Post-doctoral grantee position in head and neck cancer biomarker research (27.8.-16.9.2024)

Grant for a Post-doc is available in the laboratory of Adjunct Professor Sami Ventelä, at the Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland (https://bioscience.fi/research/head-and-neck-cancer-research/profile/). The project will be done in a close collaboration with Professors Ilmo Leivo and Jukka Westermarck (https://bioscience.fi/research/cancer-cell-signaling/profile/).

Head and neck cancer, with 890,000 new patients diagnosed annually worldwide, is one of the cancers that still lacks a routinely used biomarkers to guide effective cancer treatments. About 90% of diagnosed head and neck cancers are aggressive squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). The goal of our research group is to investigate and test the functionality of biomarkers and methods designed for clinical use in head and neck cancer samples. In addition, our aim is to find new ways to improve treatment guidance and precise treatment planning for head and neck cancer patients. In our recent studies, we have developed a population-level model to discover biomarkers and methods that could be used to identify HNSCC aggressiveness and target cancer therapies. In addition, we develop AI-based methods that further enhance the accuracy of biomarker-based diagnostics and treatment guidance. 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, focused on solving the most important diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in cancer.

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.

Candidate requirements:

• PhD (already obtained or very soon-to-be)
• First author publication in a respectable journal
• Wet lab experience
• Experience on cancer biology
• Fluent spoken and written English

Preferrable competencies (mutually alternative):

• Antibody technologies (especially IHC)
• Biostatistics
• Mass spectrometry proteomics
• Bioinformatics analysis of omics data

For further information or inquiries regarding this post, please contact Sami Ventelä by e-mail: satuve@utu.fi. The application period is Aug 27th-Sep 16th 2024. Starting date at the earliest is the 1^st of October, or as soon as possible after that. The grant is for two years. The selected candidate will receive a monthly personal research grant.

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/HNSCC biomarker.