Research Associate - INTERNAL ONLY

King's College London, United Kingdom

Updated: 16 days ago
Location: Harrow N W and S, ENGLAND
Deadline: 15 Apr 2024

Job id: 087466. Salary: £43,205 - £50,585 per annum, inclusive of London Weighting.

Posted: 09 April 2024. Closing date: 15 April 2024.

Business unit: Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine. Department: Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

Contact details:Prof Elinor Sawyer. [email protected]

Location: Guy's Campus. Category: Research.


About the role

The post holder will be based in the Guy’s Cancer Cancer Centre (Innovation Hub), School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London and be part of the Molecular Breast Cancer Genetics Group led by Professor Elinor Sawyer.

This post will focus on the development of a molecular signature to predict which cases of ductal carcinoma in situ are most likely to progress to invasive disease. It will build on work from the PRECISION Grand Challenge and HTAN consortiums validating their RNA signatures in two new cohorts of DCIS, one from the UK and one from the USA. The project will also explore the role of the tumour immune microenvironment and genetic predisposition in DCIS progression.

The post holder will be responsible for selecting samples for analysis from the UK DCIS cohort, microdissection and extracting DNA and RNA as well as constructing tissue microarrays for the microenvironment analysis. The postholder will also be responsible for the germline analysis of both cohorts which will involve sequencing the known breast cancer predisposition genes in germline DNA (extracted from blood)  and also performing genome wide SNP analysis to derive polygenic risk scores.

This is a full-time post and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 29.09.2027.


About You

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

Essential criteria

  • PhD in Biological Sciences (candidates who are submitting their PhD within the next 3 months will be considered, but the thesis must be submitted within the 3 month probationary period).
  • Knowledge of cancer genetics and available resources. 
  • Database management. 
  • Experience of working with FFPE tissue specimens. 
  • Experience of DNA and RNA extraction
  • Competent in the interpretation and technical validation of results. 
  • Experience of Next Generation sequencing and analysis.  
  • Competent in the use of standard statistical analysis packages. 

    • Desirable criteria

  • Experience of constructing tissue microarrays.
  • Experience of performing SNP array analysis.

    • Full details of the role and the skills and experience required, can be found in the attached job description which provided on the next page.

    * 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.

    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 review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit ’ pages.

    Interviews are due to be held on 17th April 2024.


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