Research Associate (postdoc) in Statistical Learning in Somatic Evolution and Quantitative Immunology (Fixed Term)

Fixed-Term appointment: 5 years

Overview and project

The Blundell lab at the University of Cambridge is seeking to recruit a postdoctoral researcher with a background in statistical learning who is passionate about applying these techniques to large genomic datasets in the context of early cancer development. We are interested in two broad questions. First, in the field of somatic evolution, we aim to understand how the fitness landscape of somatic mutations changes across cell types and environments. The goal here is to build models of somatic evolution that can integrate information about the tissue of origin and understand the effects of perturbations to cellular fitness. Second, in the field of TCR-antigen recognition we are interested in mapping TCRs that are capable of recognizing common cancer antigens, and understanding the representation of these TCR clones in healthy / pre-cancer bloods.

Candidate

Candidates should have a PhD in genomics, quantitative biology, physics or mathematics / statistics, an excellent research record and an interest in biological / clinical applications of statistical and ML approaches. Postdoctoral experience in machine learning, statistics is desirable. Experience with analysis of at least one of: TCR repertoires, single-cell RNA seq datasets, cancer genomic sequencing is essential.

Lab and environment

The Blundell lab is part of the Early Cancer Institute in the Department of Oncology at the University of Cambridge. We are embedded in the CRUK Cambridge Centre. Situated on Cambridge Biomedical Research Campus, with close ties to Addenbrooke's Hospital and a host of biotech companies, our location affords our members access to human tissue samples, state of the art sequencing facilities, and the opportunity to forge collaborations with world class physicists, engineers, biologists and clinicians in Cambridge. More information on the lab can be found at www.blundelllab.com

Enquiries

Informal enquiries should be directed to Jamie Blundell via e-mail: jrb75@cam.ac.uk.

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please visit :

http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50518.

Applicants must have (or be close to obtaining) a PhD. 

Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant (Grade 5, Point 38 £34,132) moving to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon confirmation of your PhD award.

Please ensure that you upload a covering letter and CV in the Upload section of the online application. The covering letter should outline how you match the criteria for the post and why you are applying for this role. If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.

Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number, one of which must be your most recent line manager.

The closing date for applications is: 14th March 2025

The interview date for the role is: To be confirmed

Please quote reference RD45258 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Advert information