Research Associate - Molecular Biologist

About us

The Comprehensive Cancer Centre (CCC) at King’s College London (KCL) is looking for one highly enthusiastic research scientists to drive collaborative research projects in the laboratory of Prof. Tony Ng, Head of Richard Dimbleby Laboratory of Cancer Research.

The postholder will be part of the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)-KCL Translational Oncology Research Hub, an exclusive research collaboration between GSK and the CCC at KCL. This partnership aims to create a personalised strategy for patients at high risk of recurrence by monitoring for dynamic biomarkers that can predict resistance during treatment or recurrence in the post-treatment phase:   https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/17/gsk-teams-with-kings-college-to-use-ai-to-fight-cancer?bingParse.

About the role

The team will use patient derived organoids (PDOs) and state-of-the-art imaging techniques to study how tumour cells interact with immune cells. These will be modelled in collaboration with the GSK Artificial Intelligence Unit to distinguish between high and low risk patients.

The postholder will be responsible for developing and maintaining PDOs and will apply a number of molecular and cell biology and imaging assays in order to identify and model the tumour genomic and immune changes that will distinguish patients that will have high and low risk of recurrence after primary treatment.

This is a full-time post, and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30/06/2026.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria 

• PhD awarded in relevant discipline related to Molecular & Cellular Biology or Immunology (or pending results)
• A keen interest and background in translational cancer research.
• Knowledge of cancer biology, particularly the tumour microenvironment
• Experience in tumour 3D culture/co-culture systems (tumour cell spheroid and/or organoid culture) and their treatment with chemotherapeutics and targeted agents.
• Expertise in nucleic acid isolation, RT-PCR and quantitative PCR.
• Experience in light microscopy techniques e.g. confocal imaging, light-sheet imaging.
• Previous publications, abstracts and presentations at national or international meetings
• Experience in SDS-PAGE/western blotting and related techniques such as cell lysate preparation and determination of protein concentration.

* Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Desirable criteria

• Experience with and knowledge of advanced molecular biology techniques such as quantitative PCR, Nanopore sequencing, and TapeStation analysis
• Experience in isolation and analysis of extracellular vesicles, in particular cancer exosomes.
• Experience with CRISPR/Cas9 technology, including the CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) technique.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

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