candidate will receive a monthly personal research grant plus pension and occupational accident insurances. To apply, e-mail to tiina.arsiola@utu.fi one PDF document including your CV and an application letter clearly describing how your profile matches to candidate requirements listed above, and other previous achievements in the field. Also include names and contact information of three references. Indicate following text in the subject line of your e-mail: Post-doc position/Breast cancer 2024

Our selected recent publications:

Momeny et al., bioRxiv, 2023

Pavic et al., Nature Communications, 2023

Vervoort et al., Cell, 2021

Laine et al., Cancer Research, 2021

Mäkelä et al., Clinical Cancer Research, 2021