The antibody discovery group at St. John's Institute of Dermatology and the Breast Cancer Now Unit at King's College London wishes to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Associate with knowledge of cancer immunology, and experience in antibody immunology and immunotherapy, antibody-drug conjugate generation and antibody functional evaluations, to join its Cancer Antibody Discovery & Immunotherapy research programme. The work will be integrated into the team's on-going translational activities that include: a) Dissecting the cross-talk between human immunity and breast cancer and utilising this knowledge to develop and evaluate more effective antibodies as diagnostics or therapeutics, b) Engineering and studying antibodies with modified Fc regions to better engage immune effector cells against cancer, and antibody-drug conjugates for cancer therapy, c) Translation of novel antibody candidates to first-in-man clinical studies with clinical and academic colleagues at Guy's Hospital. The postholder will have a strong background in antibody immunology/biology and functional evaluations of antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. They will conduct cutting edge research into cancer immunotherapy using novel Fc engineered antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates that recognise cell surface tumour antigens overexpressed in breast cancers. This will involve efficacy and mechanism of action evaluations of novel agents conducting several functional assays using patient and healthy volunteer blood and in disease-relevant ex vivo organoid models to support future evaluations in pre-clinical development and clinical study stages of lead molecules. There will be extensive study of human immune cells such as NK cells, monocytes and macrophages, flow cytometric analyses, ELISA style and functional cell-based assays. The postholder will be fully integrated into the academic team's antibody immunotherapy translational research programme led by Prof. Sophia Karagiannis at the Guy's Hospital Campus, forming part of the Beast Cancer Now funded programme at King's College London. The research will be closely integrated with the translational research activities of the KCL Breast Cancer Now Unit's interdisciplinary team headed by Professor Sheeba Irshad, and closely interacting with Professor Andrew Tutt's research team at King's and The Institute of Cancer Research and with Professor Anita Grigoriadis's Cancer Bioinformatics teams. The post will also involve interaction with interdisciplinary teams and colleagues at The Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, London. The work will be embedded in the "near patient" context of the Guy's Cancer Centre at Guy's Campus and benefits from multidisciplinary academic and clinical links within Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals. The programme is conducted to specific deliverables and strict deadlines. Therefore, the position will suit a highly motivated and focused team player, with strong communication and collaborative skills. This is a full-time post (35 hours a week) based on-site. You will be offered a fixed term contract from 4th January 2027 till 31st July 2027.
Essential criteria
- PhD qualified in relevant subject area (or pending results) in Biological Sciences, Cancer Biology/Immunology, Molecular Biology (or equivalent near completion)
- BSc in Molecular Biology, Immunology, Biophysics, Biochemistry or related subject
- Background in antibody and antibody-drug conjugate research and generation
- Experience in antibody functional evaluations (e.g., in vitro, ex vivo cell culture/co-culture, cell-based flow cytometric and ELISA-style assays)
- Organised, highly motivated, focused towards high-quality deliverables and able to meet strict deadlines
- Excellent team player able to work as part of an interdisciplinary team
Desirable criteria
- Multiparameter flow cytometry
- Experience in isolation and purification of lymphocytes (e.g. monocytes, PBMCs) from human specimens
- Cytokine analyses assays
- Ability to take initiative in problem solving and working independently
- Experience in junior staff/student supervision
The Cancer Antibody Discovery & Immunotherapy group headed by Professor Sophia Karagiannis at St John's Institute of Dermatology, School of Basic and Medical Biosciences, specialises in dissecting B cell and antibody immune responses and designing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, derivatives and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), focusing on skin, ovarian and breast cancers. Our research also aims to understand how cancer cells interfere with anti-tumoral immune effector cell functions and apply this knowledge to inform the design of novel antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates with improved efficacy against tumours. The Karagiannis team is the first to design, evaluate and translate anti-tumour IgE class antibodies from concept to clinical testing and commercialization., We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.
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Research Associate - INTERNAL ONLY in City of Westminster employer: King's College London
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