Research Fellow: Molecular Biology for Cellular Immunotherapies

About Us

We are recruiting a proactive, collaborative and highly motivated Research Fellow to join the Cell and Gene Therapy Bioprocessing Group at UCL and lead research in Molecular Biology and Bioprocessing of Cellular Immunotherapies. The successful candidate will be lead postdoctoral researcher as part of SMARTCell Scalable Manufacture of Advanced Regenerative Cellular Therapies project.

The aim of the SMARTCell project is to establish a scalable manufacturing process for allogeneic gene-modified cellular and demonstrate consistent, multi-litre scale production for cellular immunotherapies with the goal of improving the production process and increase the quantity and quality of cell manufacture.

The investment in the UCL Biochemical Engineering’s cell and gene therapy research exceeds £10m and focuses on cellular immunotherapy bioprocessing, gene delivery and gene therapy and non-viral technologies. The Research Fellow will be joining the CGTB group which comprises of >10 doctoral researchers and four postdoctoral Research Fellows.

About the Role

The primary role of the Research Fellow will be to execute and lead experimental studies investigating the gene editing and molecular biology of of allogeneic gene-modified cellular immunotherapies (e.g. allo CAR-T and/or CAR-NK). This will include the identifying the optimal cell source for allogeneic cellular immunotherapy manufacture, gene-editing/gene delivery for allogeneic applications and development of scalable cell culture processes. This will include investigating the role of critical process parameters and key variables that impact cell product quality and yield.

In addition to leading their own research plan, the role will provide significant management and industrial engagement opportunities. The Research Fellow will support the management of the CGTB Group, including support of the doctoral students and liaising with external partners.

About you

To succeed in this role you will have:

• A PhD awarded (or about to be) in a relevant subject. This may include biological sciences, cell biology or immunology disciplines, biotechnology or biochemical engineering with relevance to cell culture, bioprocessing and analytics.
• Training and experience in working in cell process development including the use of bioreactors.
• Experience with cell characterisation assays including flow cytometry, ELISA, qPCR and other relevant assays for cellular immunotherapies.

What we offer

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion

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