Postdoctoral Training Fellow - Paediatrics

The Institute of Cancer Research, London, is one of the world’s most influential cancer research institutes, with an outstanding record of achievement dating back more than 100 years. We provided the first convincing evidence that DNA damage is the basic cause of cancer, laying the foundation for the now universally accepted idea that cancer is a genetic disease. Today, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) leads the world at isolating cancer-related genes and discovering new targeted drugs for personalised cancer treatment. Under the leadership of our Chief Executive, Professor Paul Workman FMedSci, the ICR is ranked as the UK’s leading academic research centre. Together with our partner The Royal Marsden, we are rated in the top four cancer centres globally.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and ambitious scientist with good interpersonal skills to join the Translational Research group in the Molecular Diagnostics department.

The department is located in the Centre for Molecular Pathology and works together with Cancer Research UK in their Stratified Medicine Programme. It is also a designated Genomic Medicine Centre (as part of the West London GMC) leading the cancer stream of the 100,000 Genomes Project. The Centre for Molecular Pathology is a state-of-the-art facility bringing together translational science and molecular diagnostics and is one of the few specialised cancer molecular diagnostic laboratories in Europe. The department provides a reference Molecular Diagnostics Service for solid tumours and haematological malignancies for several NHS Trusts and Cancer Networks, as well as leading innovation in translational research and clinical trials.

We are seeking an enthusiastic scientist to join a highly-motivated team delivering a national clinical study of genomic biomarkers in paediatric solid tumours to aid in the implementation of precision medicine trials.

The successful applicant will apply targeted high throughput sequencing (HTS) for the detection of diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tumour biomarkers in childhood cancer. They will contribute to the design, development and validation of clinical HTS assays for personalised cancer medicine. They will also be responsible for data analysis and interpretation using advanced bioinformatics software and will generate clinical reports. In addition, the post holder will be required to support activities such as quality management, including compliance with laboratory accreditation standards, training and the department's translational research programme.

Good communication, team working, attention to detail and supervisory skills are essential. Candidates should ideally have a PhD in molecular biology or genomics and experience working in a genomics, molecular genetics or diagnostic laboratory. Additional experience handling clinical samples according to GCLP standards would be an advantage.

For more information and to apply, please go to the ICR website..