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View Vacancy -- Senior Researcher - Biology NATA 1759
The Medical Research Council (MRC), as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), have invested a total of £30m over 4 years through the Strategic Priorities Fund to establish a nucleic acid therapy accelerator (NATA) that will support state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research to solve critical issues in nucleic acid drug delivery, through focused NATA research challenges and a NATA infrastructure hub. This will be an internationally unique resource, drawing on world-leading academic expertise in partnership with innovative businesses to discover and test viable ways of delivering oligonucleotide therapies, anchoring the oligonucleotide therapy industry in the UK for many years to come.
The NATA will focus on bringing together key stakeholders around the infrastructure hub while catalysing collaborative R&D activity with focused support to tackle significant barriers facing oligonucleotide therapy delivery to key organs. This investment will support capacity building in terms of equipment, upskilling and domain expertise that will be essential in developing critical mass to catalyse and de-risk the development of next generation nucleic acid medicines.
The NATA has the opportunity to establish a new industrial sector attracting and developing highly skill jobs with the potential of the UK being the leader in the field where global nucleic acid therapies market is expected to be £6 billion by 2025.
The Senior Researcher will be crucial in supporting the NATA Biology Team by leading new multidisciplinary projects to accelerate the development of nucleic acid therapeutics by employing existing and novel approaches to validate lead therapies. The individual will be involved in the design, development and validation of new cellular tools for nucleic acid delivery and toxicity assessment, including 3D models and stem cell-derived lines. Furthermore, the post holder will be involved in the application of in vivo pre-clinical testing of nucleic acid therapeutics, including the investigation of novel targeting methods across a range of organ systems. The post holder will manage research programmes including national and international collaborative projects with academia and industry. They will report to the Head of Biology.
Responsibilities
- Serve as a project leader to optimize current nucleic acid therapeutic platforms both in vitro and in vivo
- Develop and validate new cell models for nucleic acid delivery and efficacy assessment
- Design and deliver assays for understanding the mechanism of toxicity of agents for biomarker development and application and for de-risking therapeutic candidates
- Data integration and analysis from a range of modalities (e.g. transcriptomics / proteomics / cellular imaging / tissue imaging) related to nucleic acid delivery
- Perform literature reviews, design experiments, analyse data and write reports
- Provide regular updates on project status with the Head of Biology and Senior Management Team
- Present research data internally and externally including partner meetings and scientific conferences
- Supervise and direct R&D activities with contract research organizations
- Keep secure well-organized and contemporaneous scientific records
- Write and submit manuscripts for publication with the Head of Department, assist with writing patents
- Maintain a good knowledge of the relevant literature and of the wider field
- Work effectively with collaborators
- Support Junior Scientists and Research Assistants
- Effectively manage resources
Selection criteria
Essential selection criteria
- Hold a relevant Ph.D/D.Phil in biology, genetics, pharmacology, toxicology or related discipline
- Significant postdoctoral experience
- Experience with conventional and advanced cellular assay approaches with immortalised and primary cell lines. Experience with stem cell-derived differentiation and 3D cell culture highly desirable
- Essential laboratory skills include tissue culture, RNA and protein analysis, fluorescence and confocal microscopy and flow cytometry
- Experience and ability to develop and characterize cellular and pre-clinical disease models
- Experience with organ systems in addition to liver such as cardiovascular, GI, immune, CNS
- Strong track record of scientific contributions including peer-reviewed first-author publications, patent applications and presentations at major conferences
- Strong scientific creativity and leadership to independently design and lead the research project, and problem-solving skills to overcome the scientific challenges
- Experience and knowledge of data analysis and interpretation including statistical methods
- Experience of managing interdisciplinary projects, with demonstrable project management skills
- Excellent communication skills for data presentation both in in-house and external meetings
- Ability to analyse data in the literature and place their own work in the context of work in the field
- Collaborative personality with the willingness to work with multiple teams in different time zones
- High level organisational skills, with the ability to manage a broad range of jobs simultaneously and under pressure.
- Capable of critical thinking
- Organised, hard-working with a strong eye for detail and is able to work as part of a team
- Ability to meet milestones/deadlines under pressure
- Flexible and adaptable, able to manage changing priorities
- Experience of managing and developing staff
Desirable selection criteria
- Interdisciplinary skill with an emphasis for chemistry or pharmacology, especially target validation and toxicology
- Rodent in vivo biology experience including animal handling, surgery and therapeutic delivery approaches
- Experience of high-resolution microscopy approaches
- Experience of high-throughput cellular imaging assay development and QC
- Industrial experience related to nucleic acid therapeutics
- Experience of large dataset analysis
For further information about the role please contact Peter Oliver: P.Oliver@har.mrc.ac.uk
Choosing to come to work at the MRC (part of UKRI) means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement to access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme, as well as the chance to put the MRC and UKRI on your CV in the future.
Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We welcome applications from all sections of the community irrespective of gender, race, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability or age. As "Disability Confident" employers, we guarantee to interview all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.
UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.
We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check. The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.
This opportunity is closed to applications.