PRR Project

Summary

Digital transformation is currently a hot topic across fields ranging from industry to services. This structural change is also key in healthcare in general, as well as in Pathology in particular. It is thus critical to invest in the implementation of Digital Pathology within FMUP/Centro Hospitalar Universitário de S. João, aligning with international best practices.The Digital Pathology facility would play a role in three different axes, all key to the mission of the host institution, supporting diagnosis, research, and teaching. Furthermore, this would open new avenues of research aligned with the major trend of artificial intelligence. The selected candidate will be responsible for the management of the Digital Pathology unit, including specific tasks such as:Create workflows and sample circuits within the Department of Pathology for the scanning of slides for different endpoints;Articulate with pathologists and researchers as well as with the teaching departments to ensure optimal response to diverse needs;Manage scanning requests;Promote research collaborations to capitalize the outputs of whole slide imaging, namely artificial intelligence algorithms validation and implementations;Report activity.Biobanks are other infrastructures with increasing importance in health and biomedical research and diagnosis. Their operational management, sustainable growth, and outreach capacity are highly dependent on motivated, qualified, and experienced human resources. It would be of utmost interest for FMUP to hire a Head for the Biobanking facilities, with the main objective of consolidating and uniformizing procedures, ensuring quality control, and promoting the distribution of biospecimens. Specific tasks of the successful candidate will include:Map the status quo of the different Biobanks existent in FMUP and affiliated institutions, organizing standard operation procedures and support certification processes;Design and implement a quality control process adequate to the scope of the different Biobanks;Manage sample requests from research and facilitate the collaboration between clinicians and researchers for prospective sample collection;Promote the Biobanks to potential partners, increasing the outreach to new institutions with common research interests;Report Biobank activity.The proposed Tenure position will cover both strategic areas, ie, Digital Pathology and Biobanks, providing the institution with a researcher integrating and coordinating these two infrastructures The ideal candidate should present the following background:Ph.D. in Biomedicine or a similar area;Over 10 years of post-doctoral experience in oncobiology;Strong and diverse international research experience (minimum 3 countries, at least one outside Europe)Participation In international/European projects (minimum two);Experience in supervision of graduate and post-graduate students;Minimum scientific production: 30 papers in indexed journals (at least 20% as first author) and h-index over 16;Work experience in Biobanks, preferentially Tumour banks (minimum 5 years);Knowledge of Certification processes, namely ISO9001;Experience working in a hospital context, preferably in Pathology departments;Experience in bright field and fluorescence slide scanning(minimum 3 years).Preference will be given to candidates with the following additional previous experience and accreditation:Human and mouse tissue processing;Maintenance of clinical series (annotated patient and sample databases);Laboratory animal testing course – Category C (accredited by FELASA);Provide a detailed description of the tasks to be assigned to the prospective employee, the scientific profile required by the Hiring and additional Host Institutions (if applicable), and the rationale for the need to hire for the indicated specific area.