Fellowships

Research Fellow/Research Assistant – Computational Biologist (London)

UN Jobs Admin February 19, 2024

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Research Fellow/Research Assistant - Computational Biologist (London)

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Program Details

Ref Number B02-06421

Professional Expertise Research and Research Support

Department School of Life & Medical Sciences (B02)

Location London

Working Pattern Full time

Salary £42,099–£50,585

Contract Type Fixed-term

Working Type On site (> 80% of working time)

Closing Date 29-Feb-2024

About us

Research Fellow/Research Assistant is being hired for Computational Biologist (London) Vacancy. Applications are invited for a computational biologist position (PhD/Msc with relevant expierience) in the research team led by Dr Anne M Pesenacker at UCL’s Institute of Immunity and Transplantation (IIT). The post is funded by a VersusArthritis project grant entitled “Treg Fitness as Biomarker for Disease Activity to Predict Treatment Response in JIA”.

The IIT in the Pears building is part of the Division of Infection and Immunity in the UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences. The Pears building, a state-of-the-art medical research facility, provides a collaborative space for 200 scientists and academic clinicians committed to delivering basic, computational, and translational immunology research. The IIT has excellent core facilities for cellular, molecular and computational immunology, including high-dimensional flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and a dedicated computational co-working space.

The postholder will join a vibrant computational immunology research environment at the IIT that provides opportunities to exchange across lab boundaries, and with the wider UCL community in the computational biomedical sciences. Our aim is to link our fundamental laboratory research to measurable patient benefit.

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About the role

Dr Pesenacker directs an interdisciplinary team, focussed on molecular and cellular immunology. Key research goals of the group are to gain a greater understanding of how co-receptors and regulatory T cell fitness are managed in health and change in disease.

Project aims

Biomarker discovery and validation for JIA disease activity, treatment response and sustained remission vs flare prediction using Treg fitness signatures measured on RNA (nanoString) or protein level (spectral flow cytometry)
Demonstrate deconvolution of Treg fitness signatures from unfractionated CD4+ Tcell and/or PBMC RNA expression as a step towards clinical translation
Integrating and comparing gene/protein expression from different sources (nanoString, scRNA seq, spectral flow cytometry) to compare Treg fitness across sites in JIA (blood, synovial fluid, synovial tissue)

Other projects in the lab that provide opportunities for the postholder to apply their computational expertise include 10x single cell multiome (scRNA+ATACseq), bulk RNA seq, and confocal microscopy analysis pipelines.

The position is funded for one year in the first instance with a possibility of extension. The position will suit a motivated computational scientist who wishes to develop their career and drive the project forward.

For exceptional candidates at the Research Assistant level it might be possible to also register for a PhD alongside their position.

About you

Successful applicants will have a PhD (or about to be awarded) in a relevant subject or Msc/equivalent with relevant experience. The post-holder will be expected to perform high quality research under the direction of the Principal Investigator, and to work effectively with group members and collaborators.

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Experience in mathematical modeling, use of R or Python and in designing of new bioinformatic pipelines is expected. Experience in computational methods for deconvolution to separate different sources of variation in RNA expression data, such as cell type-specific gene expression are desirable. Experience in high dimensional unbiased analysis (flow cytometry, bulk/single cell RNAseq) would be advantageous but training in specific techniques will be provided.

Please note: 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 (£37,332- £39,980 per annum including London Allowance) with payment at Grade 7, point 30 (£42,099 per annum including London Allowance) being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis (including corrections).

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

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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.

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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 : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/