View Vacancy -- Senior Researcher - Biology - 1940

Open Date
01/09/2022, 13:45
Close Date
02/10/2022, 23:55
NATA

The Medical Research Council (MRC), as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), have invested a total of £30m 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.

UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org

MRC - 3
Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire
£40,016 - £46,643 (depending on experience)
Permanent
Science
Full Time

The Senior Researcher will be critical in supporting the NATA Biology department by leading new multidisciplinary projects to accelerate the development of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics; by employing novel approaches to validate multiple lead compounds, in tandem with maximizing their delivery and pre-clinical efficacy by identifying and preventing off-target effects.

You will be involved in the design, development and validation of new tools for Nucleic Acid delivery and toxicity assessment. You will be involved in the application of in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical testing of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, including the investigation of novel targeting methods across a range of organ systems. You will also manage various national and international collaborative projects with academia and industry. This role 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 in vivo (mouse) 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 drug 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, propose Nucleic Acid benchwork, analyse data and write reports
  • Provide regular updates on project status with the Head of Department
  • Present research data in partnering meetings
  • Supervise and direct R&D activities at contract research organizations
  • Provide scientific guidance, insights, and leadership for Nucleic Acid technology development to colleagues in NATA
  • Troubleshoot and maintain synthesis procedures and equipment
  • Keep secure and well-organized and contemporaneous scientific records
  • Write and submit manuscripts for publication with the Head of Department, assist with writing patents
  • Present work internally and at national and international meetings
  • Contribute to lab meetings
  • Maintain a good knowledge of the relevant literature and of the wider field and actively promote this to the group
  • Work effectively with collaborators
  • Support Junior Scientists and Research Assistants
  • Effectively manage resources

Essential selection criteria

  • Hold a relevant Ph.D/D.Phil in biology, genetics, pharmacology, toxicology or a related discipline
  • Rodent in vivo biology experience including animal handling, surgery and therapeutic delivery approaches
  • Experience with conventional and advanced cellular assay approaches with immortalised cell lines
  • Essential laboratory skills include tissue culture, RNA and protein analysis, fluorescence and confocal microscopy, tissue immunohistochemistry and pathology.
  • 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 is highly desirable
  • Currently hold, or willingness to hold, a UK Home Office Personal Licence for animal procedures
  • Strong track record of scientific contributions including peer-reviewed first-author publications, patent applications, and/or presentations at major conferences are required
  • 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
  • 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 personalities 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
  • Clear affiliation with our vision and values, and a. true ambassador of our organization
  • Demonstrate ability to meet milestones/deadline 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 biology validation and toxicology
  • Experience with in vivo imaging methods
  • Experience of CNS drug delivery
  • Knowledge in receptor biology and experience in ligand-receptor mediated drug delivery
  • 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
The MRC is a great place to work and progress your career, be it in scientific research or the support functions.The MRC is a unique working environment where our researchers are rewarded by world class innovation and collaboration opportunities that the MRC name brings. The MRC is an excellent place to develop yourself further and a range of training & development opportunities will be available to you, including professional registration with the Science Council.

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.