Research Specialist in Psychiatric Genomics and Data Science

The Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics conducts research in epidemiology and biostatistics across a broad range of areas within biomedical science. The department is among the largest of its type in Europe and has especially strong research profiles in psychiatric cancer reproductive pediatric pharmaco genetic and geriatric epidemiology eating disorders precision medicine and biostatistics.

Part of the success of our department is due to our collaborative spirit where one factor is that researchers at the Department share and co-finance common resources (e.g. IT and an applied biostatistics group). The department is situated at campus Solna. Further information can be found at of the subject area

The KI Psychiatric Genomics Institute (KI-PGI) at MEB is seeking a full-time Research Specialist (100%).

Led by Principal Researcher Dr. Lu Yi KI-PGI is a multidisciplinary research group dedicated to understanding the complex interplay between genetic biological and environmental factors in psychiatric disorders. The broader research environment focuses on leveraging diverse health data resources together with modern statistical epidemiological and data science methods to generate new knowledge about psychiatric disorders and improve opportunities for prevention early identification and personalized care. Through the integration of large-scale population data genomic information and advanced analytical approaches KI-PGI aims to elucidate the mechanisms underlying psychiatric disease risk clinical heterogeneity and long-term outcomes. More information about KI-PGI is available at: mission

We are recruiting a full-time research specialist (100%) with experience in population-based psychiatric research and large-scale data analysis. The successful candidate will contribute to research projects investigating the development progression and outcomes of psychiatric disorders using comprehensive epidemiological clinical and genomic data.

The candidate will apply advanced analytical approaches including statistical modelling machine learning and/or genetic epidemiological methods to study disease trajectories risk factors treatment patterns and sources of heterogeneity in psychiatric disorders. The role includes responsibility for data management and analysis interpretation and dissemination of research findings manuscript preparation and presentation of results in scientific and collaborative settings.

The successful candidate will contribute to reproducible high-quality research aimed at improving understanding of psychiatric illness and identifying factors associated with different clinical outcomes. The position offers opportunities to work within a collaborative research environment combining epidemiology biostatistics genomics and data science.

For employment as Research Specialist at Karolinska Institutet the eligibility requirements stated in the Guidelines for non-teaching positions at Karolinska Institutet are applied in relation to the established profile of employment.

To be eligible for employment as a Research Specialist in addition to holding a Degree of Doctor PhD or having a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a Swedish doctoral degree the applicant must have demonstrated research expertise as well as have documented postdoctoral research experience.

It is required that the applicant has;

• A PhD in epidemiology public health biostatistics data science genetics psychiatry or a related field together with documented experience conducting independent research.
• Strong experience in population-based research including the analysis of large-scale longitudinal health data electronic health records clinical data and/or other routinely collected healthcare data.
• Experience applying advanced epidemiological and statistical methods to investigate disease trajectories risk factors predictors clinical outcomes or treatment patterns in complex disorders.
• Experience applying advanced statistical genetics and genomics methods such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS) polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses and family-based study designs.
• Strong programming and data management skills including proficiency in statistical software such as R Python SAS Stata or equivalent programming environments and experience working with large and complex datasets.
• Experience with reproducible research practices data-driven analytical approaches and statistical modelling. Experience with machine learning prediction modelling causal inference or the integration of multiple data sources is an advantage.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English including experience with scientific writing manuscript preparation and publishing in peer-reviewed journals.
• Good organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple research tasks independently and to address complex analytical and methodological challenges.
• Experience leading research projects and collaborations demonstrating good project management skills.

It is meritorious that the applicant has;

• Experience working in psychiatric epidemiology including depression and related outcomes.
• Experience using Swedish national registers or other large-scale population-based healthcare databases (e.g. UK-Biobank).
• Experience working with large-scale computing infrastructure including Linux servers relational databases (SQL) and shell scripting (e.g. Bash) for data management processing and analysis.
• Experience working with large collaborative research projects involving multidisciplinary teams across epidemiology biostatistics clinical medicine and data science.
• A strong publication record demonstrating independent contributions to international scientific research.

After an overall assessment of the expertise and merits of the applicants in relation to the subject area Karolinska Institutet will determine which of them has the best potential to contribute to a positive development of the activities at KI. We also place great importance on personal qualities in the selection process.

Choose to work at KI - Ten reasons why

A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the worlds leading medical we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations which have pushed KI to where it is today at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university which entitles you to several benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Solna

We prefer that Your application is written in English but You can also apply in Swedish. An application must contain the following documents: PhD certificate and qualifications in line with the first two areas (curriculum vitae and research portfolio) of theKarolinska Institutets qualifications portfolio. The full Karolinska Institutet portfolio includes five areas and you only need to include the first two. For the research portfolio (area number 2) please only include information about research content point 1-5 (which includes information about current research scientific awards publications presentations at international conferences research funding).

The application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

KI applies individual and differentiated salary setting in accordance with our collective agreements RALS and RALS-T. Permanent position is initiated by a six months trial period.