11 Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Calgary, Canada

This two-year Postdoctoral Scholar will train emerging leaders in data science for kidney health and disease. The two key areas of focus are: (1) development and validation of predictive analytics approaches, and (2) implementation and testing of decision support tools for kidney health and disease. The work will be part of a CIHR team grant titled: Using personalized risk and digital tools to guide transitions following acute kidney events – a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. This work will leverage Connect Care the newly integrated provincial electronic health record to improve quality of care in acute kidney injury. Interest in the use of electronic health record data and experience in epidemiology and trial design would be an asset. Postdoctoral output will include opportunities to disseminate to academic, clinical, operational, and lay audiences to inform local and provincial policy, procedures and decision-making in an evolving learning health system.

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral scholar to lead projects focusing on stem cell biology at the Yang Laboratory (yanglaboratory.ca) in the Departments of Medical Genetics and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Calgary, Canada. The projects will involve utilizing patient-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), induced neurons from direct reprogramming, and mouse disease models to develop novel precision medicine approaches for patients with rare neurological disorders. 

Dr. Zahinoor Ismail, Professor at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and O’Brien Institute of Public Health at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, is currently seeking for a Postdoctoral Fellow to work on longitudinal studies on brain aging. These studies include prospective cohorts such as CAN-PROTECT (a 20-year online study recruiting 10,000 participants Canada-wide for annual assessments of cognition, behaviour, function, quality of life, and dementia caregiving related features) and BAMBI (a 10-year study assessing biomarkers, metabolomics, and gut biome in aging). Additionally there are opportunities to analyze cognitive, neuroimaging, and biomarker data from current studies and legacy datasets including ADNI, NACC, and COMPASS-ND amongst others.

The Ohlson Research Initiative (ORI) is focused on clinical effectiveness research that informs evidence-based care of patients with head and neck cancer. The ORI works in collaboration with the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, the O’Brien Institute of Public Health, and the Cumming School of Medicine (Departments of Surgery & Oncology). As a member of the ORI, under the supervision of Drs. Sauro & Dort, the postdoctoral scholar will perform research that ultimately improves the care and health of these patients. Within this role, the postdoctoral scholar will be encouraged and supported to build and strengthen their independent program of research. To this end, the successful applicant will be supported, and expected, to apply for external awards locally and nationally.

The Alberta Provincial Project for Outcomes Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease (APPROACH) and the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Calgary are accepting applications for a Fellowship in pragmatic clinical trials and implementation science, to be based in Calgary, Alberta. APPROACH is both a longstanding cardiac registry and a collaborative network of researchers and cardiovascular care clinicians located in the cities of Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. APPROACH investigators and trainees have access to rich clinical and administrative data sources to perform high-quality cardiovascular epidemiological and health services research. We also work in partnership with clinicians, patients, and operational leaders to design, test, and implement innovative eHealth decision support tools for cardiac care. APPROACH trainees and junior faculty have previously published papers as first authors in a variety of major journals including Circulation, JAMA, JAMA-Internal Medicine, JAHA, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Canadian Journal of Cardiology, and many others (see www.approach.org for more information). The Libin Cardiovascular Institute is a virtual institute that coordinates all cardiovascular science research, education and patient care in Southern Alberta. Its 1500 members are working towards a shared vision to lead and transform healthcare using precision cardiovascular health platforms (see www.libin.ucalgary.ca).

The successful applicants will focus on system-level design and optimization, techno-economic assessment (TEA), and life cycle assessment (LCA) of Direct Air Capture (DAC), Enhanced Mineralization (EM), or biomass-based (e.g., BiCRS, BECCS) technologies. They will work closely with project investigators, who have expertise in the science and engineering of DAC and EM technologies and in LCA and TEA of emerging technologies and systems, to convert early-stage technology concepts into practical systems and assess the prospective environmental and economic performance of such systems. They will primarily conduct modeling studies but will have the opportunity to collaborate with researchers conducting laboratory experiments. In addition, they will have the opportunity to mentor graduate (PhD and MSc) students working on related projects. The initial appointment is for one year and may be renewable for a second year, contingent on satisfactory performance and availability of funding.

For day-to-day responsibilities, the position will engage with the project’s senior research project coordinator. This position develops and implements research plans and procedures (in which overall goals are set by the PI and investigator teams). Achieves background research such as searches, critical appraisal and summary of the literature. Facilitates local, provincial, and national engagement strategies. Provides input to the investigators on research methods, interpretation of results and potential directions within the incumbent’s field of expertise. Observing and recording results, the position organizes data, prepares data for analysis, and carries out analysis procedures under the direction of the investigator team, using computer programs. Prepares and refines results for presentation and publication (i.e., peer-reviewed articles, conference presentations, reports, etc.) in collaboration with the broader research team.

The Research Associate/Project Manager reports to the Primary Investigator (PI) and receives direction from the PI for the lab. This position exists to support research projects (75%) in the areas of zoonotic transmission and mitigation of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disease of cervids. Prion diseases are strictly fatal neurodegenerative disorders in humans and animals. This position also exists for project management (25%) of an NSERC Alliance team grant to develop CWD mitigation strategies.

The Research Associate’s primary purpose is to be responsible for the technical operation, maintenance and ongoing development of the inducible pluripotent stem cell culture platform in the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. This will include managing the platform and working on a variety of research projects requiring mouse or human primary cells, as well as ensuring that as technologies change, the platform adapts to, learns and implements the new technologies. The incumbent may support other research projects by providing knowledge, skills, and on-the-job training to others. This position works closely with the Principal Investigators, and other staff in areas of standard operating protocol development, development of research projects and proposals, contributing to and assisting in the writing and submitting of research grant proposals.