Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cancer Bioinformatics

Do you want to work in Norway’s best cancer research environment to better understand cancer and make an impact?

A 3-year postdoctoral research fellow position in cancer bioinformatics is available at the Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital.

Project description:
A post-doctoral position funded by the Norwegian Cancer Society is available for a computational biologist specialised in genome informatics. The research will focus on utilising advanced computational approaches to analyse genome data of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) associated with aggressive clinical behaviour. GIST is a success story of precision cancer medicine, with a successful treatment for advanced cancers. Unfortunately, many patients progress after or during treatment as the tumour evolves and becomes resistant. Our work aims to develop new algorithms to better identify patients who may benefit from additional or reduced treatment to improve disease control. Furthermore, we strive to use novel, cutting-edge genome-wide technologies to understand how cancer cells evolve and develop resistance. This will be achieved by advanced genomic analysis of clinical cohorts and cancer models at the bulk, single-cell and within a spatial context in tumour tissue.
The postdoc will be part of the Translational Genomics project group at the Institute for Cancer Research, composed of molecular biologists, clinical scientists, and bioinformaticians studying different translational aspects of cancer biology. The group is immersed in the leading cancer research environment in Norway. It works closely with the Genomics and Bioinformatics Core Facilities at Oslo University Hospital, establishing and developing novel technologies for genome analysis. We utilise state-of-the-art genomic, computational, and molecular approaches in models and clinical samples to answer fundamental questions concerning patient selection, disease evolution and drug resistance.

Oslo University Hospital is a workplace with great diversity. We believe this is absolutely crucial to solving the tasks required of us. We therefore want this diversity to be reflected among the applicants for our positions and encourage everyone to apply regardless of who you are and what background you have.

Tasks:

The successful applicant will participate in integrative analysis of genomics data from projects in tumour stratification, biomarker discovery and drug resistance using tumour and single-cell genomic analysis and spatial transcriptomics.

The tasks will include:

• Establish bioinformatics pipelines to detect and analyse cancer mutations in tumours and models.
  
• Integrative analysis of genomics and clinical data to develop novel algorithms for patient stratification for treatment.
  
• Establish analysis workflows for single-cell and spatial multi-omics analysis of drug-resistant models.
  
• Integration of single-cell and spatial multi-omics data.
  
• Participate in interpreting and translating the generated data/results into a relevant biological context.
  
• Participate in writing of scientific publications and grants for research funding.
  
• Develop your own lines of research within the scope of the project.

Qualifications:

• Completed a PhD or other corresponding education equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in bioinformatics, biostatistics or computational biology.
  
• Bioinformatics experience in DNA sequencing and genome-scale integrative analysis of diverse experimental datasets (e.g. whole genome/exome, transcriptomes, and single-cell analysis).
  
• Demonstrable skills in programming, biostatistics, programming languages (e.g., Python, Perl, R), and working in the Linux environment are essential.
  
• Candidates with a background in mathematics, computer science and statistics and who are very interested in genome biology are welcome to apply.
  
• Experience with machine learning will be an advantage.
  
• Familiarity with molecular biological techniques involved in genomics experiments is advantageous.
  
• Excellent English written and verbal communication skills.

Personal skills:

When evaluating the applications, emphasis will be given to their academic and personal abilities to carry out the project. Applicants may be called for an interview.