£43,093 - £50,834 per annum
Full time, Fixed term
Location: South Kensington Campus
Ref: NAT01258
We are seeking to recruit a Research Associate to study human Natural Killer cell biology using microscopy and other techniques, funded by the Medical Research Council.
The project will be based in Prof. Dan Davis’s lab in Imperial College London, South Kensington, to study fundamental aspects of molecular recognition by human Natural Killer cells (and T cells), using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy as well as molecular and cell biology techniques.
Advances in technology are helping us understand the immune system as never before, and to develop medicines which boost the system to fight cancer better, to dampen it to combat the symptoms of auto-immune disease, and to help develop better vaccines. Activating and inhibitory receptors on the surface of immune cells are critical determinants of immune activity. The level of each receptor and its ligand, and how well they bind, are primary determinants of disease outcomes. However, advances in microscopy are now revealing a host of other factors which control immune responses. This includes protrusions from immune cells which contact other cells, a complex nanoscale organisation of activating and inhibitory receptors, clusters of proteins secreted by immune cells to kill diseased cells, and novel mechanisms by which immune cells can detach from one target cell to attack again. Understanding immunity on a nanoscale is a major new frontier and will lead to completely new ideas for medicine.
This is an exciting opportunity to join a well-equipped multidisciplinary team studying immune cell biology in health and disease.
Duties and responsibilities
You will be required to help produce independent and original research as part of a team of postdocs, students and technicians. The project will involve using microscopy to image signal transduction and integration from activating and inhibitory receptors on human immune cells. This will be compared in settings of health and disease. The post involves a high degree of teamwork and interdisciplinary research as well as daily interactions with other members of the lab and other allied scientists within Imperial College and elsewhere as appropriate.
Essential requirements
You must have a PhD (or about to hold a PhD) in biology, cell biology, immunology, biochemistry, biophysics, or a related field. Experience with human immune cell biology or high-level microscopy is strongly desired. You must have excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as basic knowledge of immunology, cell biology or microscopy. You must also be able to develop and apply new concepts, work with minimal supervision and have a creative approach to problem-solving. The ideal candidate will have the passion and drive to tackle and overcome scientific problems.
Further Information
This position is full-time and fixed term until 31 October 2026, via a new program grant funded by the Medical Research Council (UK). The successful candidate would be expected to start on 1 November or soon thereafter. You will be based at South Kensington Campus.
Please note that any candidate who has not been yet awarded their PhD, will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £38,194 – £41,388 per annum.
For informal enquiries please contact Professor Daniel Davis (via
[email protected])
Closing date: 9 October 2022.
To apply please click here
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/description/NAT01258/research-associate-natural-killer-cell-immunology-and-microscopy The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/ The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level.
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research/