Skip to main content

This job has expired

Research Technician – Leukemia Epigenetics and DDR

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater)
Salary
£28,717 - £31,831, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
27 Jun 2021

Job Details

Job description
The purpose of this post is to develop and expedite projects aimed at characterizing leukemia networks in leukemia using newly developed disease models in the lab.  Transcription factors and their associated epigenetic modifying enzymes are frequently deregulated or even mutated in human acute myeloid leukemia (Zeisig et al., 2012, Cancer Cell).  Over the years, our lab has focused on characterization of key transcriptional/epigenetic networks and their emerging crosstalk with DNA damage repair (DDR) mechanisms critical for leukemia development (Kwok et al., 2006, Cancer Cell; Zeisig et al., 2007, Cancer Cell; Cheung et al., 2007, Nat Cell Biology; Arteaga et al., 2013, Cancer Cell; Esposito et al., 2015, Nature Medicine; Cheung et al., 2016, Cancer Cell; Luo et al., 2019, Cancer Cell). Details about the lab can be found at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/leukaemia-and-stem-cell-biology. Candidates are expected to have strong background and relevant publications in areas of DDR, epigenetic gene regulation and/or cancer biology.
 
This is a research post aiming to assist Professor So in the design and expediting of his research projects for publication of academic papers and securing of grants.


The post holder will:

  • To help to maintain the general operation of the lab
  • To introduce appropriate new techniques and procedures, ensuring that all new techniques and procedures techniques are adequately validated and documented and ensure that colleagues are trained in new techniques and procedures.
  • To directly participate and drive research projects

This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract for 24 months
This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent

Key responsibilities
Analysis & Research:
o   FACS sorting and analysis
o   Tissue culture and cell transformation assay
o   In vivo disease modelling using genetically modified mice
o   working and characterizing of human patient samples
o   Immunofluorescent staining
o   Transcriptomic (e.g. RNA-seq) analysis.
o   ChIP-Seq, MeDIP-Seq analysis
o   Leukemia and stem cell biology studies

  • providing assistance on a day-to-day basis according to the ever-changing needs of the Group as directed by the Head of the Leukaemia and Stem Cell Biology Group. This will require a commitment to a very flexible and service-oriented / team-working approach
  • introduce appropriate new techniques and procedures, ensure that all new techniques and procedures techniques are adequately validated and documented and ensure that colleagues are trained in new techniques and procedures.
  • design and implement systems for laboratory information management (both electronic and manual) and archiving of analytical material.
  • develop original novel research projects based on thorough assessment of the published literature and the body of knowledge within their own speciality.

Team Work, Teaching & Learning Support: 

  • providing assistance on a day-to-day basis according to the ever-changing needs of the Group as directed by the Head of the Leukaemia and Stem Cell Biology Group. This will require a commitment to a very flexible and service-oriented / team-working approach
  • be trained in procedures as required by more senior and more experienced members of the Group
  • assist with the training of new members of staff and students in the establishment procedures of the Group
  • develop and improve their own scientific knowledge and awareness of developments within the field of leukaemia stem cell biology via attendance of relevant meetings and conferences.

Supervision, Communication & Networking:

  • assist in grant application preparation, project justifications, business cases and project reports
  • prepare manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed academic journals
  • communicate in a timely fashion any adverse event or condition which will/may cause failure or disruption of the Group’s activities to the Head of the Leukaemia Stem Cell Biology Group
  • form effective networks with colleagues in other Groups of the department, with peers in King’s College London at large and outside of the college to assist the Head of the Leukaemia Stem Cell Biology Group to form and develop collaborative links
  • maintain professional conduct with all members of staff and visitors at all times.
  • communicate with suppliers for procurement of goods and services and in trouble-shooting problems with supplies and equipment.

Decision Making, Planning and Problem Solving:

  • be accountable to the Head of Department
  • report to the Head of the Leukaemia and Stem Cell Biology Group for goal setting and prioritisation of workload
  • prioritise and plan own workload and communicate own work priorities within the team.
  • undertake complex laboratory tasks, including high-level problem solving, such as rectification of failures in laboratory equipment.

Service Delivery:

  • assist the Head of the Leukaemia and Stem Cell Biology Group in agreeing, defining and managing service standards

Sensory/Physical Demands & Work Environment:

  • adhere to the Departmental Code of Safe Working Practice at all times
  • assist the Head of the Leukaemia and Stem Cell Biology Group to maintain a safe working environment by acting as a Room Supervisor for one or more rooms within the Group’s facilities if and when directed by the Head of the Group
  • be required to work within the confined space of Biological/Microbiological Safety Cabinets and to carry out procedures that demand high levels of concentration for long periods of time

Skills, knowledge, and experience


Essential criteria 
•       BSc Hons in a biomedical sciences subject or equivalent (eg medical degree)
•       A thorough knowledge of leukemia or hematopoietic stem cell biology
•       Competent in the interpretation and technical validation of results
•       Good verbal and written communication skills in English
•       Ability to think logically, adapt to changing requirements  and use initiative
•       Ability to work to deadlines under pressure
•       Ability to work as part of a team and independently
•       Ability to organise workload and to respond accordingly to changes in the workload
•       Ability to manipulate laboratory computer systems and standard software packages
•       Experience of work with biological samples, laboratory information systems
•       Experience in developing new assays and procedures
 
Desirable criteria 
•       Master or a higher degree in which investigations of epigenetic regulation/DDR/Biochemistry formed a substantial part.
•       Relevant publication in peer-reviewed journal
•       Experience in the study of transcriptional / epigenetic processes
•       Experience of procedures used in the characterisation of haemopoiesis, including xenotransplantation models
•       Experiences in handling mouse or maintenance of colony

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert