The Department of Biomedicine at Faculty of Health at Aarhus University (AU), Denmark invites applications for an exciting position as Postdoc to do research in pharmacogenomics of ADHD as per 1st of September 2021, or as soon as possible thereafter. The position is a fixed-term fulltime position for two years. Deadline 1 Jun
About the research project
Stimulant medications are first line treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and have proven effective in reducing ADHD core symptoms and risk of several negative outcomes such as injuries, accidents and risk of substance use disorder. Despite this, ~50% of ADHD patients that initiate stimulants discontinue treatment within two years, with poor treatment response and side-effects being the most common reasons. The biological mechanisms underpinning medication discontinuation are not well understood, and the aim of this project is to identify common and rare genetic variants involved in ADHD medication discontinuation and elucidate the shared genetic architecture of medication discontinuation with cardiometabolic diseases. The project entails analyses of comprehensive genome-wide data generated by the iPSYCH consortium including more than 130,000 genotyped individuals (22K ADHD cases), which can be linked to information about ADHD medication use in the National Danish Prescription register.
The work is a part of the large EU-funded project TIMESPAN (www.timespan.eu) where the overall objective is to advance the management of cardiometabolic disease in patients with ADHD, by improving available treatments and risk stratification. The successful postdoc will work in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary consortia setting together with leading researchers in psychiatry genetics and ADHD across Europe and the US. Specifically, the project will be conducted in close collaboration with researchers at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (MEB) at Karolinska Institute (KI), Stockholm. The psychiatric genomics research group at Aarhus University and the psychiatric epidemiology group at KI have extensive experience with analysing Scandinavian register data, advanced pharmaco-epidemiology and psychiatric research experience, and will provide supervision in these areas to support the postdoc. Finally, there are possibilities to complete a research visits/stay at KI.
You can find more information about required skills and how to apply here: https://biomed.au.dk/about-us/vacant-positions/job/postdoc-in-pharmacogenomics-of-adhd/