Postdoctoral Fellow

Location: The Francis Crick Institute, Midland Road, London

Short summary

The Research Group

Dr Li’s laboratory investigates the molecular regulation of intestinal stem cell and cancer, focusing on WNT signalling, a molecular pathway contributing to virtually every developmental decision in the lifetime of an organism and is hyperactivated in nearly all colorectal cancer (CRC) to promote cancer cell growth. Despite decades of research, WNT pathway is considered as undruggable in cancer due to its pivotal role in many body systems (Novellasdemunt et al, 2015). The overarching aim of our lab is to find new druggable targets against WNT signalling to improve CRC treatment through investigating both cell intrinsic and extrinsic role of WNT in tumour development.

Key Responsibilities

The Project

In this project, some of the specific aims include but are not limited to:

• Integrative multi-omic analysis (including transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics and metagenomics)
• Animal handling
• 3D organoid culture derived from primary human and mouse intestine
• Co-culture of organoids with stromal mesenchyme/lymphocytes
• Metabolomics
• Microbiome studies

The postholder will be responsible for:

• Liaising with collaborators to perform shared experiments
• Writing and contributing to the preparation of scientific manuscripts, reports, presentations and records of experimental plans and results
• Supervising and providing technical advice to more junior members of the team when appropriate

Postdoctoral Fellows will lead their own projects, contribute to other projects on a collaborative basis (both in the lab and with external collaborators) and may guide PhD students in their research. The ability to work in a team is essential.

Key experience and competencies

Essential:

• PhD in Developmental Biology, Stem Cells, Cancer, Computational Biology or in the final stages of PhD submission
• Good knowledge and experience in cancer metabolism and molecular biology
• Good computational/bioinformatic skill

About us

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under in one building in Europe.

The Francis Crick Institute will be world-class with a strong national role. Its distinctive vision for excellence includes commitments to collaboration; developing emerging talent and exporting it the rest of the UK; public engagement; and helping turn discoveries into treatments as quickly as possible to improve lives and strengthen the economy.

• If you are interested in applying for this role, please apply via our website.
• All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.

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