Job description

We seek a proactive and enthusiastic Research Assistant to join our team and work on an exciting project funded by Cancer Research UK to help improve early detection of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC).

OAC is a deadly disease whose incidence has increased substantially in recent years due to late diagnosis and poor response to treatment. Several studies have been conducted on the genetics of OAC, but little is known about the composition of the microenvironment that surrounds the tumour despite the strong link between inflammation and OAC onset. 

Here we aim to profile the microenvironment of fully-fledged tumours and pre-cancer lesions from OAC patients and correlate them with the genetic and transcriptomic makeup of the tumours. The Research Assistant will be responsible of the multiplexed staining of tissue slides for solid cyTOF. They will be part of a team with access to cutting-edge technologies in histopathology and mass cytometry of the Francis Crick Institute. 

The Ciccarelli lab is part of the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences of King’s College London and is located at The Francis Crick Institute in London.

This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 2 years 

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

Key responsibilities

1. Prepare samples for multiplexed tissue imaging 
2. Work synergistically with computational colleagues in the team responsible for data analysis  
3. Work synergistically with other experimental colleagues in the team  
4. Collaborate actively with partner labs to exchange data and results 
5. Present data and results internally and externally in a timely and organised manner 

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, Msc (or equivalent) in biology, biochemistry, cancer biology or equivalent
2. Hands on experience in sectioning of formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks for histology and/or molecular pathology techniques
3. Experience in manual and automated platform optimisation/validation of antibody clones, dilutions, antigen retrieval and signal amplification technologies on FFPE human tissues
4. Hands on experience in immunohistochemistry (IHC) techniques
5. Experience in scanning of experimental slides, organizing electronic data, and experimental analysis.
6. Adept at following protocols and maintaining detailed written records
7. Attention to detail, ability to multitask and work within deadlines

Desirable Criteria

1. Experience in planning and interpreting experiments for hypothesis validation
2. Previous experience in imaging mass cytometry (IMC) and/or RNAscope

Further information

For further inquiries, please contact francesca.ciccarelli@crick.ac.uk