KTH is the largest technical university in Sweden. Education and research cover a broad spectrum within natural sciences and engineering, as well as architecture, industrial engineering and management, urban planning, work science and environmental engineering. KTH has 15000 under-graduate students, 1600 students at doctoral level (third) level and 4300 employees.
The School of Biotechnology at the Royal Institute of Technology offers a curriculum that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of Biotechnology, integrating theoretical and applied science in undergraduate and graduate courses. The school has six departments with about 300 employees, located at AlbaNova University Center, Stockholm and Science for Life Laboratory, Solna. The biotechnology research within the school is internationally well recognized.
The division of Nanobiotechnology at the School of biotechnology is focusing on interdisciplinary research combining nanotechnology and microfluidics with various biotechnology and medical applications. The group consists today of approximately 20 people with a wide variety of backgrounds such as electrical engineering, medicine, biotechnology, chemistry and physics creating a very dynamic and interdisciplinary environment. The division is currently focusing on three different areas: droplet microfluidics, clinical microfluidics and point of care systems. The PhD position is within the clinical microfluidics lab, where the research involves development of microfluidic point-of-care devices for blood diagnostics with focus on sample preparation and DNA analysis. We are currently developing several microfluidic platforms, including “lab-on-DVD” and “Lab-on-foil” systems. In addition, the group is developing cell-sorting technologies based on inertial microfluidics. The group is current research at KTH involves development of microfluidic point-of-care devices for blood diagnostics with focus on sample preparation for bacteria isolation from whole blood (for sepsis diagnostics), cell sorting (for cancer, and HIV diagnostics) and DNA analysis (for low cost molecular diagnostics). The group is involved in a number of EU FP7 projects.
www.scilifelab.se/index.php?content=research_groups&id=203
Project Description
Background: Dissemination of cells from the primary tumor in the form of metastasis in distant organs is responsible for 90% of cancer-related deaths. Metastasis is the spread and growth of tumor cells from the primary site to distant organs, and it represents the most devastating and deadly attribute of cancer. Thus, the ability to non-invasively isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the blood of cancer patients has far-reaching diagnostic, prognostic, therapeutic, and basic cancer biology implications.
Project description: Our goal is to employ microfluidic technologies to develop a new point-of-care microfluidic tool capable of specifically sorting live cells directly from whole blood, in a high throughput scheme. The method is based on inertial microfluidics and aims to continuously focus and separate CTCs based on size at flow rates unmatched in other microscale systems. The project is part of a new EU project, and our group will be developing sorting as well as nucleic acid analysis. The work involves both theoretical analysis and practical work in the form of production of structures in clean room environment and evaluation as well as biological characterization of isolated CTCs.
Eligibility and Assessment Criteria
The requirements are met by the candidate who have passed second-cycle studies, fulfilled course requirements corresponding to at least 240 credits, of which a minimum of 60 credits are for second-cycle studies, or otherwise acquired largely equivalent knowledge either in or outside Sweden. The candidate should be highly motivated for doing scientific research and should have well developed analytical and problem solving skills.
Employment
Form of employment: Time-limited
Scope: Full-time
Salary: Salary follows the guidelines provided by KTH
Start date: As soon as possible
Announced positions: 1
Application
Application should be e-mailed to: rekrytering@biotech.kth.se
Deadline for application: 2013-12-29
Reference number: B-2013-0409
The application must include following documents:
- Curriculum vitae
- Official record of transcripts and a copy of degree certificate
- Cover letter
Contact
For enquiries about the project please contact:
Aman Russom, Associate Professor
Phone: +46 8 52481247
E-mail: aman@kth.se
Caroline Bramstång, HR
Phone + 46 8 55378303
E-mail: carbrams@kth.se
Union Representative
Lars Abrahamsson, SACO
Phone: +46 8-790 70 58
E-mail: lars.abrahamsson@ee.kth.se
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