Postdoctoral Fellow in brain tumor evolution and treatment resistance

The Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology
at Uppsala University has a broad research profile with strong research groups focusing on cancer, genetic and autoimmune diseases. A fundamental idea at the department is to stimulate translational research and thereby promote closer interactions between medical research and health care. Research is presently organized in six research programs: Cancer Precision Medicine, Cancer Immunotherapy, Genomics and Neurobiology, Molecular Tools and Functional Genomics, Neuro-Oncology and Neurodegeneration and Vascular Biology. Departmental activities are also integrated with the units for Oncology, Clinical Genetics, Clinical Immunology, Clinical Pathology, and Hospital Physics at Uppsala University Hospital. The department has teaching assignments in several education programs, including Master Programs, at the Faculty of Medicine. The department has a yearly turnover of around SEK 550 million, out of which about two thirds derive from external funding. IGP has approximately 400 employees, out of which 100 are PhD-students, and there are in total more than 850 affiliated staff members. More information about the department's activities can be found here:
www.uu.se/en/staff/department/immunology-genetics-and-pathology

Job Description

A Postdoctoral Fellow position is available in the research group of Veronica Rendo at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with an interest in diffuse midline glioma (DMG), a malignant pediatric brain tumor, to lead projects that elucidate the mechanisms of response and resistance to standard-of-care treatment and clinically relevant targeted therapies in this disease. Read more about the research group here:
http://rendolab.org/
The Postdoctoral Fellow will join and lead an arm of the ERC-funded project RESET-DMG, which aims to map how DMG cells evolve resistance to radiation and eight targeted therapies. To this end, the Postdoctoral Fellow will establish barcoded patient-derived models and track them with single-cell multiome technologies to determine the mechanisms of resistance and evolution, including the transcriptional and epigenetic features that define resistant cells. The position involves working in a highly collaborative environment and presenting the project’s results at scientific meetings and conferences.

Duties

• Barcode patient-derived DMG neurosphere models and establish resistance to radiation and clinically relevant small-molecule inhibitors
• Analyze barcode dynamics to distinguish innate from acquired resistance across therapies
• Generate, process and integrate single-cell RNA and ATAC data to identify transcriptional programs and chromatin features linked to resistance
• Take a leading role in study design, manuscript writing, conference presentations and student supervision

Qualifications

• PhD degree in cancer biology, molecular biology, genetics, neuroscience or a related field or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in the same. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Priority will be given to applicants who have completed their degree no more than three years before the deadline for applications. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc.
• Strong experimental expertise in the fields above as demonstrated through peer-reviewed original research publications.
• Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture, including lentiviral transduction and patient-derived or stem-like models.
• Documented experience analyzing single-cell and/or epigenomic data (scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, multiome) in R and/or Python, including quality control, integration and interpretation.
• Ability to design experiments, troubleshoot and critically interpret results.
• Documented dissemination of research (publications, conferences), good English communication skills and the ability to work in an interdisciplinary environment.
• Previous supervision experience, and evidence of collaborative skills.

Additional merits

• Experience with cellular barcoding, lineage tracing and/or NGS library preparation.
• Experience with CRISPR screens or functional genomics.
• Experience with brain tumor, pediatric cancer or glioma models, drug resistance or tumor evolution.
• Knowledge of chromatin biology and transcription factor regulation.
• Hands-on experience with animal work in the context of cancer, and particularly brain tumours.
• A multidisciplinary background (both wet lab and computational experience) is considered a strong merit for this position.

The application
should include
CV, c
over letter, P
hD diploma, p
ublication list and c
ontact information for three references.

About the employment

The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to central collective agreement with the possibility of a 1 year extension. Full time position. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala
For further information about the position, please contact:
Verónica Rendo, veronica.rendo@igp.uu.se
Please submit your application by 4th December 2026, UFV-PA 2026/3377