Postdoctoral Fellow – Discovering novel biomarkers for cardiac amyloidosis

R-215838: Postdoctoral Fellow – Discovering novel biomarkers for cardiac amyloidosis
Location: Gothenburg
Competitive Salary, Bonus & Benefits Package

Do you have an interest in discovering and characterising biomarkers for the diagnosis of chronic diseases? Would you like to apply your knowledge to impact future diagnostic paradigms for heart disease in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life-changing medicines? Then join the Translational Science & Experimental Medicine department at AstraZeneca and unlock the power of what science can do!

About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-centred biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering, developing, and commercialising prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than a global leading pharmaceutical company. At AstraZeneca, we're dedicated to being a Great Place to Work and empowering employees to push the boundaries of science and fuel their entrepreneurial spirit. 

About our Postdoc Programme
Bring your expertise, apply your knowledge, follow the science, and make a difference. AstraZeneca’s Postdoc Programme is for self-motivated individuals looking to deliver exciting projects in an encouraging, engaging, and innovative environment. You'll work with multidisciplinary scientific teams from a diverse set of backgrounds and a world-class academic mentor specifically aligned to your project. Our postdocs are respected as specialists, encouraged to speak up, and supported to share their research at conferences, publish papers, achieve their goals.

Make a more meaningful impact in your career, with greater ownership and accountability to make a contribution whilst making a difference to the lives of our patients!

This is a 3-year programme, with an initial 2-year period and a 1-year merit-based extension.

About the Opportunity
The purpose of this position is to provide early-career researchers with an opportunity to further develop their expertise and skills. Postdocs play a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge and driving innovation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
In this exciting Postdoctoral Fellow position, you’ll be involved in the discovery and validation of novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of heart failure associated with cardiac amyloidosis (CA).
This project is supported by the Translational Science & Experimental Medicine (TSEM) group that works within AstraZeneca’s cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM) therapy area from early-stage drug discovery to late-stage clinical development. A key focus of TSEM is to work with existing and novel biomarkers to evaluate disease phenotypes, predict disease progression and to demonstrate the pharmacological action of drugs in clinical development.

Project Focus
This project will conduct pioneering research for the diagnosis of TTR amyloid cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA), an emerging area of huge scientific interest in heart failure. Our Postdoc will collaborate with experienced AstraZeneca interdisciplinary scientists to identify novel biomarkers and evaluate their diagnostic and potential prognostic value for ATTR-CA.
Supported by Carl Whatling, Principal Scientist at AstraZeneca and Ketan Thakar, Research Scientist at Alexion, you'll also receive academic mentorship and guidance from Dr Hanna Gaggin, cardiologist and clinical research scientist from the Harvard Medical School.

What You’ll Do
Our Postdoctoral Fellow will conduct ground-breaking research to identify novel biomarkers revealed by multiplex omics analysis of blood samples collected from ATTR-CA and non-CA Heart Failure patients using a case-control study design. To complement this approach, you will use state-of-the art techniques to analyse misfolded TTR proteins that are the primary source of amyloid build-up in the heart. Through focussing on the most promising biomarker leads from both approaches, you will further interrogate their diagnostic and prognostic performance for ATTR-CA alone and in combination with other known clinical parameters. The overall aim is to identify biomarkers that could become part of the future diagnostic/prognostic paradigm for clinical evaluation of ATTR-CA.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Conduct analysis of biomarker candidates in clinical samples using appropriate analytical methods

• Analyse and review biomarker data to identify the strongest candidates for further investigation

• Lead and drive the project under the supervision of the AstraZeneca team and in collaboration with the academic expert

• Plan, write, publish, and present high-quality scientific papers

Essential Requirements