Lecturer in Experimental Respiratory Sciences (Non-Clinical)

Lecturer in Experimental Respiratory Sciences (Non-Clinical) Department : Peter Gorer Department of ImmunobiologyAbout usFaculty of Life Sciences & MedicineThe Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine (FoLSM) is one of the UK’s largest and most successful centres for biomedical research and education, ranked 9th globally in the QS World University Rankings 2026. We bring together internationally leading strengths in basic, translational and clinical science, advancing human health through world‑class research and education that benefit communities locally, nationally and globally.Our work focuses on prevention, prediction, diagnosis and management of health conditions, with growing emphasis on experimental medicine, advanced therapies, digital health and AI. Collaboration is central to our mission, with interdisciplinary teams working across the Faculty to maximise collective expertise.FoLSM employs more than 2,000 staff across six Schools and the cross‑cutting Centre for Education. We are committed to building an equitable, inclusive and diverse community, hold a Silver Athena Swan award and contribute to equality programmes across King’s.Based across four campuses (Guy’s, St Thomas’, Waterloo and Denmark Hill) we work closely with our NHS Hospital Trust partners under the King’s Health Partners Umbrella. Our 8,500 students study programmes spanning Medicine, Pharmacy, Nutrition & Dietetics, Physiotherapy and biomedical sciences. Our research excellence is reflected in REF2021, where 94.1% of submissions were rated world‑leading or internationally excellent. Our research is supported by strong national and international partnerships, including with the Francis Crick Institute.School of Immunology & Microbial SciencesIn our school, where the Department of Respiratory and Allergy Sciences is based, we work to advance human health and wellbeing through groundbreaking research and collaborations.Our clinical and discovery scientists join forces across disciplines, exploring key questions from a molecular and cellular level to developing innovative therapies, clinical trials and spin out companies. Together, we tackle some of the most pressing challenges in biology and medicine, including asthma, allergy, cancer, COPD, diabetes, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, transplant rejection, vaccination, and infections caused by numerous pathogens including HIV, SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus and salmonella.Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, our School is a hub of innovation. Additionally, we host a flow cytometry facility, an Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases BioBank and a single cell omics platform.Many of our colleagues hold senior leadership roles across King’s College London and within the wider scientific and healthcare communities, shaping education, research and policy, mentoring future leaders, and bridging the gap between academia and industry.Our commitment to impact is reflected in real-world outcomes, from revolutionary new molecular insights to pioneering treatments for chronic or life-threatening diseases. Our researchers’ achievements are frequently featured in news headlines, underscoring the tangible difference our work makes. About the roleWe are seeking an ambitious experimental scientist to join the new Department of Respiratory and Allergy Sciences as a Lecturer in Experimental Respiratory Science. This is an opportunity to establish an independent research programme within a highly collaborative environment that brings together discovery scientists, respiratory pharmacologists and clinical investigators, with access to exceptional human samples and clinically characterised respiratory populations.The successful candidate will develop innovative experimental approaches to fundamental questions in respiratory disease. Working with primary human cells and tissues, including blood and PBMC-derived cells and airway and lung-derived material, they will develop mechanistic models of disease, host response, infection and co-infection, and cellular interactions.We are particularly interested in candidates who can move beyond describing biological differences to testing causality through experimental perturbation, and who are excited by developing new approaches when existing models cannot adequately answer the scientific question.The post holder will integrate experimental biology with capabilities across King’s, including advanced cell and co-culture systems, micro-CT, spatial transcriptomics, bulk and single-cell sequencing and other molecular and imaging approaches. Working closely with respiratory clinician scientists, pharmacologists and discovery scientists, they will translate biological observations into testable mechanisms, identify and validate therapeutic targets, and determine whether pharmacological manipulation can modify disease-relevant phenotypes. A major part of the role will be collaborative scientific leadership, supporting scientists and clinicians to turn observations from patients, cohorts and human samples into rigorous experimental questions while developing a distinctive, internationally competitive research programme.Education is a central component of this position. The successful candidate will contribute substantially to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research supervision, help develop research-led respiratory education, and have opportunities to develop educational leadership, including the future development and leadership of postgraduate programmes in respiratory medicine and science.This is a full-time post for 35 hours per week and you will be offered an indefinite contract.Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.About you To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:Essential criteriaPhD qualified in a relevant biomedical, biological, pharmacological or related discipline. Evidence of developing scientific independence following the PhD, including intellectual ownership of research questions, a strong peer-reviewed publication record and the potential to establish an internationally competitive research programme. Strong conceptual and practical expertise in experimental human biology, including substantial experience of primary human cell and/or tissue culture and the ability to develop models appropriate to mechanistic questions. Experience of complex cell-based experimental systems relevant to inflammation, infection, tissue injury or repair, including co-culture and/or infection or co-infection models, with the ability to work across cellular compartments rather than a single model or technique. Ability to integrate experimental biology with advanced discovery and phenotyping approaches such as imaging, transcriptomics, spatial biology and/or single-cell technologies, including understanding how these approaches can be used to test biological hypotheses. Demonstrable commitment to collaborative, interdisciplinary science, with the ability to work effectively with scientists, clinicians and pharmacologists to translate clinical observations and human samples into mechanistic studies and therapeutic target discovery/validation. Demonstrable commitment to high-quality research-led education, with experience of teaching and/or student supervision and the potential and ambition to develop academic leadership in undergraduate and postgraduate respiratory education.Desirable criteriaExperience working with advanced respiratory models such as air-liquid interface, multicellular or 3D systems, where these have been used to answer mechanistic questions. Experience of target discovery or validation, compound testing, phenotypic screening, dose-response or mechanism-of-action studies in academic and/or industry settings. Experience of developmental and/or regenerative, epithelial repair and/or host-pathogen biology relevant to major unanswered questions in respiratory disease. Evidence of competitive peer-reviewed research funding (directly or indirectly, according to the rules of the funding body), fellowship support or a substantive intellectual contribution to successful grant applications and collaborative programmes. Experience of curriculum or module development, innovative teaching or assessment, programme leadership and/or clear ambition to develop and lead postgraduate education in respiratory medicine or respiratory sciences. Downloading a copy of our Job DescriptionFull details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.Further InformationAt King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, and we recognise its growing role in professional work. Applicants may use AI tools to support preparation of their application, for example to research the role or structure written responses. However, applications must reflect the applicant’s own work and experience. AI tools should not be used during interviews or assessment activities unless this has been agreed in advance as a reasonable adjustment. Further guidance on the use of AI in recruitment can be found here.We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.This post is subject to Occupational Health clearances.Grade and Salary : £53,947 - £63,350 including London Weighting AllowanceJob ID : 161625Post Date : 19-Oct-2026Close Date : 16-Nov-2026Contact Person : Richard RussellContact Details : Richard.russell@kcl.ac.uk