Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to join a large team working on a Wellcome Leap project to understand tissue state evolution of time in triple negative breast cancer patients. The post holder will perform a critical function in performing long-term imaging using advanced microscopy approaches to quantify organoid and tissue responses to chemotherapy. The post holder will develop post-acquisition analysis pipelines to enable accurate quantification of cell and tissue phenotypes over time and assist with integration of these datasets with data retrieved from other imaging modalities. The post holder will work with a large inter-disciplinary team both at King’s and with our global partners to deliver new insight into TNBC tumour progression and help identify novel biomarkers for personalised medicine approaches.

This post will be offered on  a fixed-term contract until 31st Dec 2022

This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent

Key responsibilities

• Performing long-term fluorescence microscopy using advanced non-commercial instruments
• Development of image analysis pipelines for 3D image reconstruction and quantification
• Assist with optimization of imaging acquisition protocols to improve analysis
• Analyse data and provide this in a suitable format for onward interrogation and incorporation into predictive algorithm development pipelines by other teams 
• Work closely with other Wellcome leap team members to deliver on core goals of the project 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge and experience

Essential criteria

1.       BSc and PhD in relevant subject area

2.       Prior experience in development of 3D image reconstruction and quantitative image analysis pipelines

3.       Prior experience in advanced fluorescence microscopy

4.       Prior experience of imaging 3D spheroids or organoids

5.       Prior experience working with non-commercial optical microscopy approaches

6.       Experience working in multidisciplinary environment

7.       Strong communication skills

8.       Ability to write scientific documents and papers

9.       Strong presentation skills

10.   Good understanding of different imaging approaches (including non-optical) as applied to biological samples

Desirable criteria

1.       Background in cancer cell biology

2.       Experience with human cell culture and manipulation

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.

The selection process will be by Panel Interview and a Presentation.

This post is subject to a Occupational Health Clearance..