Salary: Grade 6, £38,826 - £45,649 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Business unit: Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine
Department: Imaging Chemistry & Biology
St Thomas' Campus
This postdoctoral role is a great position with which to apply biological in vivo skills to several questions relating to novel cell-based anti-cancer therapies and understanding how immune cells migrate through the body. It is funded by the EPSRC Research Programme on Next Generation of Molecular Imaging and Therapy with Radionuclides (MITHRAS) and aims to study the biological effects within a variety of cells, e.g. T cells, macrophages, stem cells, labelled with radioactive radionuclides and to quantify the minimum level of radioactive cells administered into animals that can still be picked up by non-invasive imaging using preclinical positron emission tomography (PET).
This project sits within the context of the increasing likelihood of availability to total body PET, which will have huge implications for tracking of cell-based therapies in particular. Total body PET would allow cell labelling with up to 40-fold lower activities and could also enable more long-term imaging. The main limitation for PET in cell tracking is a concern that radionuclides impart high radiation doses to the labelled cells, with unknown effects on their behaviour, e.g. do they survive; at what level do they survive and do they remain unaltered? This project would enable us to ascertain maximum radiolabelling limits within these cells for a range of PET radionuclides and determine the benefits of reducing radioactivity loading of tracked cells achievable in total body PET.
The experimental work is based around preclinical in vivo work, molecular biology, and in vitro cell studies. The candidate will get the opportunity to expand their skills in radiochemistry, radiobiology, and PET/CT imaging. In this post, the successful candidate will work closely with Drs Terry and Torres, as well as collaborate with other members of the Department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology and scientists at external institutions and universities.
This is an exciting opportunity to join a vibrant multidisciplinary research group within one of the premier biomedical imaging centres in Europe with access to state-of-the-art synthetic and radiochemistry facilities. The Department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology is part of the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences which has a vast array of small animal and clinical imaging modalities, supported by the cutting-edge equipment and core facilities at King’s. Finally, we are dedicated to supporting the successful candidate’s career through assistance with Fellowship applications, networking events, and conference attendance.
Contact details: Dr. Samantha Terry ,
[email protected] This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract for 24 months.
This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent.
Closing date: 08-Jun-2022
Apply link:
https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/job/042465/Postdoctoral-Research-Associate-in-Biology
