Research Assistant in Comprehensive Cancer Centre

Job description
We are looking for a dynamic and motivated Research Assistant to work with us on defining the role of the immune system in myeloid leukemias.
You will work in our new lab at King’s College London and will support research projects aimed at teasing apart the pro and anti-leukemia components of the T cell response in patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), and how these are modulated by therapeutic treatments such as Bone Marrow transplantation and Donor Lymphocyte Infusion (BMT-DLI) and Hypomethylating agents (HMA).
The successful applicant will be a key researcher in programs to investigate the immunological landscape in Age-related Clonal Haematopoiesis (ARCH) and MDS (funded by a King’s Health Partners-BMS partnership), and in AML patients undergoing BMT-DLI treatment (funded by Leukemia UK).
The post-holder will first apply state-of-the-art immunological techniques, and in particular Mass Cytometry, to identify T cell populations associated with disease progression or therapeutic benefit in samples from AML and MDS patients, and then will perform follow-up analysis studies to define their specificity and functionality.
This work will be done in a collaborative multidisciplinary environment including immunologists, haematologists and bioinformaticians working at the interface between basic and translational immune-haematology.
The successful applicant will be expected to have background knowledge in Immunology, hands-on experience in cell biology and basic immunological techniques, and will receive training in Mass Cytometry and other methodologies required to carry out this project.
The post-holder will be jointly supervised by Dr. Giorgio Napolitani ([email protected] ), and Dr. Pramila Krishnamurthy ([email protected] ) and potential applicants are encouraged to contact them.
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

• Management of own research, planning, developing and executing experiments  
• Be highly organised and be able to work effectively to deadlines and as part of a team 
• Contribute directly to scientific discussions with Dr. Napolitani, Dr Krishnamurthy and other members of the group 
• Work as part of a team to prepare data reports and documentation. 
• Ability to work flexibly to accommodate needs of the research programme. 
• Undertaking other duties that are commensurate with the grade and responsibilities of the post, including contributing to activities related to the organization and day to day activities of the lab. 

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.       Hold a relevant undergraduate and master degree or be close to completion
2.       Evidence of significant academic attainment and interest in the area
3.       Ability to manage own academic research and associated activities
4.       Experience of working in a research team
5.       Experience in basic immunological technics
6.       Excellent communication skills, and ability to describe clearly scientific data
7.       Evidence of good reasoning skills
Desirable criteria
1.       Experience in multi-colour Flow Cytometry
2.       Experience in working with human primary cells 

Further information
Dr Napolitani’s group is part of a research programme at the Comprehensive Cancer Centre dedicated to translating research into better treatments for patients.  The other groups focused on blood cancers include: Haematology Group (Dr Lynn Quek), Leukaemia Stem Cell Biology (Professor Eric So), Gene & Cell based therapies (Professor Farzin Farzaneh), CAR-T Cell Programmes (Dr Reuben Benjamin), bone marrow failure syndromes (Professor Ghulam Mufti, Dr Austin Kulasekararaj), post-transplant immunotherapies (Professors Francesco Dazzi, Dr Pramila Krishnamurthy and Dr. Victoria Potter) and King’s College Hospital Haemato-oncology Molecular Diagnostics Centre (Dr Deborah Yallop, Dr Shireen Kassam and Dr Guy Hannah).
These research programmes benefit from an extensive Biobank of blood cancers, and a recent investment in infrastructure and new equipment.  Research groups at Denmark Hill will have on-site access to a BD Aria Fusion Flow Sorter, BD Lyric Flow Analyzers, a Helios CyTOF, an Illumina NextSeq Sequencing System, 10x Genomics Chromium platform and automated sample and nucleic acid handling systems.  These research programmes are closely linked to clinical services, where research activities are translated into novel therapies including CAR-T cells/immunotherapies (with specific emphasis on allogenic CART-T clinical trials in Lymphomas/ALL & AML).
This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearance.