Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow in Bioinformatics - Cancer Immunotherapy

UCL; London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 55,000

Job description

About us

We are seeking a collaborative and self-motivated Research fellow (post-doctoral) in Bioinformatics to work on an exciting cancer immunotherapy project, as part of the prestigious Cancer Grand Challenge initiative. The Cancer Grand Challenge awards fund £20m to address major unresolved challenges in cancer research here.

This post will be the lead bioinformatician within the NexTGen team based at UCL, which is tackling the childhood solid tumours challenge.

The NexTGen team unites leading CAR T cell and tumour immunology experts from the UK, US and Europe, to develop novel T cell therapies for childhood solid tumours. The project focus is on childhood sarcomas and brain tumours which remain cancers of high unmet clinical need.

T cell immunotherapy is showing first signals of activity in solid tumours and hence the time is now to apply a concerted effort incorporating both discovery and translational science to develop next generation T cell therapies which can achieve complete and durable responses in recalcitrant childhood cancers.

The NexTGen project will generate a large amount of molecular data, from patient tumour samples as well as ex vivo and pre-clinical models. The datasets include single cell RNA-seq, high dimensional imaging, and immunopeptidomics data, generated on up to 2,000 samples. These datasets will be the largest of their kind in a number of rare childhood solid tumours and offer significant potential for biological discovery.

Accordingly, the project needs a collaborative and highly motivated bioinformatician to lead analysis of project datasets, as well as manage project data across all institutes in a knowledge management system.

About the role

The position will be based within a multi-disciplinary team of cancer biologists, wet-lab scientists and translational research clinicians concerned with both basic immunological principles and understanding the immune response through treatment. The applicant will be supervised by Dr Nicholas McGranahan and Dr Karin Straathof. They will also closely collaborate with the labs of Dr Martin Pule and Prof Sergio Quezada.

The primary duty of the post-holder will be to conduct bioinformatics discovery analysis, into the immunological basis of treatment response and resistance. The project will make use of large datasets of genomic/transcriptomic data from cancer trials. Sequencing data is complimented by a wealth of supporting data-types, including imaging data, clinical and radiomics data.

The candidate will collaborate across a network of paediatric oncology and cancer immunotherapy centres including UCL Cancer Institute/Great Ormond Street Hospital, George Washington University/Children's National Hospital, University of Pennsylvania/Children Hospital Philadelphia, Stanford University, NYU Langone Health and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

This project sits at the interface of basic and translational research and will be utilising a rich multi-omic dataset generated from patient tumour samples, from trials run locally. The role is ideally suited for a creative individual with a strong interest in cancer genomics, immunology, and software / pipeline development in a leading academic setting.

The post is funded for 2 years in the first instance, starting in April 2025.

The starting salary is contingent on the candidate's previous experience. This project will build on a strong track record of significant discoveries in the field of tumour immunology at UCL Cancer Institute, and the candidate will benefit from expert training in an exciting and dynamic environment.

Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Research Assistant Grade 6B, with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis.

Applications should include a CV and a Cover Letter: In the Cover Letter please evidence the essential and desirable criteria in the Person Specification part of the Job Description. (By including a Cover Letter, you can leave blank the 'Why you have applied for this role' field in the application form, which is limited in the number of characters it will allow.)

About you

The successful applicant will have a proven track record in bioinformatics, with previous experience of NGS data analysis, be fluent in at least one of the following programming languages: Python or R, and is expected to have strong skills in either: genomics, cancer biology or immunology. Prior experience with data analysis based on integrating large datasets is particularly desired.

To be considered for a Grade 8 position, applicants must demonstrate how they fulfil each criterion outlined in the grade 8 person specification.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (including 27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

For rewards and benefits at UCL please visit: here.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here.