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Research Assistant

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Central), London (Greater)
Salary
£32,676 - £33,546, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
12 Oct 2020

Job Details

This is a two-year position is for a technical research assistant with experience in the running of immunology assays, including cell culture, flow cytometry and biochemical assays. The role focuses on supporting a larger research team in the study of whether an unique potential for activating T cells is provided by proprietary antibody-based reagents that have been developed by the study sponsor (Elstar Therapeutics) and that engage germline-encoded domains of the V-beta chains of the alpha-beta T cell receptor. This is an extremely important project for several reasons.

  1. Adrian Hayday’s laboratory has identified a set of butyrophilin-like (BTNL) molecules that critically regulate gamma delta T cell selection and maturation by engaging engage germline-encoded domains of the V-gamma chains of the gamma-delta T cell receptor. Moreover, the laboratory has proposed that the unique biological activities of BTNLs reflects their site-of-engagement on the TCR. If analogous signalling is induced by antibody-based reagents that engage analogous sites on V-beta, the “Hayday hypothesis” would receive strong support, and would argue that T cell receptors should no longer be viewed entirely as clonotypic receptors activated by antigens engaging exclusively unique CDR3 motifs. This would provide a new biological paradigm for human T cell regulation. The proprietary reagents provided by Elstar offer an unique opportunity to investigate this.
  2. There is intense interest in mechanisms by which T cells can be activated without inducing widespread cytokine release and other aspects of hyperactivation that are commonly associated with the use of the pan T cell activator, anti-CD3.  Clearly, V-beta-specific reagents potentially offer a means to activate a defined subset of T cells with immunotherapeutic potential.
  3. Any identification of an unique signalling induced by engaging V-beta could form the basis of a screen for identifying endogenous, BTNL-like molecules that naturally regulate alpha-beta T cells.

This post will provide invaluable experience and an opportunity to work in an internationally respected laboratory as well as gaining experience of working with private sector biotech company.

The post holder will be based in the laboratory of Professor Adrian Hayday which has three main locations: the Programme in Infection and Immunity,  Floor 2, Borough Wing; CIBCI, New Hunt’s House; and the Francis Crick Institute

Contact: Dr Adam Laing - Adam.laing@kcl.ac.uk

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

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