About Us

As the successful applicant for this MRC funded project you will join the Schurich laboratory located at Guy’s Hospital Campus in the heart of London. Our group investigates multiple facets of T cell immunology, with a focus on understanding the metabolic regulation of endogenous and therapeutic human T cells.

King’s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. As a member of our group you will benefit from the close collaboration between our Academic and Clinical Departments, allowing you to undertake translational research, which includes studying patient-derived samples. Our group is embedded in the School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences (SIMS), providing you with an excellent research environment and state of the art facilities.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity for a postdoctoral research associate to join our interdisciplinary team to study the role of co-stimulatory domains in the regulation of therapeutic (chimeric antigen receptor) CAR T cells. The aim of this MRC funded project is to improve adoptive cell therapy by specifically modulating the metabolism and therefore function of CAR-T cells.

Cancer immunotherapy using adoptive transfer of CAR T cells lies at the forefront of emerging therapeutic strategies and has achieved unprecedented success in the treatment of relapsed/refractory haematological malignancies. However, only half of the patients currently treated achieve a complete response and unfortunately success has not yet translated to the treatment of solid tumours. Challenges to success include the development of T cell exhaustion.

Building on our findings that metabolic programming is vital for supporting CAR-T cell effector function we will profile CAR-T cell metabolic and functional features in a cohort of patients treated with different CAR-constructs to develop strategies for enhancing CAR T cell efficacy.

We are looking for a highly self-motivated and positive individual, who is enthusiastic about fundamental and translational research and thrives working in a team. You will bring previous experience in cellular immunology, preferably in T cell immunology and a good understanding of cellular metabolic pathways, with some practical experience of techniques to investigate these, which could include metabolic flux analysis, carbon tracing, metabolomics and others. You are enthusiastic about advanced therapies, and thus have acquired insight into CAR-T cell therapies either as part of your previous research or through self-directed learning.

Having gained experience during your PhD, you are able to critically assess and design experimental strategies and expertly conduct practical experiments. You are able to analyse data independently and present your findings verbally in group discussion or at meetings or in writing e.g. for publication.

We are friendly group with a good support structure, open discussion and regular group and one to one meetings.  All members of the team are encouraged to take part in training and development opportunities offered through KCL or externally and attend national and international scientific conferences as appropriate.

As a member of the team you will contribute to supervision of students and mentoring junior colleagues. Depending on interest, this role can also provide you with more formal teaching opportunities e.g. to contribute experience for a future academic career.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31 August 2027.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. BSc and PhD in a relevant subject area*
2. Background in immunometabolism and cellular immunology
3. Fundamental understanding of cancer cell therapies, specifically CAR-T cells
4. Basic bioinformatics skills
5. Experience in immunology techniques, including advanced flow cytometry, primary cell culture and molecular techniques (e.g. cloning, CRISPR Cas9) and/or metabolic analysis
6. Excellent practical experimental skills and the ability to independently design and conduct experiments, analyse data, trouble shoot and present results professionally
7. Excellent verbal and written communication skills and ability to write scientific documents and papers
8. Strong interpersonal skills and willingness to collaborate and work in a team and mentor junior colleagues

*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. 

Desirable criteria

1. Background in T cell immunology, preferably human
2. Experience with multi-parameter cell analysis, such as CyTOF
3. Good track record of scientific publication/s (could include pre-prints) and/or scientific presentation/s at national/international conferences 

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘ How we Recruit’ pages.

Interviews are due to be held in September 2024.

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearance.