Research Fellow in Biomanufacture of Advanced Therapies

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 Bioprocessing and Biomanufacture of Gene Therapy Products. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in advancing scalable production processes for mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations, focusing on their application in innovative in vivo CAR-T therapies and other cutting-edge gene therapy approaches.

The role will involve developing and optimising bioprocesses for the production of mRNA-LNPs at multi-litre scales, addressing critical challenges in manufacturing, including improving efficiency, consistency, and product quality. This work will play a crucial part in enabling scalable and reproducible processes for next-generation gene therapies.

About the Role

The primary role of the Research Fellow will be to lead and execute experimental studies focused on the bioprocessing and scalable production of mRNA and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for gene therapy applications.

Key responsibilities will include the development of scalable protocols for mRNA synthesis and purification, formulation and characterisation of lipid nanoparticles, and the integration of these processes into continuous and large-scale production workflows. The role will also require expertise in bioreactor operations, upstream and downstream processing, and quality control methodologies.

In addition to leading their research programme, the Research Fellow will play a central role in managing and supporting projects within the CGTB Group.

About you

To succeed in this role you will have:

• A PhD awarded (or about to be) in a relevant subject. This may include biotechnology, biochemical engineering, or molecular biology with relevance to bioprocessing, analytics, and an interest in scalable manufacture of mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) therapeutics for gene therapy applications.
• Experience in mRNA production, LNP formulation, and characterisation for in vivo gene delivery applications.

What we offer As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

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

Customer advert reference: B04-05754

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