Scientific Officer

Duration: fixed term until 30 November 2027 (in first instance)

About the role:

The Cancer Research UK Cancer Biomarker Centre (NBC) led by Prof Caroline Dive CBE aims to enhance clinical trials of new anticancer drugs through translational research. Immunotherapy is currently a rapidly expanding research area in oncology and profiling of patient samples is essential to predict responses, identify candidate biomarkers and personalise therapy aimed at harnessing the immune system to target the tumour. This is a challenging opportunity to work at the forefront of translational medicine and contribute to assay development that will ultimately inform clinical decision making. This project sits within an important programme of government funded research and will provide opportunities to engage with the wider scientific community.

We are seeking a highly motivated Scientific Officer to work within the NBC Translational Immunology Laboratory and the CRUK Manchester Institute Cancer Inflammation and Immunity group. Working with a team of scientists and under the guidance of senior scientists and established protocols, the post holder will work on further developing and exploiting an ex vivo platform to predict and investigate immunotherapy benefits by establishing immune-competent cultures from patient-derived tumour fragments and analysing activation of tumour-resident immune cells. The post-holder will analyse various endpoints including T cell activation, cytokine production and cancer cell viability, using techniques such as flow cytometry, cytokine/chemokine measurements and transcriptional profiling. This exceptional opportunity will place the successful candidate at the leading edge of immune-oncology research under the leadership of internationally renowned scientists. We anticipate that our work will inform clinical decision making and national policy decisions in the immune-oncology space. This project will require some evening work due to the timing of sample receipt.

About you:

You should be educated to degree level in a Biological Sciences or related subject (or have equivalent relevant experience).

You will have experience working in an immunology laboratory or with immunological assays, including in a range of molecular biological techniques and experience with tissue culture including primary cultures. Experience with techniques used for analysis of the immune system, such as flow cytometry, ELISA or T cell phenotyping would be advantageous.

Why choose Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre and CRUK Manchester Institute?

The Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre (https://cruknbc.org/) is a leading and highly specialised translational research centre within The University of Manchester (www.manchester.ac.uk), core funded by Cancer Research UK (www.cancerresearchuk.org), the largest independent cancer research organisation in the world. The CRUK Manchester Institute is an internationally leading centre for basic and translational scientific research in the oncology field. Within CRUK MI the Cancer Inflammation and Immunology Group has contributed major findings to our understanding of cancer immunology including discovery of COX-2 as a driver of tumour immune evasion.

How to apply?

For any informal enquiries about this post, please contact: David Millrine at David.Millrine@cruk.manchester.ac.uk or Santiago.Zelenay@cruk.manchester.ac.uk

Closing date: Sunday 8 December 2024 at 11:59pm.

Interview: 16 & 17 December 2024.

Advert information