Post-doctoral Research Associate (Cancer Research UK)

About the Role

We are looking for a Post-Doctoral Research Associate to join Mishto lab in the Centre for Inflammation Biology and Cancer Immunology (CIBCI) at King’s College London and in the Francis Crick Institute.

We are undertaking work on a number of projects relating to antigen presentation and T cell response in cancer and inflammation with the aim to further characterise the underlying molecular mechanisms and identify potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

If successful, the key areas of work that you will focus on include:

• Melanoma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) funded by Cancer Research UK Programme Foundation Award (CRUK-PFA) for 6 years. PI: Mishto. The name of the project is: Identification of tumour-specific spliced epitopes to target large cohorts of cancer patients by immunotherapies. 

The successful candidate will be expected to lead under the PI supervision a programme, whose aims includes:

• Discovery noncanonical (mutated) epitopes relevant in cancer immunotherapy.
• Isolating CD8+ T cell clones specific for HLA-I-restricted neoepitopes carrying recurrent driver mutations in cancer, and cloning their TCRs to investigate the epitope generation in cancer cells.
• Investigate the neoepitope antigenicity in peripheral blood of cancer patients.
• Validating the epitope candidates in xenograft in vivo mouse model.

You will have opportunities to interact with national and international collaborators with a broad expertise, which varies from computational biology to clinics. 

Each day is different, and you will have key responsibility including:

• Isolation of CD8+ T cell clones
•  TCR sequencing and cloning in viral expressing vectors
• CyTOF analysis
• FACS, cell sorting
• Molecular and cellular immunology experiments
• In vivo experiments with mouse models
• Participating actively in related research projects, for example those looking at immune responses to antigenic peptides in patients
• Develop, lead and conduct designated research projects in collaboration with members of the group, department, division or the faculty and initiate and conduct research collaborations nationally and internationally.  To be responsible for co-ordinating and implementing research projects
•  To make research initiatives and original contributions to the research programme wherever possible, including funding applications and to contribute freely to the team research environment in a manner conducive to the success of the research project.

 You will be working on a full-time basis (35 hours per week) and offered a fixed term contract until September 2025.

About Us 

This is a research support post in the Mishto lab within the Centre for Inflammation Biology and Cancer Immunology (CIBCI) at the Guy’s campus of King’s College London and at the Francis Crick Institute.

CIBCI is focusing on research that aspires to advance the fundamental and applied knowledge of the biology, diagnosis and treatment of inflammation, its associated pathologies, and its bearing on tumour immunobiology.

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical research institute working with organisation across academia, medicine and industry to make discoveries about how life works.

About you

If this area of research sounds of interest, we would be interested in hearing from you.

Our ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate how they meet the following criteria:

Essential criteria

1. A PhD in Cell or Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Immunology or a related subject (Application)
2. Experience of mammalian cell culture (Application)
3. Excellent knowledge and understanding in either of these areas: Cell biology, molecular immunology, antigen presentation, T and B cell biology  (Application)
4. Track record of peer-reviewed scientific publications (Application)
5. Effective time management and organisational skills
6. Ability to communicate effectively with researchers
7. Ability to manage a busy research project

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of working with cell culture, molecular and cell biology projects, antigen presentation, T and B cells  (Application)
2. Experience of working with flow cytometry  (Application)
3. Extensive experience in modern cellular, molecular biology, biochemistry and imaging techniques 
4. Experience of T Cell clone generation and maintenance 
5. Experience of in vivo experiments on mouse models 
    

Whilst this role asks for candidates who have completed and been rewarded their PhD, however, if you have submitted your thesis and are awaiting award of your PhDs, we would ask you to continue to consider applying. If successful you will be appointed at £40,333 per annum with the title of Research Assistant.

Once you have received confirmation and you have been awarded your PhD you will be moved into a Research Associate post, and your pay will reflect this change. 

Application Process

Please submit a personal statement when applying for this vacancy, clearly setting out how you meet the essential criteria, as this is how we shortlist applications.

To ensure we get the right candidate, the role will be open for a month; following this, a sift will be completed and we will shortlist and interview candidates of interest.

We may readvertise whilst this process is happening to receive a continuous flow of interested candidates, and you will be updated accordingly of the status of your application.

If you would like to find out further information or have an informal conversation about this role, please contact Dr. Michele Mishto