Research Associate in Liver Cancer Biomarkers and Target Discovery

Salary: £33,966 to £44,263 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 23 June 2024

The Role

We seek an enthusiastic and ambitious researcher to join our team in the Translational and Clinical Research Institute to work on a unique and exciting project. 

Liver cancer incidence and mortality is rising. Current therapies include surgery, locoregional treatments and medical therapies. However, patients with liver cancer are typically elderly with comorbidities and underling chronic liver disease. Responses vary widely, impacting survival. Predictive biomarkers and novel treatment strategies are needed. Cancer Research UK has funded an observational trial called HUNTER. Clinical data and samples over multiple lines of treatment for more than 1000 patients has been collected. Multiple samples datasets have and are being generated, including genomic DNA, serum proteomics, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) RNAseq, as well as whole slide images (WIS), immunohistochemistry and hyperion mass spectrometry of biopsy tissues. 

This role will involve maintaining and further developing the datasets, building on these as enrolment, patient follow-up and research data generation is ongoing. The postholder will be responsible for maintaining our REDCap database of patient data, as well as developing a secure research environment for data sharing and an R Shiny interactive web application to facilitate visualisation and analyses.
The Research Associate will have the opportunity to apply bioinformatic analyses to these datasets (e.g. single nucleotide polymorphisms, RNAseq, serum proteome, WSI) alongside the clinical data, primarily for the identification of biomarkers that predict response to treatment. Using these biomarkers, you will build computational models using various techniques contributing to a mechanistic framework of liver cancer development and progression – informing novel therapeutic strategies. 

You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team including clinicians, bioinformaticians, AI researchers, and basic scientists at the Paul O’Gorman Building within the Newcastle University Centre for Cancer
.
You will hold a PhD in relevant area. Experience of bioinformatic analysis including coding/scripting languages such as R and R Shiny, preferably in the area of cancer research. Experience in clinical database management, including secure and safe access to patient data, as well as experience in computational modelling, is essential.

This post is a full-time position, fixed term until 31st March 2028. 

Please note that if you are successful to this role, you will require a NHS Honorary Contract.

For informal enquiries contact: Helen Reeves  at [email protected]

Find out more about our research here:

www.livingwithlivercancer.co.uk

https://research.ncl.ac.uk/hunter/

Liver Cancer | Centre for Cancer | Newcastle University (ncl.ac.uk)

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences and research institutes here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/ and Research Institutes | Faculty of Medical Sciences | Newcastle University (ncl.ac.uk)

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles.  These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

Key Accountabilities

• Although working under the general guidance of an academic or Principal Investigator, the postholder will contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of their studies, thus providing substantial 'added value’
• Develop and carry out the specified project using appropriate techniques and equipment as outlined in the personal requirements
• Determine appropriate methodologies for research, with advice and support where required
• Contribute to grant applications submitted by others and in time develop own research objectives and proposals for funding
• Begin to write, with appropriate support, proposals for individual research funding or, where funders do not permit this, contribute to the writing of collective bids
• Assess research findings for the need/scope for further investigations
• Contribute to the writing up of their research for publication and dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications
• Present research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline
• May be involved in the supervision, with guidance, of final year undergraduate research projects and in providing support to postgraduate research students or Research Assistants 
• Will need to work with the support staff and, on occasions, with undergraduate and postgraduate students, and interact intellectually with other academic members of the Institute
• May contribute to events celebrating the public engagement of science/social sciences/humanities
• Develop an awareness of University structures, policies and procedures and relevant issues in the higher education, research, social and political environment
• Undertake extensive reading and literature review in appropriate fields with particular reference to genomics, functional genomics, and bioinformatics. To make desirable modifications to methods from relevant literature review
• Support quality assurance processes
• Work closely with academic scientists, including computational scientists, clinicians, as well as expert bioinformaticians outside of Newcastle University
• Prepare reports and figures for inclusion in academic publications and grant proposals
• Carry out any additional duties within the remit of the grade as required by the Liver Cancer Research Group
• Develop local procedures, establish and maintain a safe/compliant working environment
• Oversee any required compliance tasks ensuring timely completion and maintenance of appropriate records
• Schedule, prioritise and monitor work in line with demands and deadlines
• Organise and facilitate progress meetings
• Contribute to and support change
• Assist with the identification of training and development needs
• Take responsibility (with appropriate support from NUIT) for safe and secure data storage of large bioinformatic datasets and ultimately deposition in online repositories prior to publication
• Create and maintain useable and shareable version-controlled code and notebooks in shared repositories to support the project, allow team working and reproducibility
• Maintenance of the HUNTER REDCap database of clinical trial data for patients receiving treatments for liver cancer
• Development of an R Shiny website for data collation and visualisation
• Combine bioinformatic analysis and computational modelling for the understanding of liver cancer biomarkers
• Work safely and securely with confidential patient data

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Ability to work well as part of a team and rapidly acquire new skills
• Knowledge of liver cancer staging and treatments 
• Knowledge of metabolic syndrome and its relation to ageing and cancer
• Experience working with clinical trial data, preferably liver related
• Experience with the creation and management of databases, particularly clinical databases
• Experience/skills handling and securely managing large bioinformatic datasets
• Demonstrable understanding of RNAseq and gene expression analysis
• Some lab experience or decent understanding of laboratory techniques
• Experience of research with clear transferable skills and some experience or awareness of the research environment 
• Likelihood of advanced skills directly related to the research project goals
• Experience of website development and data visualisation, e.g. working with R Shiny tool  
• High level of analytical and problem-solving capability 
• Ability to communicate complex information with clarity including evidence of first author publications and grant proposals
• Presentations at conferences and/or high-quality publications
• Skills and experience using coding/scripting languages relevant to the project goals i.e. R, Python
• Skills and experience with methods of computational modelling, including ordinary differential equations

Desirable

• Knowledge of biomarkers related to ageing and/or cancer
• Specific experience/expertise in working with REDCap databases
• Specific experience/expertise in single-cell genomics analysis, preferably scRNA-seq
• Some lab skills/experience in addition to bioinformatics expertise
• Experience in procedures and requirements for accessing and handling identifiable patient information (e.g. research passport)
• Experience of agent-based modelling including NetLogo

Attributes and Behaviour

• Excellent record keeping and data/code management
• Proactive in seeking out learning, adopting or creating new approaches and methodologies
• Collaborative mindset with a positive attitude towards teamwork
• Respectful and helpful in contributions to the research culture with the team and institute

Desirable

• Experience working with confidential patient medical records
• Comfortable with and adept at cross-disciplinary working
• Contributes creatively to the projects and ideas within the wider group

Qualifications

• A PhD in relevant area (required for appointment at Associate level)
• Masters degree in relevant subject or close to submission of a PhD (for appointment at Assistant level)

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are aDisability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 27320